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Striatal brain volume linked to severity of substance use in high-risk incarcerated youth.

N. Anderson,J. Maurer,David D Stephenson,Keith A. Harenski,M. Caldwell,G. V. Van Rybroek,K. Kiehl

Published 2024 in Development and Psychopathology

ABSTRACT

Substance use disorders among juveniles are a major public health concern and are often intertwined with other psychosocial risk factors including antisocial behavior. Identifying etiological risks and mechanisms promoting substance use disorders remains a high priority for informing more focused interventions in high-risk populations. The present study examined brain gray matter structure in relation to substance use severity among n = 152 high-risk, incarcerated boys (aged 14-20). Substance use severity was positively associated with gray matter volume across several frontal/striatal brain regions including amygdala, pallidum, putamen, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. Effects were apparent when using voxel-based-morphometric analysis, as well as in whole-brain, data-driven, network-based approaches (source-based morphometry). These findings support the hypothesis that elevated gray matter volume in striatal reward circuits may be an endogenous marker for vulnerability to severe substance use behaviors among youth.

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