Study Overview
This study is sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It's being conducted at the University of Minnesota under the direction of Monica Luciana, PhD in the Department of Clinical Psychology. Professor Luciana is affiliated with the clinical psychology program at the University of Minnesota. In this study, we are assessing the brain development of healthy adolescents between 9 and 23 years of age. We are studying these participants now and we will study them again in two years to examine how thinking, feeling, and a variety of problem-solving skills develop and whether these imporvements coincide with structural changes in the brain's frontal lobe. In addition to studying brain development in healthy adolescents, we are also interested in studying development in adolescents that have a history of substance use problems, particularly inhalant use.
Currently we are recruiting and testing non-using participants between the ages of 9 and 23. We are also recruiting and testing adults (18 through 23 years old) with a history of inhalant use.
Participation in this study involves two trips to our labs at the University of Minnesota. The first visit is a screening visit to make sure that you're eligible for our study. During that time we may ask you many questions about your mood and emotional health. For our participants under 18, a parent or guardian must accompany the child and we will also ask the parent/guardian a variety of questions about the child's psychological and physical health. When we finish with those questions, we will also ask the participant to perform some tasks that measure verbal and nonverbal skills.
If that indicates the subject is appropriate for this study, we would schedule the second visit, which would last for a full day starting at 8:00am. During this visit, we perform a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of the participant's brain in order to see how the different areas are connected with one another. Before the MRI begins, a trained examiner will test some of the participant's reflexes and make some other observations about his or her neurological status. This neurologic exam will take approximately 5 minutes and the MRI scan will take about 45 minutes.
After the MRI scan, the participant is instructed to meet the researchers at another building on campus where we will have him or her fill out some questionnaires and perform a long battery of tests that measure memory, attention, verbal, non-verbal skills, and problem-solving strategies. Some of these tasks involve remembering lists of words, thinking of words, analyzing puzzles, and solving problems. Many of the tasks are performed on the computer.
Participants are compensated $70.00 for their participation in this study. Please click here for information regarding participant eligibility.
In addition to studying brain development, we would also like to study the way some genes influence participants' performances on a variety of the tasks we have them do. In order to study participants' genes, we would need to collect a blood sample. We would have a nurse draw approximatley 5 tsps of blood for the participant's arm. If a participant is interested in this blood draw, he or she will make an additional $20. In many circumstances, this blood draw can be scheduled for the same day as the full day of testing. Click here for more information regarding the genotyping study.