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My Light The ABCD Data Treasure Chest

When someone dies The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development importantly, the public.

are they really gone? (ABCD) Study is following more than 11,800 Scientists are already analyzing the first two years of ABCD
children and their families in 21 communities Study data. For example, two researchers at the University
The apples in the garden across the United States. (“Cognitive development” of Colorado, Boulder (one of the ABCD research sites)
means development of a person’s ability to think, learn,
miss your callused touch, understand, and remember information.) Beginning when have shown that children of mothers who had reported
using marijuana when they were pregnant had more sleep
the children were ages nine and ten, the study will follow disorders.1 This observation will now be studied more
and the Earth, it seems, them for ten years, collecting a treasure trove of information deeply to see if being exposed to marijuana while they’re
can’t weep enough. as the children navigate their teenage years and become in the mother’s womb directly affects children’s sleep. (The
young adults. It will collect information about their physical ABCD Study will help answer many other questions about
Forever feels and mental health, activities, and academic progress; possible long-term effects of being exposed to drugs in the
their environments; and the social and cultural forces that
more real womb.)
could either make them stronger or increase the risks
they face. And that’s just the beginning: The study is using A research team at the National University of Singapore
than the rain does. technologies such as advanced brain imaging methods (not affiliated with ABCD) studied children who consumed
You’re gone and wearable sensors to explore brain development, sleep different amounts of caffeine and how well they learned,
patterns, and more. thought, and remembered information. The researchers
but the story found that children who consumed greater amounts of
In many ways, the ABCD Study reflects a new era of science. caffeine scored lower on vocabulary tests, had a harder time
lives on First, as one of only a few “big data” studies of its kind, it is remembering information, and processed new information
collecting massive amounts of information from thousands more slowly, and more. This might mean that consuming
in a bed Art by Jake O. of participants: genetic data, brain images from magnetic more drinks containing caffeine (such as energy drinks and
of neurons resonance imaging (MRI), and much more. It will all add many soft drinks) affects kids’ cognitive abilities as they
up to many trillions of bytes of information! How is this grow up; or it could mean that children whose cognitive
you once said, possible? Scientists can now ask—and get answers for— abilities are affected by other things are more likely to drink
bigger questions than ever before, thanks to advances
electrical impulses in computing, artificial intelligence (also called machine these beverages. Finding out more about connections like
this can help families to support their children’s cognitive
learning), and data storage. development in the most effective ways.
with enough power
to light A second groundbreaking aspect of ABCD is that it uses ABCD data are released to the wider research community
an “open science” model. This means that any researcher
once a year. In Fall/Winter 2020, the third batch of ABCD
anywhere in the world can apply for access to almost all of data—ABCD Data Release 3.0—will be made available on
entire universes. the information collected, and analyze that data on their the ABCD website. This information will help us learn how
I wish you were here own. The ABCD Study data could help answer many more children’s involvement in arts activities like music, dance,
questions than the approximately 185 scientists who are and visual arts may be related to how well they do in school
but you are there directly involved in the study could explore. Researchers (see “Music’s Harmony on the Developing Brain: Data from
where stars like you can also review the answers that other researchers publish, the ABCD Study” by Tim Brown and John Iversen on page
using the same data—helping to correct any mistakes and 16). These data—like all the data the study is collecting—
are meant to burn keep scientific progress moving more quickly. This will could unlock new discoveries that improve the lives of
help everybody in the scientific community—and, most
like diamonds studded children, adolescents, and adults.
To learn more about how to obtain data from the ABCD Study, visit nda.nih.gov/abcd.
in the sky,
your bright Terry L. Jernigan, Ph.D. Sandra A. Brown, Ph.D.
ABCD Study Principal Investigator ABCD Study Principal Investigator
presence University of California, San Diego University of California, San Diego
Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry,
forever my light. and Radiology Vice Chancellor for Research and

Director of Center of Human Development Distinguished Professor
By Phillip Nguyen Art by Austin O.
Research Assistant 1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352721820301352?via%3Dihub
University of Vermont 2 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-020-05596-8#Ack1