# Affective and Neural Correlates of Nicotine and Cannabis Co-Use in Young Adulthood

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2023 · $47,694

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Co-use of tobacco and cannabis is increasingly prevalent and may be associated with greater physical
and psychological risks when compared to use of either substance alone. Co-use is particularly prevalent in
young adulthood, an age group where risk for problematic substance use is heightened. Despite growing rates
of co-use in this age group, factors that may maintain co-use are less well known. Individual differences in
positive affect response to drug use and neural reward reactivity are important predictors of drug use
maintenance, but are relatively understudied in this population. Thus, the specific aims of the proposed study
are to 1) Characterize subjective positive affect response to cannabis and nicotine co-use, as compared to single-
use of either substance 2) Investigate relationships between non-intoxicated neural reward reactivity and positive
affect response following episodes of cannabis, nicotine, and co-use, and 3) Examine rates of cannabis and
nicotine use in the past month as potential moderators of the relationship between non-intoxicated neural reward
reactivity and positive affect change following drug use. To address these aims, the current study proposes to
recruit a subset of participants from a large-scale ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study of young adult
cannabis and tobacco co-users to participate in an additional electroencephalogram (EEG) laboratory visit.
These study aims support the applicant’s training goals to 1) develop knowledge in phenotypes of concurrent
substance use through investigating affective, neural, and behavioral correlates of nicotine and cannabis co-use
2) acquire training in EMA methods and data analysis 3) gain training and experience in EEG methods 4) pursue
academic professional development through authoring manuscripts, conference presentations, and career
development and grant writing seminars and workshops, and 5) gain training in ethics and responsible conduct
of research. The applicant’s mentorship team is comprised of experts in young adult nicotine and cannabis use
research and EMA methods (Dr. Mermelstein), affective and neural correlates of cannabis use in young
adulthood (Dr. Crane), EEG methods and analysis (Dr. Burkhouse), and advanced statistical methods (Dr.
Hedeker). The mentoring team will thus advance the applicant’s goals to pursue training in concurrent substance
use research, EMA methods, and EEG methods. The proposed training and research plan ultimately supports
the candidate’s long-term goal of pursuing a career as an independent investigator dedicated to understanding
affective, behavioral, and neural correlates of concurrent substance use in young adulthood. Further, the
proposed study has the potential to greatly advance our understanding of correlates of affective and neural
correlates co-use in young adulthood that can be harnessed as future prevention and treatment targets.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10689715
- **Project number:** 5F31DA057064-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Julia May Brooks
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $47,694
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-08-19 → 2024-08-18

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10689715

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10689715, Affective and Neural Correlates of Nicotine and Cannabis Co-Use in Young Adulthood (5F31DA057064-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10689715. Licensed CC0.

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