Are adolescents more vulnerable to drug addiction than adults? Evidence from animal models

Nicole L SCHRAMM-SAPYTA; Q. David WALKER; Joseph M CASTER; Edward D LEVIN; Cynthia M KUHN

doi:10.1007/s00213-009-1585-5

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Are adolescents more vulnerable to drug addiction than adults? Evidence from animal models

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Are adolescents more vulnerable to drug addiction than adults? Evidence from animal models

Nicole L SCHRAMM-SAPYTA, Q. David WALKER, Joseph M CASTER, Edward D LEVIN and Cynthia M KUHN

Psychopharmacologia, Vol.206(1), pp.1-21

2009

DOI: 10.1007/s00213-009-1585-5

PMCID: PMC3025448

PMID: 19547960

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3025448View

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Abstract

Background and rationale: Epidemiological evidence suggests that people who begin experimenting with drugs of abuse during early adolescence are more likely to develop substance use disorders (SUDs), but this correlation does not guarantee causation. Animal models, in which age of onset can be tightly controlled, offer a platform for testing causality. Many animal models address drug effects that might promote or discourage drug intake and drug-induced neuroplasticity. Methods: We have reviewed the preclinical literature to investigate whether adolescent rodents are differentially sensitive to rewarding, reinforcing, aversive, locomotor, and withdrawal-induced effects of drugs of abuse. Results and conclusions: The rodent model literature consistently suggests that the balance of rewarding and aversive effects of drugs of abuse is tipped toward reward in adolescence. However, increased reward does not consistently lead to increased voluntary intake: age effects on voluntary intake are drug and method specific. On the other hand, adolescents are consistently less sensitive to withdrawal effects, which could protect against compulsive drug seeking. Studies examining neuronal function have revealed several age-related effects but have yet to link these effects to vulnerability to SUDs. Taken together, the findings suggest factors which may promote recreational drug use in adolescents, but evidence relating to pathological drug-seeking behavior is lacking. A call is made for future studies to address this gap using behavioral models of pathological drug seeking and for neurobiologic studies to more directly link age effects to SUD vulnerability.

Neuropharmacology

Toxicology

Psychopharmacology

Drug addiction

Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry

Adult and adolescent clinical studies

Biological and medical sciences

Medical sciences

Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease)

Drug addictions

Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer

Pharmacology. Drug treatments

Psychopathology. Psychiatry

Addictive behaviors

Details

Title: Subtitle: Are adolescents more vulnerable to drug addiction than adults? Evidence from animal models
Creators: Nicole L SCHRAMM-SAPYTA - Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
Q. David WALKER - Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
Joseph M CASTER - Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
Edward D LEVIN - Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
Cynthia M KUHN - Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychopharmacologia, Vol.206(1), pp.1-21
DOI: 10.1007/s00213-009-1585-5
PMID: 19547960
PMCID: PMC3025448
NLM abbreviation: Psychopharmacology (Berl)
ISSN: 0033-3158
eISSN: 1432-2072
Publisher: Springer; Berlin
Language: English
Date published: 2009
Academic Unit: Radiation Oncology
Record Identifier: 9984047623802771

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