Maria Ivana Perica

Maria Ivana Perica

she/her

Postdoctoral Fellow

Publications

This is a select list of publications. You can find all of my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

Age- and alcohol-related differences in adolescent neurometabolite levels

Published in Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research, 2026

Adolescence is a critical period for neurometabolic maturation and is typically when alcohol use is initiated. Using 3T magnetic resonance spectroscopy in 84 adolescents (ages = 17–22), we observed age-related increases in metabolites supporting neuronal health, membrane synthesis, glial function, inhibitory neurotransmission, and decreases in excitatory neurotransmission. More alcohol use was associated with lower levels of a metabolite linked to neuronal health. These findings clarify developmental patterns of neurometabolites and highlight a potential biomarker for early alcohol-related disruption during adolescence.

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Impact of stress on excitatory and inhibitory markers of adolescent cognitive critical period plasticity

Published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2023

In this narrative review paper that I wrote for my comprehensive examination, we propose a model of how stressful experiences during adolescence can impact developmental trajectories of excitatory and inhibitory function. We consider acute and chronic dimensions of stress, and contextualize these experiences within the context of adolescence as a developmental critical period for cognitive function.

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Hippocampal-Prefrontal Connectivity Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic Predicts Stress Reactivity

Published in Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, 2021

In this paper, we leveraged prospective data collected prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how individual connectivity patterns varied with levels of anxiety and worry about the pandemic. We found that more adult-like connectivity between the vmPFC and pHPC was associated with greater worry during the pandemic in adolescents.

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