Understanding adolescence as a period of social-affective engagement and goal flexibility

Tracking the Brain's Functional Coupling Dynamics over Development

The transition from childhood to adulthood is marked by pronounced functional and structural brain transformations that impact cognition and behavior. Here, we use a functional imaging approach to reveal dynamic changes in coupling strength between networks and the expression of discrete brain configurations over human development during rest and a cognitive control task. Although the brain's repertoire of functional states was generally preserved across ages, state-specific temporal features, such as the frequency of expression and the amount of time spent in select states, varied by age in ways that were dependent on condition. Increasing age was associated with greater variability of connection strengths across time at rest, while there was a selective inversion of this effect in higher-order networks during implementation of cognitive control. The results suggest that development is characterized by the modification of dynamic coupling to both maximize and constrain functional variability in response to ongoing cognitive and behavioral requirements.

The effects of age, sex, and hormones on emotional conflict-related brain response during adolescence

While cognitive and emotional systems both undergo development during adolescence, few studies have explored top-down inhibitory control brain activity in the context of affective processing, critical to informing adolescent psychopathology. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain response during an Emotional Conflict (EmC) Task across 10-15-year-old youth. During the EmC Task, participants indicated the emotion of facial expressions, while disregarding emotion-congruent and incongruent words printed across the faces. We examined the relationships of age, sex, and gonadal hormones with brain activity on Incongruent vs. Congruent trials. Age was negatively associated with middle frontal gyrus activity, controlling for performance and movement confounds. Sex differences were present in occipital and parietal cortices, and were driven by activation in females, and deactivation in males to Congruent trials. Testosterone was negatively related with frontal and striatal brain response in males, and cerebellar and precuneus response in females. Estradiol was negatively related with fronto-cerebellar, cingulate, and precuneus brain activity in males, and positively related with occipital response in females. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the effects of age, sex, and sex steroids during an emotion-cognition task in adolescents. Further research is needed to examine longitudinal development of emotion-cognition interactions and deviations in psychiatric disorders in adolescence.

Episodic Future Thinking Is Related to Impulsive Decision Making in Healthy Adolescents

Delay discounting is a stable trait measure of impulsivity. Engaging in episodic future thinking (EFT) can reduce discounting, but whether individual differences in discounting are associated with differences in future thinking remains unclear. Here, this association was tested in healthy adolescents (n = 49, age range = 12-16 years, fluent German speakers, from a large German city). Data collection was between December 2011 and December 2012. Vividness of EFT (assessed via the Autobiographical Memory Interview) was negatively correlated with discounting (r = -.41, 95% CI [-.63, -.13], r(2) = .17). Regression analyses confirmed that this association was stable when controlling for additional variables, including hormonal measures of pubertal maturation and intelligence. EFT may attenuate impulsivity in young people at risk of engaging in problematic behavior.

Stronger Working Memory Reduces Sexual Risk Taking in Adolescents, Even After Controlling for Parental Influences

This study examined the prospective influence of adolescent working memory (WM) on changes in impulsivity and sexual risk taking and assessed whether this relation could be explained by confounding effects of parental influences. Data from 360 community adolescents (M_age  = 13.5 ± 0.95 years; 52% female; 56% non-Hispanic White; low-mid socioeconomic status (SES); recruited from Philadelphia area in 2004-2005) were analyzed using structural equation modeling to predict changes in impulsivity and sexual risk taking over a 2-year follow-up, using baseline assessments of WM, parental monitoring, parental involvement, and SES. Stronger WM predicted reduced involvement in sexual risk taking at follow-up, effects channeled through changes in impulsivity dimensions of "acting without thinking" and "inability to delay gratification." Parental variables had a protective influence on adolescent impulsivity and risk involvement, but the effects of WM operated independently of parental influences.

Risk-Taking Behavior in a Computerized Driving Task: Brain Activation Correlates of Decision-Making, Outcome, and Peer Influence in Male Adolescents

Increased propensity for risky behavior in adolescents, particularly in peer groups, is thought to reflect maturational imbalance between reward processing and cognitive control systems that affect decision-making. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain functional correlates of risk-taking behavior and effects of peer influence in 18–19-year-old male adolescents. The subjects were divided into low and high risk-taking groups using either personality tests or risk-taking rates in a simulated driving task. The fMRI data were analyzed for decision-making (whether to take a risk at intersections) and outcome (pass or crash) phases, and for the influence of peer competition. Personality test-based groups showed no difference in the amount of risk-taking (similarly increased during peer competition) and brain activation. When groups were defined by actual task performance, risk-taking activated two areas in the left medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) significantly more in low than in high risk-takers. In the entire sample, risky decision-specific activation was found in the anterior and dorsal cingulate, superior parietal cortex, basal ganglia (including the nucleus accumbens), midbrain, thalamus, and hypothalamus. Peer competition increased outcome-related activation in the right caudate head and cerebellar vermis in the entire sample. Our results suggest that the activation of the medial (rather than lateral) PFC and striatum is most specific to risk-taking behavior of male adolescents in a simulated driving situation, and reflect a stronger conflict and thus increased cognitive effort to take risks in low risk-takers, and reward anticipation for risky decisions, respectively. The activation of the caudate nucleus, particularly for the positive outcome (pass) during peer competition, further suggests enhanced reward processing of risk-taking under peer influence.

