Substance Abuse Across the Lifespan: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neural Perspectives

Substance use and substance use disorders are major challenges for brain health across the human lifespan. Important gaps remain in understanding how brain development, neural circuitry, and cognitive processes contribute to the emergence, maintenance, and remission of substance-related conditions from childhood through old age.Current work highlights a complex interplay between neurodevelopmental trajectories, genetic and environmental factors, and neurocognitive vulnerabilities that shape susceptibility to substance use disorders and related neuropsychiatric outcomes. Advances in neuroimaging, neurophysiology, longitudinal cohorts, and cognitive assessment have begun to reveal age-specific patterns of brain structure and function associated with substance exposure and dependence. However, the precise neural pathways, sensitive developmental windows, and mechanisms of resilience remain insufficiently defined.Evidence suggests that substance misuse during critical periods such as adolescence, early adulthood, and later life may alter key neural systems involved in reward processing, executive control, emotion regulation, and social cognition. These changes may increase risk for, or worsen, neuropsychiatric conditions including mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders, while pre-existing neuropsychiatric vulnerabilities may also shape substance use trajectories. There is a need for integrative, lifespan-oriented research that explicitly links nervous system development and functioning with cognitive, behavioral, and clinical outcomes.This Research Topic aims to elucidate the neural, developmental, cognitive, and clinical mechanisms underlying substance use and substance use disorders across the lifespan, within the broader context of brain health and clinical neuroscience. We seek contributions that clarify how substance use impacts the human nervous system and how brain-based mechanisms inform prevention and treatment.Submissions may address, but are not limited to:o Developmental trajectories of brain structure and function linked to substance use and disorder onset across the lifespano Neurocognitive processes (e.g., executive control, reward processing, decision-making, motivation, social cognition) influencing susceptibility, persistence, and recovery among substance users across life stageso Neural circuitry, connectivity, and systems-level changes associated with acute and chronic substance exposure, dependence, and abstinenceo Longitudinal and cohort studies linking substance use to brain aging, cognitive impairment, and functional outcomeso Genetic, epigenetic, and environmental influences on nervous system development and brain vulnerability to substance use, factors shaping brain and cognitive outcomeso Interactions between substance use and neuropsychiatric conditions, with a focus on shared or distinct neural mechanismso Neuropsychological and psychosocial outcomes of substance use in different age cohorts, with clear links to brain functiono Clinical neuroscience perspectives on assessment, prognosis, and mechanism-based interventions for substance use disorderso Neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral neuroscience approaches clarifying mechanisms of risk and recoveryWe welcome original research, reviews, theoretical papers, and meta-analyses that provide detailed, in-depth knowledge about the development, functioning, and disorders of the human nervous system in the context of substance use and substance use disorders. Topic editors: Luigi Alberto Pini, Lanfranco Pellesi, Saulo Gantes Tractenberg Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77465/substance-abuse-across-the-lifespan-cognitive-behavioral-and-neural-perspectives