# Neural outcomes of moderating alcohol use in early adulthood

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $268,642

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Adolescence and early adulthood is a period of significant brain development, when different experiences
shape the synaptic connections between neurons and information processing is increasingly integrated across
various brain regions. It is also when substance use is at its greatest, on average. Research with animals
indicates that the brain is particularly vulnerable to damaging effects of alcohol and other drugs during
adolescence. However, most individuals moderate their drinking and it is arguably as important to understand
the degree to which brain structural and functional effects of alcohol and other drug use tend to be reversed
when individuals moderate their use as to understand effects of exposure to alcohol in the first place. However,
several factors have slowed progress in this area. Samples have been small, especially in early studies, and
the number of potential measures large, which, if properly controlled for, limits statistical power and, if not,
increases the likelihood of chance findings. The lack of specific replicated associations suggests a need for
studies that use discovery-based methods in large samples in addition to those that test specific hypotheses,
and to replicate findings in independent samples. An additional obstacle to progress stems from the difficulty
drawing inferences about causality in observational research. Associations between substance use or
moderation and brain outcomes may reflect a causal effect of substance use or moderation or they may be
spurious, reflecting the effect of a third, unobserved factor, such as a genetic liability, on both. For instance,
individuals who stop abusing alcohol or other drugs may have less of a genetic liability toward excessive use
than those who persist in problematic drinking, and any observed differences between the two groups of
subjects may reflect this difference rather than any result of having desisted from problematic use. The present
data analysis project is designed to address these challenges. We propose to study effects of cumulative
alcohol use, the timing of exposure to alcohol and effects of moderating use on measures of brain structure
and function in three large independent samples, which allows us to replicate findings and thereby increase
confidence in them. We will use a combination of hypothesis-driven and discovery-based analyses. In addition,
because two samples consist of twins, we will use an innovative co-twin differences research design, which
takes advantage of differences in overall alcohol use, age of initiation and moderation of use that naturally
occur within twin pairs to separate the effects of patterns of use and moderation from the genetic and other
factors that influence them. This will permit us to make stronger inferences than is typically possible about
which effects of alcohol use and moderation of use on measures of brain structure and function are likely to
indicate a truly causal influence of exposure to al...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9952284
- **Project number:** 5R21AA026919-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** STEPHEN MATTHEW MALONE
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $268,642
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9952284

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9952284, Neural outcomes of moderating alcohol use in early adulthood (5R21AA026919-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9952284. Licensed CC0.

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