Emergence of sex differences in the development of substance use and abuse during adolescence

Substance use and abuse begin during adolescence. Male and female adolescent humans initiate use at comparable rates, but males increase use faster. In adulthood, more men than women use and abuse addictive drugs. However, some women progress more rapidly from initiation of use to entry into treatment. In animal models, adolescent males and females consume addictive drugs similarly. However, reproductively mature females acquire self-administration faster, and in some models, escalate use more. Sex/gender differences exist in neurobiologic factors mediating both reinforcement (dopamine, opioids) and aversiveness (CRF, dynorphin), as well as intrinsic factors (personality, psychiatric co-morbidities) and extrinsic factors (history of abuse, environment especially peers and family) which influence the progression from initial use to abuse. Many of these important differences emerge during adolescence, and are moderated by sexual differentiation of the brain. Estradiol effects which enhance both dopaminergic and CRF-mediated processes contribute to the female vulnerability to substance use and abuse. Testosterone enhances impulsivity and sensation seeking in both males and females. Several protective factors in females also influence initiation and progression of substance use including hormonal changes of pregnancy as well as greater capacity for self-regulation and lower peak levels of impulsivity/sensation seeking. Same sex peers represent a risk factor more for males than females during adolescence, while romantic partners increase risk for women during this developmental epoch. In summary, biologic factors, psychiatric co-morbidities as well as personality and environment present sex/gender-specific risks as adolescents begin to initiate substance use.

Social anxiety disorder in adolescence: How developmental cognitive neuroscience findings may shape understanding and interventions for psychopathology

Social anxiety disorder represents a debilitating condition that has large adverse effects on the quality of social connections, educational achievement and wellbeing. Age-of-onset data suggests that early adolescence is a developmentally sensitive juncture for the onset of social anxiety. In this review, we highlight the potential of using a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach to understand (i) why there are normative increases in social worries in adolescence and (ii) how adolescence-associated changes may 'bring out' neuro-cognitive risk factors for social anxiety in a subset of individuals during this developmental period. We also speculate on how changes that occur in learning and plasticity may allow for optimal acquisition of more adaptive neurocognitive strategies through external interventions. Hence, for the minority of individuals who require external interventions to target their social fears, this enhanced flexibility could result in more powerful and longer-lasting therapeutic effects. We will review two novel interventions that target information-processing biases and their neural substrates via cognitive training and visual feedback of neural activity measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Psychological and Neurobiological Precursors of Alcohol Use Disorders in High Risk Youth

It has long been known that Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) run in families with substantial heritability. Determining the specific genetic underpinnings of these disorders has been challenging because of the clinical heterogeneity and variable expression across the lifespan. The search for endophenotypic biological variation associated with the AUD and related substance use disorder (SUD) phenotypes is based on the belief that an endophenotype is more proximal to the causative gene. Identification of genes conferring increased susceptibility has important implications for treatment through the potential development of medications that target specific genetic pathways. High risk family designs that contrast offspring with and without a familial/genetic background have provided valuable insights into the psychological characteristics (executive control, affective regulation, decision making and social cognition) that differentiate such individuals. The current chapter will review these with a focus on brain morphology of specific regions, the coordinated activity of neural networks, and developmental trajectories of electrophysiological activity.

Forgetting the best when predicting the worst: Preliminary observations on neural circuit function in adolescent social anxiety

Social anxiety disorder typically begins in adolescence, a sensitive period for brain development, when increased complexity and salience of peer relationships requires novel forms of social learning. Disordered social learning in adolescence may explain how brain dysfunction promotes social anxiety. Socially anxious adolescents (n = 15) and adults (n = 19) and non-anxious adolescents (n = 24) and adults (n = 32) predicted, then received, social feedback from high and low-value peers while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A surprise recall task assessed memory biases for feedback. Neural correlates of social evaluation prediction errors (PEs) were assessed by comparing engagement to expected and unexpected positive and negative feedback. For socially anxious adolescents, but not adults or healthy participants of either age group, PEs elicited heightened striatal activity and negative fronto-striatal functional connectivity. This occurred selectively to unexpected positive feedback from high-value peers and corresponded with impaired memory for social feedback. While impaired memory also occurred in socially-anxious adults, this impairment was unrelated to brain-based PE activity. Thus, social anxiety in adolescence may relate to altered neural correlates of PEs that contribute to impaired learning about social feedback. Small samples necessitate replication. Nevertheless, results suggest that the relationship between learning and fronto-striatal function may attenuate as development progresses.

