Adolescent psychotherapy for addiction medicine: From brain development to neurocognitive treatment mechanisms

Rachel E. Thayer, Sarah W. Feldstein Ewing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Effectively treating addiction is a challenge among any population, and treatment for adolescents may be particularly challenging in the context of ongoing neurodevelopment, which may alter the brain's initial response to substances as well as its response to treatment. One way to improve treatment outcomes for youth is to use a translational perspective that explicitly connects cognitive and neurodevelopmental fields with the field of behavioral therapies. This integrative approach is a potential first step to inform the correspondence between the neurocognitive and behavioral fields in youth addiction. This chapter seeks to provide context for neurocognitive treatment studies by first discussing recent structural and functional neuroimaging studies showing associations with substance use or behavioral addictions. Several regions of interest are then proposed that appear to also be associated with addiction treatment across multiple studies, namely, the accumbens/striatum, precuneus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This research suggests that reward, self-reflective, and executive control areas might be especially relevant in youth behavioral treatment response, and preliminary evidence suggests that existing treatments may encourage neurocognitive changes in these areas.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationNeuroscience for Addiction Medicine
Subtitle of host publicationFrom Prevention to Rehabilitation - Methods and Interventions, 2016
EditorsHamed Ekhtiari, Martin P. Paulus
PublisherElsevier B.V.
Pages305-322
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)9780444637161
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Publication series

NameProgress in Brain Research
Volume224
ISSN (Print)0079-6123
ISSN (Electronic)1875-7855

Keywords

  • Addiction
  • Adolescence
  • Neuroimaging
  • Psychotherapy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Adolescent psychotherapy for addiction medicine: From brain development to neurocognitive treatment mechanisms'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this