Data Sharing

The New York Times has published an article about unauthorized access to NIH-supported data by fringe researchers who have used the data to promote racist pseudoscience. The ABCD Study is named. These egregious misuses of the data are fundamentally inconsistent with the study’s goals, methods, and values. ABCD is designed to advance rigorous and ethical research and opposes discriminatory, stigmatizing, or harmful uses of the data. We are deeply sorry for the distress this has caused and will be reaching out to participants, the public, and the scientific community in the coming days and weeks.

Read more: New York Times
Read more: Responsible use of population neuroscience data in ABCD

Click here to view a detailed schematic of the Data Release Schedule. Each data release contains data on the full participant cohort. Click here to view a schematic of the assessment protocol. For more information about the neuroimaging protocol, please visit the Imaging Protocols page.

Click here for the NBDC Data Hub, here for the ABCD Documentation site and here for the DEAP Documentation site.

New NIH Security Requirements for Controlled Access Data
NIH expects that Approved Users of NIH controlled-access data comply with NIH Security Best Practices for Users of Controlled-Access Data and maintain such data on institutional IT systems, cloud service providers, and/or third-party IT systems with security standards that meet or exceed NIST SP 800-171 or the equivalent ISO/IEC 27001/27002 standards. Please see this summary for detailed information as it pertains to the new NIH Brain Development Cohorts Data Sharing Platform.

This NIH webinar provides an overview of NIST security requirements: https://sharing.nih.gov/genomic-data-sharing-policy/resources/learning?policy=GDS. Note: the presenters refer to genomic data but the policy has since been amended to include all NIH controlled access data.

Data Releases

The ABCD 6.1 patch release is now available!

The release includes new summary scores, as well as data and metadata fixes. Please see the 6.1 data release notes for more information.

ABCD 6.0 Data Release is available now on the NIH Brain Development Cohorts Data Hub

NBDC

Available Now! We are excited to announce the launch of the NIH Brain Development Cohorts (NBDC) Data Hub. This new data ecosystem will host and facilitate access to data from both the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD) Study and the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study.

The NBDC Data Hub will offer a range of functionalities:

  • Scalable Data Integration: Seamlessly manage large volumes of data, including neuroimaging and genomics data
  • Customized Query Tools: Easily navigate data dictionaries to find the variables you need for your research goals
  • Streamlined Data Use Certification (DUC) Workflows: Choose individual or investigator-led group DUC. Visit the NBDC Data Hub to learn more and start your DUC application: https://www.nbdc-datahub.org/. Researchers with an active DUC from the NIMH Data Archive will need to obtain a new DUC via the NBDC Data Hub.
  • Responsible Use Training: Complete training on responsible data and biospecimen use prior to data access approval

ABCD data users: The ABCD 6.0 data release includes cumulative data from baseline through the six-year follow-up visit, with data from about 75% of participants at that timepoint. For detailed information about the ABCD Study®, please visit the ABCD Study website: https://abcdstudy.org. New with the 6.0 release:

  • All summary scores for tabulated data have been recomputed and a link to a companion R package will be provided on the ABCD documentation
  • Two new tables will be shared containing general participant information that may change over time (dynamic variables, e.g., cohort descriptions) as well as visit-specific information (static variables, e.g., visit date/time)
  • Neuroimaging:
    • Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) – formatted raw data
    • Concatenated resting-state and task-based data
    • ABCD Community Collection (ABCC) BIDS derivatives data

HBCD data users: The inaugural HBCD data release will include data from over 1400 pregnant participants during the prenatal period. For about half of these participants, follow-up data from their babies will also be included. For more information about the HBCD Study, please visit https://hbcdstudy.org. Included in the inaugural release:

  • Data domains encompassing prenatal health, pregnancy exposures including substance use, social and environmental determinants of health, infant brain imaging and activity, cognition and behavior, physical growth, and wearable biosensors
  • Raw and derived brain imaging, EEG, and motion (actigraphy) data using the BIDS standard for data organization

Questions? Email: NDBC@mail.nih.gov

Notice: ABCD Data Access Requests Update

As of June 2, 2025, The NIMH Data Archive is no longer accepting new or renewal data access requests for ABCD Study data. Renewal requests submitted on or before June 2 will be processed. You may continue to access data from the 5.1 data release until your DUC expires.

Full Baseline Data Demographics

Click here for full baseline data demographics (n = 11,878 participants; 48% female; 52% male)

Archived Data Releases

Please click here to view archived data releases.

Upcoming Events

Archived News and Events

Please click here to view archived news and events.

Data Opportunities

Secondary data analysis funding opportunity announcements

NICHD, along with several other ICs, have issued notices of funding opportunities on measuring brain changes across long timespans. You can view the requests for application here and here.

