{"id":20372,"date":"2025-11-30T17:15:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T16:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=20372"},"modified":"2025-12-07T18:01:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:01:40","slug":"early-brain-activity-differences-predict-addiction-risk-in-boys-vs-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/11\/early-brain-activity-differences-predict-addiction-risk-in-boys-vs-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Brain Activity Differences Predict Addiction Risk in Boys vs Girls"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"hero-wrap clearfix hero-21 cover-1 parallax parallaxed mask-loaded\">\n<div class=\"hero\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/11\/early-brain-activity-differences-predict-addiction-risk-in-boys-vs-girls\/boys-girls\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20376\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20376\" src=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/boys-girls.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"428\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Identifying early neural vulnerabilities in adolescence could help guide prevention before substance abuse begins. <\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Credit: Neuroscience News<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"meta-wrap hero-meta tipi-xl-typo elements-design-1 clearfix\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"meta meta-with-color meta-no-sub\">\n<div class=\"title-wrap\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title title flipboard-title\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">from neurosciencenews.com &#8211; <span class=\"byline-part date\"><time class=\"entry-date published dateCreated flipboard-date\" datetime=\"2025-11-21T10:37:50-08:00\">&#8211; \u00a0Barbara Prempeh \u2013 Weill Cornell University &#8211; <\/time><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">November 21, 2025<\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"share-it share-it-4 share-it-bold share-it-count-1 share-it-below_title\"><strong style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">Summary: <\/strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">A large-scale analysis of nearly 1,900 children found that those with a family history of substance use disorder show early differences in how their brains transition between activity states, long before any drug exposure. Girls with family history showed increased transition energy in introspective networks, suggesting greater difficulty shifting out of internal, stress-linked states.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"share-it share-it-4 share-it-bold share-it-count-1 share-it-below_title\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">Boys showed decreased transition energy in attention networks, implying heightened reactivity and sensation-seeking tendencies. These neural patterns may represent early inherited vulnerabilities, offering a pathway toward personalized prevention strategies focused on distinct risk profiles in boys and girls.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"single-content contents-wrap tipi-row content-bg clearfix article-layout-55\">\n<div class=\"tipi-cols clearfix\"><main class=\"site-main tipi-xs-12 main-block-wrap block-wrap tipi-col clearfix tipi-l-8\"><\/p>\n<article>\n<div class=\"entry-content-wrap clearfix\">\n<div class=\"entry-content body-color clearfix link-color-wrap\" data-content-ads-inserted=\"true\" data-slot-rendered-content=\"invalid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Key Facts:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Distinct Neural Patterns:<\/strong>\u00a0Girls at risk showed higher transition energy in default-mode networks, while boys showed lower transition energy in attention networks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Risk Before Substance Use:<\/strong>\u00a0Differences appeared at ages 9\u201311, indicating early vulnerability unrelated to drug exposure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Tailored Prevention:<\/strong>\u00a0Findings point toward sex-specific early interventions targeting rumination in girls and impulse control in boys.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong>Weill Cornell University<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The roots of addiction risk may lie in how young brains function long before substance use begins, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The investigators found that children with a family history of substance use disorder (SUD) already showed distinctive patterns of brain activity that differ between boys and girls, which may reflect separate predispositions for addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The\u00a0research, published Nov. 21, in\u00a0<em>Nature Mental Health<\/em>, analyzed brain scans from nearly 1,900 children ages 9 to 11 participating in the\u00a0National Institutes of Health\u2019s Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThese findings may help explain why boys and girls often follow different paths toward substance use and addiction,\u201d said senior author\u00a0Dr. Amy Kuceyeski,\u00a0professor of mathematics and neuroscience in the\u00a0Department of Radiology\u00a0and the\u00a0Feil Family Brain &amp; Mind Research Institute\u00a0at Weill Cornell. \u201cUnderstanding those pathways could eventually help guide how we tailor prevention and treatment for each group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Tracking Neural Energy Shifts<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-slot-rendered-content=\"true\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">To explore these neural differences, the researchers used a computational approach called \u201cnetwork control theory\u201d to measure how the brain transitions between different patterns of activity during rest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-slot-rendered-content=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">\u00a0\u201cWhen you lie in an MRI scanner, your brain isn\u2019t idle; it cycles through recurring patterns of activation,\u201d said first author Louisa Schilling, doctoral candidate in the Computational Connectomics Laboratory at Weill Cornell.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cNetwork control theory lets us calculate how much effort the brain expends to shift between these patterns.\u201d This transition energy indicates the brain\u2019s flexibility, or its ability to shift from inward, self-reflective thought to external focus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Disruptions in this process have been observed in people with heavy alcohol use and cocaine use disorder, and when under the influence of psychedelics.