New and Noteworthy Information—May 2014

Individuals between ages 18 and 24 who occasionally use stimulant drugs may have impaired neuronal activity in the parts of the brain associated with anticipatory functioning, according to research published March 26 in the Journal of Neuroscience. Investigators recruited 158 nondependent occasional stimulant users and 47 stimulant-naive controls. Participants completed a stop signal task while undergoing functional MRI. Compared with controls, occasional stimulant users showed attenuated neural activation related to the magnitude of probabilistic expectations of inhibitory demand in several areas, including the left prefrontal cortex and left caudate. The results indicate that clinicians may be able to use brain activity patterns as a means of identifying at-risk youth long before they have any obvious outward signs of addictive behaviors, according to the investigators.

—Erik Greb