NCANDA 2020 NEWSLETTER

Duke University • UC San DiegoSRI International • University of Pittsburgh
Oregon Health & Science University

National Consortium on Alcohol &Neurodevelopment in Adolescence
NCANDA In A Nutshell

NCANDA started in 2012 • enrolled 831 volunteers age 12-21 • funded by the National Institutes of Health• published 32 peer-reviewed papers to date, with more on the way • over 60 presentations at scientificmeetings • provided training opportunities to over 40 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and juniorfaculty • find out more at ncanda.org!

Do We Have Any Volunteers?

mNCANDA AppUnderstanding Brain Injury

It is well documented volunteering provides
physical and mental health benefits including:+ Volunteering builds empathy, strengthenssocial bonds and self-confidence, andmakes people happier.
+ Volunteering could help you earn your next
job! It shows commitment, adds to yourexperience, and can build new skills.
+ Volunteers have lower mortality rates,
greater functional ability, and lower rates ofdepression.
+ Giving time to others makes you feel you
have more time and less wasted time.
Volunteering in research, such as theNCANDA study, may be one way to reap
these rewards!
https://rb.gy/ivewji

After a pilot study in 2017, wewent to work implementing
feedback from participants
before launching this app at all
5 NCANDA sites in 2019. We
are very excited to see themajority of participants complete
100% of their surveys, taking
less than a minute per survey.
This makes the results
extremely valuable!

Brain injury is either traumatic, whencaused by external forces like assault
or sports, or non-traumatic whencaused by internal forces such as astroke, infection, or toxin. Children age
0-4 have the highest rates of traumaticbrain injury (TBI) followed by 15-24
year-olds.
A concussion is a mild TBI that
occurs after a jolt to the head that
upsets normal brain function. A directblow to a body location other than thehead can also cause a concussion.
Effects of a brain injury depend on
the section (frontal, temporal, parietal,occipital lobes, brain stem,cerebellum) of the brain involved. For
example, injury to the cerebellum may
result in changes to balance or motorskills. Effects may include temporary
loss of consciousness, but most brain
injuries do not.
Symptoms may be physical (nausea,headache); cognitive (poor focus);
emotional (irritability, sadness); and/orsleep disturbance (trouble falling orstaying asleep). Symptoms may notappear for a few hours or days. It is
crucial to seek medical attention after
experiencing a brain injury, andensure a repeat injury does not occur.
www.biausa.org/brain-injury

CBD, short for cannabidiol, is the second most studied ingredient (after THC)
in cannabis, but CBD does not have impairing or euphoric effects like THC.
Legality of marijuana products varies by state. In some places, CBD products
may be found in grocery stores, bath and body shops, supplements stores, andeven in pet products. Consumers should be aware CBD products are notapproved by the FDA, and they could contain enough THC to produce a positive
drug test. The FDA has issued warnings to hundreds of companies for CBD
products not containing the level they claim to contain.
The first CBD prescription drug was FDA approved in 2018 to treat severe
seizure disorders, however, extensive research is needed to know if CBD has
medicinal use for other conditions including pain, mental illness, and drug
addiction.
drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine

Picking Your Brain
D2

D4
A1

D3DownD1. Type of brain imaging scan in
NCANDA.
D2. Lobe of brain that forms decisions,judgement, emotions, etc.
D3. Lobe of brain responsible for many
aspects of language.
D4. Lobe of brain responsible for sensory
processing, self-awareness,orientation, etc.
D5. Brain region involved in regulation ofsleep and wakefulness.
D6. Anatomical plane that divides the body
into inferior and superior parts.
Across
A1. Lobe of the brain that interprets vision(color, light, movement).
A2. Region of brain that deals withemotion and memory.
A3. Anatomical plane that divides the body
into right and left.
A4. Bony structure that protects the brain.

Reminder!
Please let us know if yourphone number, email, oraddress change. Visit
ncanda.org!

Crossword Answer Key:
D1.fmri, D2.frontal,
D3.temporal, D4.parietal,D5.thalamus, D6.axial;
A1.occipital, A2.amygdala,A3.sagittal, A4.skull

CBD vs THC