Adolescent development of inhibition as a function of SES and gender: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI

The ability to adaptively inhibit responses to tempting/distracting stimuli in the pursuit of goals is an essential set of skills necessary for adult competence and wellbeing. These inhibitory capacities develop throughout childhood, with growing evidence of important maturational changes occurring in adolescence. There also has been intense interest in the role of social adversity on the development of executive function, including inhibitory control. We hypothesized that the onset of adolescence could be a time of particular opportunity/vulnerability in the development of inhibition due to the large degree of maturational changes in neural systems involved in regulatory control. We investigated this hypothesis in a longitudinal study of adolescents by examining the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the maturation of inhibition and concurrent brain function. Furthermore, we examined gender as a potential moderator of this relationship, given evidence of gender-specificity in the developmental pathways of inhibition as well as sex differences in adolescent development. Results reveal that lower SES is associated with worse behavioral inhibition over time and a concurrent increase in anterior cingulate (ACC) activation, but only in girls. We also found that lower SES girls exhibited decreased ACC ↔ dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) coupling over time. Our findings suggest that female adolescents with lower SES appear to develop less efficient inhibitory processing in dlPFC, requiring greater and relatively unsuccessful compensatory recruitment of ACC. In summary, the present study provides a novel window into the neural mechanisms by which the influence of SES on inhibition may be transmitted during adolescence.

Molecular epigenetic switches in neurodevelopment in health and disease

Epigenetic mechanisms encode information above and beyond DNA sequence and play a critical role in brain development and the long-lived effects of environmental cues on the pre- and postnatal brain. Switch-like, rather than graded changes, illustrate par excellence how epigenetic events perpetuate altered activity states in the absence of the initial cue. They occur from early neural development to maturation and can give rise to distinct diseases upon deregulation. Many neurodevelopmental genes harbor bivalently marked chromatin domains, states of balanced inhibition, which guide dynamic “ON or OFF” decisions once the balance is tilted in response to developmental or environmental cues. Examples discussed in this review include neuronal differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESC) into progenitors and beyond, activation of Kiss1 at puberty onset, and early experience-dependent programming of Avp, a major stress gene. At the genome-scale, genomic imprinting can be epigenetically switched on or off at select genes in a tightly controlled temporospatial manner and provides a versatile mechanism for dosage regulation of genes with important roles in stem cell quiescence or differentiation. Moreover, retrotransposition in neural progenitors provides an intriguing example of an epigenetic-like switch, which is stimulated by bivalently marked neurodevelopmental genes and possibly results in increased genomic flexibility regarding unprecedented challenge. Overall, we propose that molecular epigenetic switches illuminate the catalyzing function of epigenetic mechanisms in guiding dynamic changes in gene expression underpinning robust transitions in cellular and organismal phenotypes as well as in the mediation between dynamically changing environments and the static genetic blueprint.

Mid-adolescent neurocognitive development of ignoring and attending emotional stimuli

Appropriate reactions toward emotional stimuli depend on the distribution of prefrontal attentional resources. In mid-adolescence, prefrontal top-down control systems are less engaged, while subcortical bottom-up emotional systems are more engaged. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to follow the neural development of attentional distribution, i.e. attending versus ignoring emotional stimuli, in adolescence. 144 healthy adolescents were studied longitudinally at age 14 and 16 while performing a perceptual discrimination task. Participants viewed two pairs of stimuli--one emotional, one abstract--and reported on one pair whether the items were the same or different, while ignoring the other pair. Hence, two experimental conditions were created: "attending emotion/ignoring abstract" and "ignoring emotion/attending abstract". Emotional valence varied between negative, positive, and neutral. Across conditions, reaction times and error rates decreased and activation in the anterior cingulate and inferior frontal gyrus increased from age 14 to 16. In contrast, subcortical regions showed no developmental effect. Activation of the anterior insula increased across ages for attending positive and ignoring negative emotions. Results suggest an ongoing development of prefrontal top-down resources elicited by emotional attention from age 14 to 16 while activity of subcortical regions representing bottom-up processing remains stable.

On the Development of Implicit and Control Processes in Relation to Substance Use in Adolescence

Adolescence is a period in which brain structures involved in motivation and cognitive control continue to develop and also a period in which many youth begin substance use. Dual-process models propose that, among substance users, implicit or automatically activated neurocognitive processes gain in relative influence on substance use behavior, while the influence of cognitive control or reflective processes weakens. There is evidence that a variety of implicit cognitive processes, such as attentional bias, biased action tendencies (approach bias), memory bias and at a neural level, cue reactivity, are associated with adolescent substance use. The impact of these implicit processes on the further development of addictive behaviors appears to depend on moderating factors, such as (premorbid) executive control functions. Clear negative effects of adolescent substance use on executive control functions generally have not been found using behavioral tasks, although some studies have identified subtle and specific effects on cognitive functioning.

