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The human brain undergoes rapid development during the first years of life. Beginning in utero, a wide array of biological, social, and environmental factors can have lasting impacts on brain structure and function. To understand how prenatal and early life experiences alter neurodevelopmental trajectories and shape health outcomes, several NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices collaborated to support and launch the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study. The HBCD Study is a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, that will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. Influenced by the success of the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study (ABCD Study®) and in partnership with the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, the HBCD Study aims to establish a diverse cohort of over 7000 pregnant participants to understand how early life experiences, including prenatal exposure to addictive substances and adverse social environments as well as their interactions with an individual’s genes, can affect neurodevelopmental trajectories and outcomes. Knowledge gained from the HBCD Study will help identify targets for early interventions and inform policies that promote resilience and mitigate the neurodevelopmental effects of adverse childhood experiences and environments.

Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes in brain structure and function, and the adolescent brain is highly susceptible to being altered by experiences like substance use. However, there is much we have yet to learn about how these experiences influence brain development, how they promote or interfere with later health outcomes, or even what healthy brain development looks like. A large longitudinal study beginning in early adolescence could help us understand the normal variability in adolescent brain and cognitive development and tease apart the many factors that influence it. Recent advances in neuroimaging, informatics, and genetics technologies have made it feasible to conduct a study of sufficient size and scope to answer many outstanding questions. At the same time, several Institutes across the NIH recognized the value of collaborating in such a project because of its ability to address the role of biological, environmental, and behavioral factors like gender, pubertal hormones, sports participation, and social/economic disparities on brain development as well as their association with the emergence and progression of substance use and mental illness including suicide risk. Thus, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study was created to answer the most pressing public health questions of our day. Keywords: Adolescent, Brain development, Neuroimaging, Longitudinal, Substance use, Mental health

A standardized measure for 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)content in cannabis products is necessary to advance research both on the adverse effects of cannabis (e.g. risks for brain development, mental illness and addiction) and on the drug’s potential medical uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Movement toward legalization of cannabis grows in the United States yet little is known about long-term use effects. This study was an initial step in the instrument development of a patient registry questionnaire of cannabis users who will be followed over time. Cannabis-using patients (12 females, 10 males) aged 20-64, were sampled from a Portland, Oregon primary care health center. Respondents completed semi­structured qualitative interviews describing methods of cannabis use, motivations for use, and perceptions of risks and benefits. Qualitative analysis used a content analysis approach to assess and extract salient themes. Patients smoked, inhaled, ingested, and applied a wide variety of cannabis products. All participants but one reported using cannabis for perceived physiological or psychological pain and several used cannabis to alleviate cravings for opioid medications. Other motivations included relief from suicidal thoughts and depression, anxiety, migraines, and neuropathic pain. Relatively few perceived risks as compared to benefits were reported. This study provides relevant insight into how and why these primary care patients use cannabis. Results will be used to construct a quantitative questionnaire for a patient registry that can provide critical information about long-term use effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the study associating substance abuse in older adults with some symptoms of medical conditions, particularly on aging brain, that the elderly normally experienced. According to Dr. Gayathri J. Dowling and colleagues of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the most commonly abused substances among older patients are alcohol and prescription drugs. It reveals that these may result to social isolation, poor health status, polypharmacy and chronic medical cormobidity.

Kindling is discussed in relation to affective illness as a nonhomologous model, which shares the feature of increasing illness severity and evolution over time following repeated exposures to certain forms of stimulation. This progressive aspect of kindling has proven useful in the study of approaches to pharmacotherapeutics, mechanisms and characteristics of drug tolerance, and, most recently, illness suppression through physiological rather than pharmacological strategies. Each of these themes is described and the mechanisms that have been uncovered using the kindling model are discussed in relation to how similar principles might apply in affective illness or epilepsy. It is hoped that some of the lessons from the kindling model will provide useful and novel insights into aspects of treatment and mechanisms of psychiatric and neurologic illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on developments in treating rapid-cycling forms of bipolar disorder or manic-depressive psychoses. Carbamazepine and valproate for treatment-resistant form of bipolar disorder; Thyroid disturbance in patients; Treatment guidelines; Electroconvulsive therapy; Combination of psychotherapy and pharmacologic therapy. INSET: Findings of bipolar patient survey..