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Opposing Patterns in Boys and Girls<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The study found that girls with a family history of SUD displayed higher transition energy in the brain\u2019s default-mode network, which is associated with introspection. Compared with girls without such a family history, this elevated energy suggests their brains may work harder to shift gears from internal-focused thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThat may mean greater difficulty disengaging from negative internal states like stress or rumination,\u201d Schilling said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cSuch inflexibility could set the stage for later risk, when substances are used as a way to escape or self-soothe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">In contrast, boys with a family history showed lower transition energy in attention networks that control focus and response to external cues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cTheir brains seem to require less effort to switch states, which might sound good, but it may lead to unrestrained behavior,\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Kuceyeski said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThey may be more reactive to their environment and more drawn to rewarding or stimulating experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-slot-rendered-content=\"true\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Put simply, she said, \u201cGirls may have a harder time stepping on the brakes, while boys may find it easier to step on the gas when it comes to risky behaviors and addiction.\u201d Since the brain differences appeared before any substance use, they may indicate inherited or early-life environmental vulnerability rather than the effects of drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"mv-ad-box\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-slotid=\"content_3_btf\">\n<div class=\"mv-rail-frame-350\" data-slotid=\"content_3_btf\">\n<div class=\"mv-rail-slide-350 mv-inview-sticky\" data-slotid=\"content_3_btf\">\n<div class=\"mv-rail-sticky-350 mv-inview-sticky\" data-slotid=\"content_3_btf\">\n<div id=\"content_3_btf_wrapper\" class=\"adunitwrapper content_btf_wrapper mv-size-728x250\" data-wrapper=\"content_3_btf\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div id=\"content_3_btf\" class=\"content_btf adunit up-show\" data-google-query-id=\"CMbRjeSempEDFSSKUAYd4fse3Q\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/1030006,49927774\/neurosciencenews\/content_2__container__\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/1030006,49927774\/neurosciencenews\/content_2\" tabindex=\"0\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" src=\"https:\/\/0b935653f97a1289179c71e4d9194414.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-45\/html\/container.html?upapi=true\" name=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" data-is-safeframe=\"true\" aria-label=\"Advertisement\" data-google-container-id=\"3\" data-load-complete=\"true\" data-hooks=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"upo-label\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">AD<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Toward More Personalized Prevention<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The researchers emphasize the need to analyze data from boys and girls separately, since averaging results across both groups masked the contrasts. Separate analyses revealed distinct patterns, underscoring the importance of sex as a biological variable in brain and behavioral research.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The findings mirror what clinicians see in adults: women are more likely to use substances to relieve distress and progress more quickly to dependence, while men are more likely to seek substances to feel euphoria or excitement. Identifying early neural vulnerabilities in adolescence could help guide prevention before substance abuse begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cRecognizing that boys and girls may travel different neural roads toward the same disorder can help tailor how we intervene,\u201d Dr. Kuceyeski said. \u201cFor example, programs for girls might focus on coping with internal stress, while for boys the emphasis might be on attention and impulse control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Key Questions Answered:1<\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1763749691059\" class=\"schema-faq-section\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: How does family history of substance use disorder affect young brains?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">A: It is linked to distinct patterns of neural transition energy before any substance use begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-1763749692304\" class=\"schema-faq-section\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: Why do boys and girls show different addiction risk pathways?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">A: They display opposing neural flexibility patterns in attention and introspection networks.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-1763749692088\" class=\"schema-faq-section\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: How can this research guide prevention?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">A: It suggests tailored early interventions targeting stress coping for girls and impulse control for boys.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Source: https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/neurodevelopment-addiction-sex-differences-29965\/<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Identifying early neural vulnerabilities in adolescence could help guide prevention before substance abuse begins. Credit: Neuroscience News from neurosciencenews.com &#8211; &#8211; \u00a0Barbara Prempeh \u2013 Weill Cornell University &#8211; November 21, 2025\u00a0 Summary: A large-scale analysis of nearly 1,900 children found that those with a family history of substance use disorder show early differences in how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,63,120,40,36,19,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-mental-health","category-prevention-research","category-treatment-addiction","category-usa","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20372"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20378,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372\/revisions\/20378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}