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INNOSC Theranostics and
Pharmacological Sciences Youth brain health check and dysregulation

“smaller, sooner” or “larger, later” rewards. The group opioid/alcohol intake in mothers during pregnancy, 71,72
with a family history of substance abuse displayed greater substance abuse, food addiction, and neuropsychiatric
impatience by responding to “smaller, sooner” rewards more illnesses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
frequently compared to those without a family history of (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder. Bihlar Muld
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abuse. Behavioral impulsivity is ascribed to the differential et al. highlighted that the clinical characteristics of
developmental trajectories of two brain systems in young patients with both ADHD and SUD differed from those
individuals. To provide clarity for those unfamiliar, it is with only SUD or ADHD and other psychiatric conditions,
known that children can be described with regard to how indicating the disabling nature of ADHD when combined
closely they are functioning to age-expected development with SUD. Specifically, the combination of severe substance
in the three early childhood outcomes measured for federal abuse and ADHD resulted in poor general cognitive ability,
reporting purposes. This is evaluated by collecting a variety including antisocial behavior. In addition, disruptions in the
of formative assessment data and using it to rate the child’s nascent synaptic networks and glia induced by opioids can
functioning on a 1 – 7 Likert scale, with 6 and 7 being impact brain connectivity and cognition after the opioid
the age-expected functioning level. In fact, the aim is to supply is abruptly stopped after birth. Neuroimaging has
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link performance with age expectation by comparing the revealed abnormalities in brain structure, including cortical
functioning of children with disabilities to those developing development, white matter microstructure, and functional
according to age expectation. Specifically, Steinberg connectivity, in newborns with fetal alcohol syndrome. These
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reported on the dominating role of the socioemotional impairments in brain development modify developmental
brain systems in driving reward-seeking behavior in the trajectories, leading to deficits in cognition, executive
face of an underdeveloped self-regulatory system. Casey’s function, memory, behavior, and social adaptation. These
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group 62,63 suggested that adolescent developmental changes catastrophic deficits in brain development pose risks for
are hierarchical in subcortical and cortical regions and impending RDS behaviors, including SUD.
their interconnections. For clarity, a hierarchy (from Greek: Undoubtedly, the prevalence of sugar in food and
ἱεραρχία, hierarkhia, “rule of a high priest,” from hierarkhes, beverages has led to excessive consumption across all age
“president of sacred rites”) is an arrangement of items groups, especially children and adolescents. It is staggering
(objects, names, values, categories, etc.) represented as being to note that over 60 countries consume sugar more than
“above,” “below,” or “at the same level as” one another. 4 times (>100 g/person/day), exceeding the World Health
Most importantly, it is plausible that in adolescence, Organization’s (WHO) recommendations (25 g/person/day).
over-activation of the brain’s reward system and under- Utilizing a validated mouse model, Beecher et al. reported
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activation of the cognitive control brain mechanisms can that prolonged sugar overconsumption induces an abnormal
lead to unwanted substance-seeking behavior driven by response to novelty and changes both episodic and spatial
impulsivity and sensation-seeking tendencies. Others memory. Their findings revealed that hippocampal-
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suggested that choosing Now versus Later involves dependent learning and memory deficits accompany altered
developmental changes that load onto poor decisions due hippocampal neurogenesis. Specifically, there was an overall
in part to an undeveloped reward and cognitive control reduction in the proliferation and differentiation of neurons,
system, unlike their adult counterpart. 65-69 especially within the dentate gyrus of newborns.

6. Cognitive impairment in youth While the global obesity epidemic has been widely
publicized in the media, understanding the evolution of
In terms of cognitive impairment, especially concerning sugar addiction could shed light on this dilemma. Avena’s
deficient executive cognitive functioning (ECF) in group highlighted that the dopaminergic system in the
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children, Aytaclar et al. reported that early adolescents at mesolimbic region of the human brain is involved in
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high risk for addictive behavior due to fathers with SUD hedonic rewards as a function of eating highly addictive,
demonstrated significantly poorer performance on ECF palatable foods like sugar. Particularly interesting is the
compared to lower risk adolescences. High-risk individuals role of acetylcholine in counteracting the dopaminergic
in early adolescence displayed an earlier initiation of surge as a plausible mechanistic action to help curb
cannabis use and a greater prevalence of lifetime cannabis uncontrollable sugar cravings.
and tobacco use. Importantly, the level of ECF activity was
predictive of the severity of drug involvement, including 7. Proposing BHC as a novel program in the
conduct problems and the number of drugs ever tried. US’s educational system
Several contributing factors are associated with cognitive In 2021, over 100,000 individuals died prematurely from
impairment in youth, including but not limited to excessive an opioid overdose. Neuropsychiatric and cognitive

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/itps.1472