# Longitudinal Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Discover Adolescent Alcohol Use Effect

> **NIH NIH R00** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $248,999

## Abstract

Longitudinal Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Discover Adolescent Alcohol Use Effect
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Alcohol abuse is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. A signature injury of Alcohol
Use Disorder (AUD) is in the white-matter (WM) microstructure and its constituents, which enable connectivity
of proximal and distal brain structures and functional integration. Despite the progress in understanding
alcohol’s effects in adults, still unclear is the causal direction between abnormal WM maturation and initiation
of heavy yet non-dependent drinking during adolescence. To gain insight into regional development of
connectivity, the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA), a
prospective longitudinal study of 831 youth to track normal and alcohol-related deviant neurodevelopmental
trajectories, acquired diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data annually. Unraveling alcohol effects from the complex
dynamic course of adolescent neurodevelopment requires highly sensitive analysis approaches. In this project,
I propose a new type of longitudinal DTI analysis, in which a unified trajectory model is used both for explicitly
capturing biologically-plausible variation in DTI measurements across visits within each subject and for
estimating a group-level developmental trajectory. Such an approach will result in longitudinally consistent DTI
measurements enabling accurate characterization of microstructural development in normal adolescents.
Based on this approach, I will test the hypothesis that precursors of drinking onset and the disruption effects
induced by initiation of alcohol use are related to different brain regions. The analysis will identify the
precursors by comparing developmental trajectories prior to drinking onset between the no-to-low and heavy
drinking cohorts and will identify the disruption by comparing trajectories after drinking onset. The alcohol-
induced disruption to WM maturation will be further stratified with respect to age, highlighting the heightened
vulnerability in younger adolescents. Lastly, the proposed longitudinal analysis also facilitates further tracking
of microstructural remodeling following abstinence to identify reversible or persistent alcohol-related injury.
Revealed imaging phenotypes linked to adolescent heavy drinking could point to potential causes and
precursors of AUD, which could in turn improve diagnosis and prevention in clinical settings. Moreover,
researchers will be able to use the proposed longitudinal approach as a general tool to answer their
neuroscientific questions in the context of seeking developmental change.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10982629
- **Project number:** 4R00AA028840-03
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Qingyu Zhao
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $248,999
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2021-08-10 → 2026-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10982629

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10982629, Longitudinal Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Discover Adolescent Alcohol Use Effect (4R00AA028840-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10982629. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*