# National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence: OHSU

> **NIH NIH U01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $522,916

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
During young adulthood, drinking dramatically increases, with binge-level drinking peaking at age 22 and
nearly half of individuals reporting binge-level alcohol use2. Frequent binge alcohol use during the protracted
neuromaturation spanning into the mid-20s may result in greater brain and cognitive effects than similar
alcohol use in later adulthood. In response to RFA-AA-17-003, this application proposes a Research Project
Site of the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence second phase (NCANDA-2)
to determine the predictors and effects of heavy adolescent alcohol use in adolescence and young adulthood.
To achieve this, the OHSU site of NCANDA-2 will continue to follow a cohort of 150 Portland-area (n=831
across all 5 sites) participants (ages 12-21 at baseline first visit) to acquire the necessary data to advance our
understanding of adolescent development and the effects of alcohol use during adolescence on the adult brain.
NCANDA-2 will use multimodal neuroimaging, cognitive testing, behavioral assessment, biospecimen
collection, and ecological momentary assessment. The examination of alcohol consequences will focus on
structural and functional maturation of brain areas that actively develop during adolescence, are involved in
psychological regulation, respond to rewards, and appear vulnerable to neurotoxic effects of alcohol. In
addition, the OHSU site will collaborate with the Duke and USCD sites to study recovery of these
abnormalities. Specifically, we will examine the degree to which targeted heavy drinking related neurocognitive
and brain integrity deficits remit over 4 weeks of monitored abstinence. Sex differences in development,
alcohol use patterns, impact of alcohol use on the brain, and sex-differentiating psychosocial factors (e.g.,
depression symptoms) will be considered in analyses. With the additional longitudinal data provided by this
renewal, we will determine the effects of alcohol exposure on the developmental trajectory of the adolescent
human brain, and identify preexisting psychobiological vulnerabilities that may put an adolescent or young
adult at elevated risk for an alcohol use disorder.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10187461
- **Project number:** 5U01AA021691-10
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Bonnie J. Nagel
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $522,916
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-09-15 → 2022-08-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10187461

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10187461, National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence: OHSU (5U01AA021691-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10187461. Licensed CC0.

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