Angel Crystabel Asamoah | 2025 I.S. Symposium

Name: Angel Crystabel Asamoah
Title: Risky Brains, Risky Behavior: Exploring Adolescent Alcohol Use Through Neuroscience
Major: Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience
Pathway: Public Health
Advisors: Amy Jo Stavnezer; Grit Herzmann

Adolescent substance use, particularly alcohol, represents a significant challenge worldwide, with profound implications for development and behavior. The present study explored the impact of alcohol consumption on adolescent brain structure and behavior utilizing data from the NIH ABCD study. Key regions of interest included the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insular cortex, in addition to behavioral traits measured through the BIS/BAS and UPPS-P scales. Participants were grouped into three categories: users, later users, and controls, enabling a novel assessment of behavioral predictors for future alcohol use. Behavioral analysis revealed marked differences in the UPPS-P Negative Urgency and Sensation Seeking subscales, with users scoring significantly higher—consistent with existing literature that links impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors to early alcohol consumption. In contrast, structural brain volume differences in the targeted regions were not observed among the groups. This absence may stem from limitations related to sample size, developmental timing, and imaging sensitivity. These findings underscore the intricacies of alcohol’s impact on adolescent development and reinforce the urgent need for larger-scale longitudinal studies to unravel the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral changes associated with alcohol use.

Posted in Symposium 2025 on May 1, 2025.