Testing a dual-systems model of adolescent brain development using resting-state connectivity analyses

The current study aimed to test a dual-systems model of adolescent brain development by studying changes in intrinsic functional connectivity within and across networks typically associated with cognitive-control and affective-motivational processes. To this end, resting-state and task-related fMRI data were collected of 269 participants (ages 8-25). Resting-state analyses focused on seeds derived from task-related neural activation in the same participants: the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) from a cognitive rule-learning paradigm and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) from a reward-paradigm. Whole-brain seed-based resting-state analyses showed an age-related increase in dlPFC connectivity with the caudate and thalamus, and an age-related decrease in connectivity with the (pre)motor cortex. nAcc connectivity showed a strengthening of connectivity with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and subcortical structures such as the hippocampus, and a specific age-related decrease in connectivity with the ventral medial PFC (vmPFC). Behavioral measures from both functional paradigms correlated with resting-state connectivity strength with their respective seed. That is, age-related change in learning performance was mediated by connectivity between the dlPFC and thalamus, and age-related change in winning pleasure was mediated by connectivity between the nAcc and vmPFC. These patterns indicate (i) strengthening of connectivity between regions that support control and learning, (ii) more independent functioning of regions that support motor and control networks, and (iii) more independent functioning of regions that support motivation and valuation networks with age. These results are interpreted vis-à-vis a dual-systems model of adolescent brain development.

Neural activation during response inhibition is associated with adolescents' frequency of risky sex and substance use

OBJECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

While many have identified the important role of the developing brain in youth risk behavior, few have examined the relationship between salient cognitive factors (response inhibition) and different types of real-world adolescent health risk behaviors such as substance use and risky sex, within the same sample of youth.

METHODS

We therefore sought to examine these relationships with 95 high-risk youth (ages 14-18; M age = 16.29 years). We examined blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to an fMRI-based cognitive task designed to assess response inhibition (Go/NoGo) and past month risk behavior (number of substance use days; number of unprotected sex days).

RESULTS

For this sample of youth, we found significant negative correlations between past month substance use and response inhibition within the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and right insula (uncorrected p < .001; extent threshold ≥ 10 voxels). In addition, in the same contrast, we found significant positive correlations between past month risky sex and activation within the right IFG and left middle occipital gyrus (uncorrected p < .001; extent threshold ≥ 10 voxels).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest the particular relevance of these regions in this compelling, albeit slightly different, pattern of response for adolescent risky behaviors.

Weaknesses in executive functioning predict the initiating of adolescents' alcohol use

Recently, it has been suggested that impairments in executive functioning might be risk factors for the onset of alcohol use rather than a result of heavy alcohol use. In the present study, we examined whether two aspects of executive functioning, working memory and response inhibition, predicted the first alcoholic drink and first binge drinking episode in young adolescents using discrete survival analyses. Adolescents were selected from several Dutch secondary schools including both mainstream and special education (externalizing behavioral problems). Participants were 534 adolescents between 12 and 14 years at baseline. Executive functioning and alcohol use were assessed four times over a period of two years. Working memory uniquely predicted the onset of first drink (p=.01) and first binge drinking episode (p=.04) while response inhibition only uniquely predicted the initiating of the first drink (p=.01). These results suggest that the association of executive functioning and alcohol consumption found in former studies cannot simply be interpreted as an effect of alcohol consumption, as weaknesses in executive functioning, found in alcohol naïve adolescents, predict the initiating of (binge) drinking. Though, prolonged and heavy alcohol use might further weaken already existing deficiencies.

Neural correlates of adolescents' viewing of parents' and peers' emotions: Associations with risk-taking behavior and risky peer affiliations

Social reorientation from parents to same-age peers is normative in adolescence, but the neural correlates of youths' socioemotional processing of parents and peers have not been explored. In the current study, 22 adolescents (average age 16.98) underwent neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) while viewing and rating emotions shown in brief video clips featuring themselves, their parents, or an unfamiliar peer. Viewing self vs. other and parents vs. the peer activated regions in the medial prefrontal cortex, replicating prior findings that this area responds to self-relevant stimuli, including familiar and not just similar others. Viewing the peer compared with parents elicited activation in posterior 'mentalizing' structures, the precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus and right temporoparietal junction, as well as the ventral striatum and bilateral amygdala and hippocampus. Relative activations in the PCC and precuneus to the peer vs. the parent were related both to reported risk-taking behavior and to affiliations with more risk-taking peers. The results suggest neural correlates of the adolescent social reorientation toward peers and away from parents that may be associated with adolescents' real-life risk-taking behaviors and social relationships.

