Lower attention abilities among teenagers can predict cigarette and cannabis use as they become young adults, according to research from Trinity College Dublin.
Sustained attention – the ability to maintain focus on a task over time – is an important cognitive ability. Substance use, particularly of cannabis, has been linked to impairments in attention capabilities.
However, Irish researchers said the “main question” was whether that attention deficit was always there or if it was caused by the substance use.
The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal eLife, found for the first time that lower sustained attention and related brain network activity at age 14 predicted a larger increase in cigarette and cannabis use by age 23.The study, undertaken by researchers in Trinity’s school of psychology and school of medicine, suggests that sustained attention and associated brain activity could be used as early biomarkers for vulnerability to substance use.
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The research involved the analysis of brain-imaging data from more than 1,000 participants in the Imagen study, obtained at ages 14, 19 and 23.
At age 14, the individuals went into an MRI scanner and did tasks in there, some of which had components of sustained attention requirements. None of the participants had used cannabis at this age.
The process was then repeated at ages 19 and 23, when there was use of cannabis, to ascertain whether there were behavioural and brain differences preceding cannabis use.
Rob Whelan, professor in psychology at Trinity, who led the research team, said the study found there was a direct correlation between inattentiveness and cannabis use due to “cognitive differences”.
“There were fairly robust brain markers that show there’s a vulnerability there that pre-exists,” he said.
Most of the participants were “recreational” smokers, with only a small number being “very heavy users” of cannabis.
The attention capacity among heavy users “definitely worsened”, he said, but for those who used recreationally, the ability to maintain sustained attention was similar to pre- and post-cannabis use.
The researchers found there was “no relationship” between alcohol and sustained attention at these ages.
“The widespread use of cigarette and cannabis among adolescents and young adults in Ireland and elsewhere is a significant public health concern, with major long-term health implications,” Prof Whelan said.
“By identifying lower sustained attention as a predictor of substance use, our findings can potentially guide the development of targeted educational programmes and cognitive training interventions to improve attention in adolescents identified as vulnerable to substance use. This proactive approach could reduce substance-abuse risks, improve individual lives, and lessen societal burdens related to addiction.”
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