Consequences of adolescent use of alcohol and other drugs: Studies using rodent models

- Rodent studies reveal persisting neurobehavioral effects of adolescent drug exposure.
- Ethanol, nicotine and cannabinoid vulnerability is greater in adolescents than adults.
- MDMA and methamphetamine show a converse age-related vulnerability.
- Affected brain regions include those undergoing developmental change at this time.
- Alterations include disruptions in cognition, affect, and drug self-administration.

Studies using animal models of adolescent exposure to alcohol, nicotine, cannabinoids, and the stimulants cocaine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethampethamine and methamphetamine have revealed a variety of persisting neural and behavioral consequences. Affected brain regions often include mesolimbic and prefrontal regions undergoing notable ontogenetic change during adolescence, although it is unclear whether this represents areas of specific vulnerability or particular scrutiny to date. Persisting alterations in forebrain systems critical for modulating reward, socioemotional processing and cognition have emerged, including apparent induction of a hyper-dopaminergic state with some drugs and/or attenuations in neurons expressing cholinergic markers. Disruptions in cognitive functions such as working memory, alterations in affect including increases in social anxiety, and mixed evidence for increases in later drug self-administration has also been reported. When consequences of adolescent and adult exposure were compared, adolescents were generally found to be more vulnerable to alcohol, nicotine, and cannabinoids, but generally not to stimulants. More work is needed to determine how adolescent drug exposure influences sculpting of the adolescent brain, and provide approaches to prevent/reverse these effects.