Motivational and control mechanisms underlying adolescent cannabis use disorders: A prospective study

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Adolescents with a CUD had an attentional but no approach bias towards cannabis.

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Cannabis craving significantly predicted cannabis use 6 months later.

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These findings identify craving as a predictor of treatment outcome.

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This study is among the first to investigate neuropsychological mechanisms underlying adolescent CUDs.

Cannabis use disorders (CUDs) are the most prevalent substance use disorders among adolescents in treatment. Yet, little is known about the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying adolescent CUDs. Studies in adult cannabis users suggest a significant role for cognitive control and cannabis-oriented motivational processes, such as attentional bias, approach bias, and craving in CUDs. The current 6-month prospective study investigated the relationships between attentional bias, approach bias, craving, cognitive control, and cannabis use in adolescent patients in treatment for a primary or secondary CUD. Moreover, we investigated if these motivational processes and cognitive control could predict treatment progression after 6 months. Adolescents with a CUD had an attentional but no approach bias towards cannabis. In contrast to adult findings on the role of attentional bias, approach bias and cognitive control, only cannabis craving significantly correlated with current cannabis use and predicted cannabis use-related problems and abstinence from cannabis 6 months later. These findings identify craving as a predictor of treatment outcome, thereby supporting an important role for craving in the course of adolescent cannabis use and dependence. This prospective study is among the first to investigate neuropsychological mechanisms underlying adolescent CUDs, warranting future longitudinal studies.

Sexual initiation and emotional/behavioral problems in Taiwanese adolescents: a multivariate response profile analysis

This study aimed to investigate the relations of adolescent sexual experiences (particularly early initiation) to a spectrum of emotional/behavioral problems and to probe possible gender difference in such relationships. The 10th (N = 8,842) and 12th (N = 10,083) grade students, aged 16-19 years, participating in national surveys in 2005 and 2006 in Taiwan were included for this study. A self-administered web-based questionnaire was designed to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics, sexual experience, substance use, and the Youth Self-Report Form. For the sexually experienced adolescents, their sexual initiation was classified as early initiation (<16 years) or non-early initiation (16-19 years). Gender-specific multivariate response profile regression was used to examine the relationship between sexual experience and the behavioral syndromes. Externalizing problems, including Rule-breaking Behavior and Aggressive Behavior, were strongly associated with sexual initiation in adolescence; the magnitude of the association increased for earlier sexual initiation, especially for females. As to internalizing problems, the connection was rather heterogeneous. The scores on some syndromes, such as Somatic Complaints and Anxious/Depressed, were higher only for females with early or non-early sexual initiation whereas the score on Withdrawn, along with Social Problems that is neither internalizing nor externalizing, was lower for the sexually experienced adolescents than for the sexually inexperienced ones. We concluded that earlier sexual initiation was associated with a wider range of behavioral problems in adolescents for both genders, yet the increased risk with emotional problems was predominately found in females.

Multiple dimensions of peer influence in adolescent romantic and sexual relationships: a descriptive, qualitative perspective

Adolescents undergo critical developmental transformations that increase the salience of peer influence. Peer interactions (platonic and romantic) have been found to have both a positive and negative influence on adolescent attitudes and behaviors related to romantic relationships and sexual behavior. This study used qualitative methodology to explore how peers influence romantic and sexual behavior. Forty adolescents participated in individual semi-structured interviews. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. The concept of peer influence on romantic relationships and sexual behavior emerged as a key theme. Youth described that platonic peers (friends) influenced their relationships and sexual behavior including pressuring friends into relationships, establishing relationships as currency for popularity and social status, and creating relationship norm and expectations. Romantic peers also motivated relationship and sexual behavior as youth described engaging in behavior to avoid hurting and successfully pleasing their partners. Future research should explore multiple types of peer influence in order to better inform interventions to improve the quality of adolescents' romantic and sexual relationships.

An evaluation of the construct of earned security in adolescents: evidence from an inpatient sample

In adult attachment research, a group of individuals who convey secure attachments despite recalling difficult early caregiver relationships has been identified. The term earned security refers to individuals in this group, whereas continuous security refers to individuals who convey secure attachments and describe caring early relationships. Evidence on the validity of earned security in adults is mixed--with one longitudinal study showing that earned secure adults, despite contrary recollections, are actually more likely to have experienced positive caregiving than continuous secure adults. There is currently no evidence of earned security in adolescence, and exploring it in this age group may help shed light on the overall problem of the validity of this construct. Therefore, the broad aim of this study was to examine the construct of earned security in a group of inpatient adolescents. First, the authors aimed to identify a group of adolescents with secure attachments and memories of difficult caregiver relationships (i.e., proposed earned secure group) in a sample of 240 inpatient adolescents. Next, to explore external validity, the authors examined whether this group differed from others with regard to internalizing distress and emotion regulation. Findings indicated that a subset of secure adolescents recall difficult caregiving, as has been noted in adults, and that they differ from others with regard to emotion regulation. Despite this preliminary evidence that earned security can be identified in adolescents, the authors conclude with a discussion of the caveats of applying this construct in adolescents as well as adults.

