During puberty, neuronal maturation of the brain, which began during perinatal development, is completed such that the behavioral potential of the adult organism can be fully achieved. These maturational events and processes of reorganization are needed for the occurrence of adult behavioral performance but simultaneously render the organism highly susceptible to perturbations, such as exposure to psychoactive drugs, during this critical developmental time span. Profound developmental changes have been reported in particular for the endocannabinoid (ECB) system during puberty. With our research we are aiming to further clarify the development of the ECB system during puberty, and to characterize specific effects of cannabinoids and other drugs of abuse (e.g. Ethanol, Ritalin etc.) during this critical developmental period. In addition, the impact of maturational processes in the ECB system on the development of neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g. addiction, schizophrenia, borderline personality disoder) is examined in different animal models. |
