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NIH "landmark" study of adolescent brain development begins enrollment
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The NIH recently announced the beginning of recruitment for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the U.S.
“We know the brain is still developing well into the mid-20s, making it vulnerable to a host of influences,” Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, director of the NIH, said in a press release. “With several NIH institutes and centers working together on this important study, we will be able to learn how a variety of biological events and environmental exposures affect brain development, giving us greater insight into what helps adolescents traverse that potentially tumultuous time to become healthy and productive adults.”
Researchers will assess biological and behavioral development among more than 10,000 children beginning at age 9 to 10 years through adolescence into early adulthood.
Recruitment will be conducted over 2 years through partnerships with public and private schools near research sites across the U.S. and twin registries.
Researchers will use advanced brain imaging, interviews and behavioral testing to determine associations between childhood experiences and how they influence brain development and social, behavioral, academic and health outcomes.
The ABCD study is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Cancer Institute, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the NIMH, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health.