The link between testosterone and amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex connectivity in adolescent alcohol use

Alcohol consumption is one of the most problematic and widespread forms of risk taking in adolescence. It has been hypothesized that sex hormones such as testosterone play an important role in risk taking by influencing the development of brain networks involved in emotion and motivation, particularly the amygdala and its functional connections. Connectivity between the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) may be specifically related to alcohol use, given the association of this tract with top-down control over behavioral approach tendencies. In line with this, prior studies in adults indicate a link between alcohol use and functional connectivity between the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), as well as between testosterone and amygdala-OFC connectivity. We consolidated these research lines by investigating the association between alcohol use, testosterone and resting state functional brain connectivity within one large-scale adolescent sample (n=173, aged 12-25 years). Mediation analyses demonstrated an indirect effect of testosterone levels on alcohol use through amygdala-OFC intrinsic functional connectivity, but only in boys. That is, increased testosterone in boys was associated with reduced amygdala-OFC connectivity, which in turn was associated with increased alcohol intake. This study is the first to demonstrate the interplay between adolescent alcohol use, sex hormones and brain mechanisms, thus taking an important step to increase our understanding of the mechanisms behind this form of adolescent risk-taking.

Adolescent-specific patterns of behavior and neural activity during social reinforcement learning

Humans are sophisticated social beings. Social cues from others are exceptionally salient, particularly during adolescence. Understanding how adolescents interpret and learn from variable social signals can provide insight into the observed shift in social sensitivity during this period. The present study tested 120 participants between the ages of 8 and 25 years on a social reinforcement learning task where the probability of receiving positive social feedback was parametrically manipulated. Seventy-eight of these participants completed the task during fMRI scanning. Modeling trial-by-trial learning, children and adults showed higher positive learning rates than did adolescents, suggesting that adolescents demonstrated less differentiation in their reaction times for peers who provided more positive feedback. Forming expectations about receiving positive social reinforcement correlated with neural activity within the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum across age. Adolescents, unlike children and adults, showed greater insular activity during positive prediction error learning and increased activity in the supplementary motor cortex and the putamen when receiving positive social feedback regardless of the expected outcome, suggesting that peer approval may motivate adolescents toward action. While different amounts of positive social reinforcement enhanced learning in children and adults, all positive social reinforcement equally motivated adolescents. Together, these findings indicate that sensitivity to peer approval during adolescence goes beyond simple reinforcement theory accounts and suggest possible explanations for how peers may motivate adolescent behavior.

Alcohol-induced changes in conflict monitoring and error detection as predictors of alcohol use in late adolescence

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of substance use and related problems. Understanding how exposure to drugs influences the adolescent brain could reveal mechanisms underlying risk for addiction later in life. In the current study, 87 adolescents (16-20-year olds; the local legal drinking age was16, allowing the inclusion of younger subjects than usually possible) underwent EEG measurements during a Go/No-Go task with and without alcohol cues; after placebo and a low dose of alcohol (0.45 g/kg). Conflict monitoring and error detection processes were investigated with the N2 and the error-related negativity (ERN) ERP components. Participants were followed-up after 6 months to assess changes in alcohol use. The NoGo-N2 was larger for alcohol cues and acute alcohol decreased the amplitude of the NoGo-N2 for alcohol cues. ERN amplitude was blunted for alcohol cues. Acute alcohol decreased the amplitude of the ERN, specifically for control cues. Furthermore, the differences in ERN for alcohol cues between the placebo and alcohol conditions predicted alcohol use 6 months later: subjects who showed stronger blunting of the ERN after acute alcohol were more likely to return to more moderate drinking patterns. These results suggest that cues signalling reward opportunities might activate a go-response mode and larger N2 (detection of increased conflict) for these cues might be necessary for inhibition. The ERN results suggest a deficiency in the monitoring system for alcohol cues. Finally, a lack of alcohol-induced deterioration of error monitoring for cues with high salience might be a vulnerability factor for alcohol abuse in adolescents.

Effects of genetic variants of ADH1B and ALDH2 and social network on continued alcohol drinking among young adolescents in Taiwan

BACKGROUND

This study aimed (i) to evaluate the effects of genetic variants of ADH1B and ALDH2 and social network position on continued alcohol use in early adolescence, and (ii) to explore possible moderating role of pubertal development on genetic effects.

