Teen alcohol exposure and risk of adult alcohol use disorder
Project 3: Adolescent vulnerability to chronic ethanol: neurophysiological, molecular, and behavioral mechanisms of adult AUD
This work looks at how heavy drinking in the teen years changes brain cells and behavior in ways that raise the chance of alcohol problems as an adult.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11238070 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your perspective, the project is trying to understand why people who drink heavily as teens are more likely to develop alcohol use disorder later on. The team uses animal models alongside lab tests to study specific brain circuits in the basolateral amygdala that connect to reward and stress regions and compares males and females. They measure changes in glutamate and GABA signaling, record neurophysiological activity, do molecular analyses, and run behavioral tests to link early alcohol exposure to adult drinking-related behaviors.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People most relevant to this work are teens or young adults with a history of heavy alcohol use or those concerned about prior adolescent drinking affecting later alcohol problems.
Not a fit: Those without a history of adolescent alcohol exposure or whose alcohol problems have unrelated causes may be less likely to benefit directly from these findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could point to brain-cell targets and timing for preventing or treating alcohol use disorder in people who drank heavily as adolescents.
How similar studies have performed: Previous human and animal studies link teen drinking to higher adult AUD risk, but the detailed brain-circuit mechanisms explored here remain only partly understood and are relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Winston-Salem, United States
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences — Winston-Salem, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mccool, Brian a — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Mccool, Brian a
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 below.