How neighborhood stress affects brain decision-making and substance use risk
Official title: Structural Stressors, Neurocognition in Reward Related Decision Making and Substance Use Risk
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11380466 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how living in disadvantaged neighborhoods affects young people's brain-based decision making and their risk for substance use.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $401,978 |
| NIH project number | 5R61DA058985-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11380466 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adolescents and young adults living in disadvantaged neighborhoods or otherwise at higher risk for substance use.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not live in areas experiencing structural disadvantage or who are not at risk for substance use may not see direct benefits from this work.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will collect information about the neighborhood where you live, such as local income, education, and exposure to violence, and link that to tests of decision-making and brain activity. You may complete behavioral tasks and brain scans that measure how you respond to rewards and make choices. The team will also ask about family supports like parental monitoring and community features such as the presence of Latine-owned businesses to see whether these help protect young people. A Community Advisory Board will help shape the work so findings can be used to design real-world prevention efforts.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could point to neighborhood, family, or individual prevention strategies to lower youth substance use risk.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research links neighborhood disadvantage to health and brain function, but using brain and behavioral measures to connect neighborhood stressors specifically to youth substance use risk is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sussman, Tamara — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Sussman, Tamara
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.