Is the propensity to use drugs determined by brain activity?

Characteristics discovered for problematic drug use
Why some young people tend to excessive drug use, while others can resist that, scientists of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) have examined in a recent study. By measuring the brain activity of adolescents, researchers were able to identify various traits that could promote the development of adolescent addictions, according to UKE.

Various factors have been identified in previous studies as the cause of drug use. The spectrum ranged from genetic predisposition to educational influences to societal aspects. In their recent study, UKE researchers, together with colleagues from the US, investigated possible influences of brain activity on the propensity to use drugs. The results of their study, the researchers published in the journal "Nature Communications".

Brain activity appears to affect the addiction to drug addiction in adolescents. (Image: Nomad_Soul / fotolia.com)

Development of addictions in adolescence to get to the bottom of it
Based on the data from the Europe-wide IMAGEN sample, the research team led by Professor Christian Büchel, director of the Institute of Systemic Neurosciences at UKE, looked for possible causes of addiction in adolescents. The IMAGEN sample project was initiated by the EU in 2007 and continued in Germany with funding from the Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF) within the framework of the AERIAL project. The "research project is the first and largest longitudinal study in the world to investigate the development of adolescent addictions," the UKE reports.

Brain activity in 14- and 16-year-olds checked
The study has so far enrolled 2,000 girls and boys aged 14, from the UK, Ireland, France and Germany. 250 young people come from Hamburg, where they are supervised by Prof. Büchel and colleagues. All participating adolescents were interviewed at 14 and 16 years of age, subjected to psychological tests and genetically examined, the researchers report. On the basis of images of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) their brain activities were recorded. This year, the third follow-up phase will follow.

Evidence of problematic drug use
According to the UKE, it was already known before the study began that adolescents with problem drug use have an inclination to adventure. Therefore, the team led by Prof. Büchel analyzed the data of adolescents, who were particularly keenly aware of the thirst for adventure at the age of 14. The evaluation of the brain activity data provided possible characteristics "that could indicate a problematic use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis at the age of 16," according to the University Hospital's report.

New approaches to prevention
"Our results show that a below-average activability of the reward system in the brain and a lower function of the prefrontal control areas of the brain favor later problematic drug use," emphasizes Prof. Büchel. In addition, it had become clear in the data analysis that other brain areas in the affected adolescents at the age of 14 had a developmental backlog. These characteristics could, according to the researchers, enable new approaches to prevention.

"Our investigation gives us the opportunity to identify at an early age - at the age of 14 - those adolescents who are particularly at risk of developing problematic drug use at the age of 16," concludes Prof. Dr. med. Büchel.