NIDA has issued two secondary data analysis funding opportunity announcements focused on substance use trajectories and risk and resilience of substance use disorder. You can review the Requests for Application here and here.

NIMH, along with NIAAA, NIEHS and the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, have issued funding opportunity announcements for ABCD secondary data analysis. Note that these are reissues of PAR-19-162 and PAR-19-163. You can review them here and here.

ABCD Study genetic correlation cortical surface maps are now available

Fuzzy clusters derived from genetic correlation of cortical areas will be provided on request. Click here to view associated documentation.

Archived Data Opportunities

Please click here to view archived data opportunities.

Data Resources

DEAP Documentation

Provides comprehensive documentation for the Data Exploration and Analysis Portal (DEAP), including guidance on using the interactive data dictionary, creating and editing custom and pre-assembled datasets, organizing and managing data, downloading datasets in multiple formats, and exploring variables and metadata.

ABCD 6.0 Data Release is available now on the NIH Brain Development Cohorts Data Hub

NBDC

Available Now! We are excited to announce the launch of the NIH Brain Development Cohorts (NBDC) Data Hub. This new data ecosystem will host and facilitate access to data from both the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD) Study and the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study.

The NBDC Data Hub will offer a range of functionalities:

The NBDC Data Hub will offer a range of functionalities:

  • Scalable Data Integration: Seamlessly manage large volumes of data, including neuroimaging and genomics data
  • Customized Query Tools: Easily navigate data dictionaries to find the variables you need for your research goals
  • Streamlined Data Use Certification (DUC) Workflows: Choose individual or investigator-led group DUC. Visit the NBDC Data Hub to learn more and start your DUC application: https://www.nbdc-datahub.org/. Researchers with an active DUC from the NIMH Data Archive will need to obtain a new DUC via the NBDC Data Hub.
  • Responsible Use Training: Complete training on responsible data and biospecimen use prior to data access approval

ABCD data users: The ABCD 6.0 data release includes cumulative data from baseline through the six-year follow-up visit, with data from about 75% of participants at that timepoint. For detailed information about the ABCD Study®, please visit the ABCD Study website: https://abcdstudy.org. New with the 6.0 release:

  • All summary scores for tabulated data have been recomputed and a link to a companion R package will be provided on the ABCD documentation
  • Two new tables will be shared containing general participant information that may change over time (dynamic variables, e.g., cohort descriptions) as well as visit-specific information (static variables, e.g., visit date/time)
  • Neuroimaging:
    • Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) – formatted raw data
    • Concatenated resting-state and task-based data
    • ABCD Community Collection (ABCC) BIDS derivatives data

HBCD data users: The inaugural HBCD data release will include data from over 1400 pregnant participants during the prenatal period. For about half of these participants, follow-up data from their babies will also be included. For more information about the HBCD Study, please visit https://hbcdstudy.org. Included in the inaugural release:

  • Data domains encompassing prenatal health, pregnancy exposures including substance use, social and environmental determinants of health, infant brain imaging and activity, cognition and behavior, physical growth, and wearable biosensors
  • Raw and derived brain imaging, EEG, and motion (actigraphy) data using the BIDS standard for data organization

Questions? Email: NDBC@mail.nih.gov

Check out this video tutorial on the new Data Exploration and Analysis Portal (DEAP)!

Learn how to query ABCD data ontologies and create datasets using DEAP in this interactive demo.

Introducing NIH Cloud Lab

Are you interested in using the cloud for research but not ready to make a long-term commitment? Make sure you check out NIH Cloud Lab, a new 90-day program that enables NIH-affiliated* researchers to explore the cloud at no cost in a secure, NIH-approved environment. Participants can sign up at any time and receive an account with $500 of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure credits, access to curated bioinformatics tutorials, and support from NIH technical and bioinformatics experts. The program is open to all NIH-affiliated researchers and all NIH staff. Browse the Cloud Lab homepage to learn more and reach out to cloudlab@nih.gov if you have any questions.

ABCD Study Methods Publications

ABCD Study investigators have published papers that describe the study’s design and analysis plans, and that highlight methodological and statistical issues in ABCD.

Click here to read about recommendations for using large-scale publicly available data to advance health among American Indian peoples.

Click here to read about recommended practices for researchers and reviewers working with ABCD Study data.

Click here to read about trait stability and reliability in ABCD task fMRI data.

Click here to read about protocols and practices for the ABCD Study’s linked external environmental data.

Click here to read about issues surrounding meaningful associations in the ABCD Study.

Click here to read about the neuroimaging processing pipeline used for ABCD Data Release 1.1.

Click here for a special issue of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience dedicated to the study’s rationale, aims, and assessment strategies.