SfN18: The adolescent brain, mental health and substance abuse

Research presented at SfN Neuroscience 2018 (3–7 November, San Diego, CA, USA) has demonstrated links between adolescent brain development, mental health and substance abuse. A collection of three studies were highlighted by the society as ones to watch in this field, covering childhood trauma, opioid receptor variants and the reward system, and their connections with mental health and the adolescent brain. Sarita Silveira et al. present research indicating that childhood trauma impacts the development of critical brain networks during adolescence, elevating the risk for alcohol abuse. Employing a national dataset of brain scans from 396 individuals aged 12–22 years, all...