Drugs and the adolescent brain

The adolescent mind that impels teenagers to dye their hair purple and go airborne on skateboards also makes them more vulnerable to drug addiction. According to an analysis by Yale researchers of more than 140 studies in the basic and clinical neurosciences, their stage of brain development is to blame. “Several lines of evidence suggest that sociocultural aspects particular to adolescent life alone do not fully account for greater drug intake,” said R. Andrew Chambers, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study published in June in The American Journal of Psychiatry. “And while we strongly suspect that genetic factors in individuals can lower the threshold of drug exposure required for ‘tripping the switch’ from experimental to addictive drug use,” Chambers said, “here we have a phenomenon where a neurodevelopmental stage common to virtually everyone, regardless of genetic make-up, confers enhanced neurobiological vulnerability to addiction.”