METHODS

The sample comprised 496 children who ever drank alcohol before the ages of 10-12. Information pertaining to sociodemographic background, pubertal development, parental drinking, alcohol and tobacco use, alcohol-metabolizing genes, and nominated best friends was collected in four waves of assessment. Polymorphisms of ADH1B (rs1229984) and ALDH2 (rs671) were genotyped. The latent class analysis was first used to characterize longitudinal alcohol use pattern, followed by the multinomial logistic regression analyses to assess its association with genes, pubertal development, and social network.

RESULTS

Three distinct classes of alcohol users (i.e. ex-drinkers, sporadic drinkers, and continued drinkers) were derived from alcohol-experienced children. Both alcohol-metabolizing genes appear to have protective effects, yet such relationships were only significant for youngsters in pre-to-early pubertal stage: the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of ADH1B fast-genotype for sporadic drinkers was 0.46 and that of ALDH2 slow-genotype for both sporadic and continued drinkers was 0.47 and 0.42, respectively. Children having the bridge position in their peer network were more likely to be sporadic drinkers (aOR=4.15) and continued drinkers (aOR=3.16).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results illustrate a potential moderating effect of pubertal development on the protective influence of alcohol-metabolizing genes on subsequent alcohol use among alcohol-experienced children as well as the independent contribution of early life's social network to their alcohol involvement.

Adolescent experience predicts longevity: evidence from historical epidemiology

Human development reportedly includes critical and sensitive periods during which environmental stressors can affect traits that persist throughout life. Controversy remains over which of these periods provides an opportunity for such stressors to affect health and longevity. The elaboration of reproductive biology and its behavioral sequelae during adolescence suggests such a sensitive period, particularly among males. We test the hypothesis that life expectancy at age 20 among males exposed to life-threatening stressors during early adolescence will fall below that among other males. We apply time-series methods to cohort mortality data in France between 1816 and 1919, England and Wales between 1841 and 1919, and Sweden between 1861 and 1919. Our results indicate an inverse association between cohort death rates at ages 10-14 and cohort life expectancy at age 20. Our findings imply that better-informed and more strategic management of the stressors encountered by early adolescents may improve population health.

The importance of puberty for adolescent development: conceptualization and measurement

How and why are teenagers different from children and adults? A key question concerns the ways in which pubertal development shapes psychological changes in adolescence directly through changes to the brain and indirectly through the social environment. Empirical work linking pubertal development to adolescent psychological function draws from several different perspectives, often with varying approaches and a focus on different outcomes and mechanisms. The main themes concern effects of atypical pubertal timing on behavior problems during adolescence, effects of pubertal status (and associated hormones) on normative changes in behaviors that can facilitate or hinder development (especially risk-taking, social reorientation, and stress responsivity), and the role of puberty in triggering psychopathology in vulnerable individuals. There is also interest in understanding the ways in which changes in the brain reflect pubertal processes and underlie psychological development in adolescence. In this chapter, we consider the ways that puberty might affect adolescent psychological development, and why this is of importance to developmentalists. We describe the processes of pubertal development; summarize what is known about pubertal influences on adolescent development; consider the assumptions that underlie most work and the methodological issues that affect the interpretation of results; and propose research directions to help understand paths from puberty to behavior. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of pubertal change in all aspects of psychological development, and the ways in which puberty represents an opportunity to study the interplay of biological and social influences.

Developmental Flexibility in the Age of Globalization: Autonomy and Identity Development Among Immigrant Adolescents

The socioeconomic and cultural changes that result from an increasingly interconnected world have been speculated to have important implications for the nature of adolescent development. Unfortunately, the historical time necessary for these changes to take place means that definitive research on the impact of globalization necessarily will be slow in forthcoming. Adolescents from immigrant families, however, already experience the social and cultural shifts thought to typify globalization, and an analysis of their experiences could shed light on what to expect as existing national barriers become more permeable. The value of flexibility in the face of great social and cultural change appears to be the dominant theme from research on immigrant youth, although that flexibility can be constrained by socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial stratification systems in host societies. This review highlights the implications of these findings for what may lie ahead for teenagers as globalization continues to expand.

Single-Session Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretations Training in High-Anxious Adolescents

Anxiety disorders in youths are globally prevalent and carry impairing, long-lasting effects. Interpreting ambiguous cues negatively may be causally related to adolescent anxiety. Extending cognitive bias modification of interpretations (CBM-I) training, which counters anxiety by encouraging positive interpretations, to anxious adolescents could inform the design of new interventions. The study investigates whether single-session CBM-I training (a) altered interpretation biases and negative mood in adolescents selected for high anxiety and (b) whether these training-associated changes were larger than those reported in low-anxious adolescents. Seventy-seven Chinese adolescents received either positive or control training. Positive training encouraged endorsement of positive interpretations of ambiguous scenarios while on control training trials, half of the scenarios were resolved positively and half negatively. A single session of CBM-I altered interpretation biases across all individuals, F(1, 52) = 10.63, p < .01, η2 = .17. However, no training effects on mood measures emerged (all ps > .05). Training effects were not consistently moderated by baseline trait anxiety. Multisession CBM-I may be needed for mood changes to occur.

