title: The effects of abused drugs on adolescent development of corticolimbic circuitry and behavior.
abstract: Adolescence is a period of significant neurobiological change that occurs as individuals transition from childhood to adulthood. Because the nervous system is in a relatively labile state during this stage of development, it may be especially sensitive to experience-induced plasticity. One such experience that is relatively common to adolescents is the exposure to drugs of abuse, particularly alcohol and psychostimulants. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the long-lasting effects of exposure to these drugs during adolescence in humans as well as in animal models. Whenever possible, our focus is on studies that use comparison groups of adolescent- and adult-exposed subjects as this is a more direct test of the hypothesis that adolescence represents a period of enhanced vulnerability to the effects of drug-induced plasticity. Lastly, we suggest areas of future investigation that are needed and methodological concerns that should be addressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. jgulley@illinois.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gulley
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Juraska
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008032:Limbic System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: BLA; CRH; EEG; LTD; LTP; MRI; N-methyl-d-aspartate; NAc; NMDA; P; PFC; adolescent; basolateral amygdala; corticotropin-releasing hormone; electroencephalography; long-term depression; long-term potentiation; mPFC; magnetic resonance imaging; medial prefrontal cortex; neuroanatomy; neurophysiology; nucleus accumbens; postnatal day; prefrontal cortex; psychostimulants; young adult