Adolescent Substance Abuse Articles
Smoking as a teenager may hurt brain development
By Staff Writer
In addition to possibly forming an addiction, teenagers who smoke cigarettes may also be causing harm to their brain. A recent study on smoking found that a dependence on nicotine is linked to decreased activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex, which is still developing during adolescence.
This portion of the brain helps guide executive functions, such as decision-making. To learn what affects smoking can have on the teenage brain, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles asked 25 smokers and 25 nonsmokers between the age of 15 and 21 to perform a stop-signal task meant to activate their prefrontal cortexes.
The researchers' findings revealed that the more teenagers smoked, the less activity they had in their prefrontal cortex. However, both groups performed similarly during the stop-signal task. Due to these results, the researchers feel that other areas of a smoker's brain may maintain motor response skills.
Despite surprise over the stop-signal task results, the researhers' key finding was that smoking has the ability to influence the trajectory of a teenager's brain development. This may lead individuals to make less rational decisions, such as to start and continue to smoke cigarettes.
Teenagers who wish to quit their habit may want to pursue substance abuse help for their addiction.
