Alecia Schweinsburg PhD

Associate Research Scientist in Psychiatry

Research Interests

Addiction; Brain; MRI; Cognition; Adolescence; Alcohol; Marijuana

Research Summary

My work uses MRI brain scans to examine brain functioning and thinking abilities in alcohol and drug users, especially among adolescents and young adults. Alcohol and drug use are common in adolescents and young adults, but it is unclear how such use might affect the developing brain.

Selected Publications

  • Dager Schweinsburg, A.D., Schweinsburg, B.C., Nagel, B.J., Eyler, L.T., & Tapert, S.F. (2011). Neural correlates of verbal learning in adolescent alcohol and marijuana users. Addiction, 106(30), 564 – 73.
  • Dager Schweinsburg, A.D., Schweinsburg, B.C., Medina, K.L., McQueeny, T., Brown, S.A., & Tapert, S.F. (2010). The influence of recency of use on fMRI response during spatial working memory in adolescent marijuana users. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 42(3), 401-12.
  • Schweinsburg, A.D., McQueeny, T., Nagel, B.J., Eyler, L.T., & Tapert, S.F. (2010). A preliminary study of fMRI response during verbal encoding among adolescent binge drinkers. Alcohol, 44, 111 – 117.
  • Schweinsburg, A.D., Brown, S.A., and Tapert, S.F. (2008). The influence of marijuana use on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents. Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 1(1), 99 – 111.
  • Schweinsburg, A.D., Nagel, B.J., Schweinsburg, B.C., Park, A., Theilmann, R.J., & Tapert, S.F. (2008). Abstinent adolescent marijuana users show altered fMRI response during spatial working memory. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. 163 (1), 40 – 51.
  • Medina, K.L., Schweinsburg, A.D., Cohen-Zion, M., Nagel, B.J., & Tapert, S.F. (2007). Effects of alcohol and combined marijuana and alcohol use during adolescence on hippocampal volume and asymmetry. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 29, 141 – 152.
  • Tapert, S.F., Schweinsburg, A.D., Drummond, S.P.A., Paulus, M.P., Brown, S.A., Yang, T., & Frank, L.R. (2007). Functional MRI of inhibitory processing in abstinent adolescent marijuana users. Psychopharmacology (Berl.), 94(2), 173 – 183.
  • Schweinsburg, A.D., Schweinsburg, B.C., Cheung, E.H., Brown, S.A., & Tapert, S.F. (2005). fMRI response to spatial working memory in adolescents with comorbid marijuana and alcohol use disorders. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 79, 201 – 210.
  • Schweinsburg, A.D., Nagel, B.J., & Tapert, S.F. (2005). fMRI reveals alteration of spatial working memory networks across adolescence. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11, 631 – 644.
  • Nagel, B.J., Schweinsburg, A.D., Phan, V., & Tapert, S.F. (2005). Reduced hippocampal volume among adolescents with alcohol use disorders without psychiatric comorbidity. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 139, 181 – 190.

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