Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Aug:32:4-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.10.002. Epub 2017 Oct 10.

The conception of the ABCD study: From substance use to a broad NIH collaboration

Nora D Volkow  1 , George F Koob  2 , Robert T Croyle  3 , Diana W Bianchi  4 , Joshua A Gordon  5 , Walter J Koroshetz  6 , Eliseo J Pérez-Stable  7 , William T Riley  8 , Michele H Bloch  3 , Kevin Conway  1 , Bethany G Deeds  1 , Gayathri J Dowling  9 , Steven Grant  1 , Katia D Howlett  1 , John A Matochik  2 , Glen D Morgan  3 , Margaret M Murray  2 , Antonio Noronha  2 , Catherine Y Spong  4 , Eric M Wargo  1 , Kenneth R Warren  2 , Susan R B Weiss  1
Affiliations
Review

The conception of the ABCD study: From substance use to a broad NIH collaboration

Nora D Volkow et al. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes in brain structure and function, and the adolescent brain is highly susceptible to being altered by experiences like substance use. However, there is much we have yet to learn about how these experiences influence brain development, how they promote or interfere with later health outcomes, or even what healthy brain development looks like. A large longitudinal study beginning in early adolescence could help us understand the normal variability in adolescent brain and cognitive development and tease apart the many factors that influence it. Recent advances in neuroimaging, informatics, and genetics technologies have made it feasible to conduct a study of sufficient size and scope to answer many outstanding questions. At the same time, several Institutes across the NIH recognized the value of collaborating in such a project because of its ability to address the role of biological, environmental, and behavioral factors like gender, pubertal hormones, sports participation, and social/economic disparities on brain development as well as their association with the emergence and progression of substance use and mental illness including suicide risk. Thus, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study was created to answer the most pressing public health questions of our day.

Keywords: Adolescent; Brain development; Longitudinal; Mental health; Neuroimaging; Substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Barlow K.M., Crawford S., Stevenson A., Sandhu S.S., Belanger F., Dewey D. Epidemiology of postconcussion syndrome in pediatric mild traumatic brain injury. Pediatrics. 2010;126:e374–e381. - PubMed
    1. Brown S.A., Brumback T., Tomlinson K., Cummins K., Thompson W.K., Nagel B.J., De Bellis M.D., Hooper S.R., Clark D.B., Chung T., Hasler B.P., Colrain I.M., Baker F.C., Prouty D., Pfefferbaum A., Sullivan E.V., Pohl K.M., Rohlfing T., Nichols B.N., Chu W., Tapert S.F. The National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in adolescence (NCANDA): a multisite study of adolescent development and substance use. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs. 2015;76(6):895–908. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Faul M., Xu L., Wald M.M., Coronado V.G. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; Atlanta (GA): 2010. Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations and Deaths 2002–2006.https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/pdf/blue_book.pdf
    1. Garavan H., Conway K., Goldstein R., Heeringa S., Jernigan T., Potter A., Thompson A., Zahs D. Recruiting the ABCD sample: design considerations and procedures. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 2017 (in submission) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jernigan T.L., Brown T.T., Hagler D.J., Jr, Akshoomoff N., Bartsch H., Newman E., Thompson W.K., Bloss C.S., Murray S.S., Schork N., Kennedy D.N., Kuperman J.M., McCabe C., Chung Y., Libiger O., Maddox M., Casey B.J., Chang L., Ernst T.M., Frazier J.A., Gruen J.R., Sowell E.R., Kenet T., Kaufmann W.E., Mostofsky S., Amaral D.G., Dale A.M. The Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) data repository. Neuroimage. 2016;124(Pt. B):1149–1154. - PMC - PubMed