Brain Development—Shedding Light on Opioid Exposure and Health Disparities
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Developmental Neuroscience".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 191
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Opioids can negatively impact brain development in fetuses and adolescents, affecting brain size, structure, and function. These effects can lead to cognitive and behavioral deficits later in life.
Opioids can affect the brain in the following ways:
- Brain size: Opioids can reduce the size of the brain's basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellar white matter.
- Myelination: Opioids can impair the development of myelin, the fatty insulation that helps electrical signals travel through nerve fibers.
- Connectivity: Opioids can alter the connectivity between parts of the brain.
- White matter: Opioids can cause white matter lesions or signal abnormalities.
- Neuroanatomical volumes: Opioids can reduce cortical surface areas and lead to thin cortices.
Opioids can cause long-lasting changes in brain development, increasing the risk of addiction and cognitive dysfunction, as well as vulnerability to delirium, hallucinations, and cognitive impairment in older adults.
For this Special Issue, we welcome papers showcasing advanced research on the impact of opioids on brain development. We encourage the submission of original papers, review articles, case reports and case series, pilot studies, and randomized controlled clinical trials.
Dr. Adam Abba-Aji
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- opioids
- brain development
- cognition
- quality of life
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