NIDA and Others Collect Brain Data
NIDA has joined with other National Institutes of Health (NIH) centers to embark on the world’s fi rst large-scale longitudinal study to collect behavioral and brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) data on 500 children, ages 0–18 years. Once completed, results
will provide baseline normative structural development information and corresponding behavioral measures to the wider scientific community.
This database will be an invaluable resource to examine, by comparison to normal brain data, how drugs of abuse affect brain development and how age of exposure and gender matter. Ultimately, this information should facilitate earlier identifi cation of various disorders
or vulnerabilities, thereby helping to develop targeted interventions that can be implemented early, before drug abuse takes hold and changes the trajectory of a young person’s
life. 
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