Substance use in adulthood following adolescent self-harm: a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether adolescents who self-harm are at increased risk of heavy and dependent substance use in adulthood.

METHOD

Fifteen-year prospective cohort study of a random sample of 1943 adolescents recruited from secondary schools across the state of Victoria, Australia. Data pertaining to self-harm and substance use was obtained at seven waves of follow-up, from mean age 15.9 years to mean age 29.1 years.

RESULTS

Substance use and self-harm were strongly associated during the adolescent years (odds ratio (OR): 3.3, 95% CI 2.1-5.0). Moreover, adolescent self-harmers were at increased risk of substance use and dependence syndromes in young adulthood. Self-harm predicted a four-fold increase in the odds of multiple dependence syndromes (sex- and wave-adjusted OR: 4.2, 95% CI: 2.7-6.6). Adjustment for adolescent anxiety/depression attenuated but did not eliminate most associations. Adolescent substance use confounded all associations, with the exception of multiple dependence syndromes, which remained robustly associated with adolescent self-harm (fully adjusted odds ratio: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.2-3.2).

CONCLUSION

Adolescent self-harm is an independent risk factor for multiple dependence syndromes in adulthood. This level of substance misuse is likely to contribute substantially to the premature mortality and disease burden experienced by individuals who self-harm.

Quantifying the influence of safe road systems and legal licensing age on road mortality among young adolescents: steps towards system thinking

Based on existing literature, a system thinking approach was used to set up a conceptual model on the interrelationships among the components influencing adolescent road mortality, distinguishing between components at the individual level and at the system level. At the individual level the role of risk behaviour (sometimes deliberate and sometimes from inexperience or other non-deliberate causes) in adolescent road mortality is well documented. However, little is known about the extent to which the 'road system' itself may also have an impact on younger adolescents' road mortality. This, by providing a safe or unsafe road environment for all road users (System-induced exposure) and by allowing access to high-risk vehicles at a young or older age through the legal licensing age. This study seeks to explore these relationships by analysing the extent to which the road mortality of 10 to 17 year olds in various jurisdictions can be predicted from the System-induced Exposure (SiE) in a jurisdiction and from its legal licensing age to drive motor vehicles. SiE was operationalized as the number of road fatalities per 10(5) inhabitants/all ages together, but excluding the 10 to 17 year olds. Data on road fatalities during the years 2001 through 2008 were obtained from the OECD International Road Traffic Accident Database (IRTAD) and from the USA NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database for 29 early and 10 late licensing jurisdictions. Linear mixed models were fitted with annual 'Adolescent road mortality per capita' for 2001 through 2008 as the dependent variable, and time-dependent 'SiE' and time-independent 'Licensing system' as predictor variables. To control for different levels of motorisation, the time-dependent variable 'Annual per capita vehicle distance travelled' was used as a covariate. Licensing system of a jurisdiction was entered as a categorical predictor variable with late licensing countries as a baseline group. The study found support for the protective effects of SiE on adolescent safety. If SiE increased by one unit, the mortality rate of 10 to 17 year olds increased by 0.487 units. No support was found for a protective effect of late licensing for this age group. Thus, compared to young adolescents who are allowed to drive motor vehicles in early licensing jurisdictions, late licensing does not provide extra protection for pre-license adolescents. This finding is probably the result of the high risks associated with alternative transport modes, such as moped riding and bicycling. Also, the fact that the study only included risks to young adolescents themselves and did not include the risks they might pose to other road users and passengers may have contributed to this finding, because such risks are greater when driving a motor vehicle than riding a moped or a bicycle. Therefore, to advance our understanding of the impact of licensing systems, more study is needed into the benefits of early or late licensing, thereby considering these wider effects as well.

Behavioral inhibition and developmental risk: a dual-processing perspective

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is an early-appearing temperament characterized by strong reactions to novelty. BI shows a good deal of stability over childhood and significantly increases the risk for later diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Despite these general patterns, many children with high BI do not go on to develop clinical, or even subclinical, anxiety problems. Therefore, understanding the cognitive and neural bases of individual differences in developmental risk and resilience is of great importance. The present review is focused on the relation of BI to two types of information processing: automatic (novelty detection, attention biases to threat, and incentive processing) and controlled (attention shifting and inhibitory control). We propose three hypothetical models (Top-Down Model of Control; Risk Potentiation Model of Control; and Overgeneralized Control Model) linking these processes to variability in developmental outcomes for BI children. We argue that early BI is associated with an early bias to quickly and preferentially process information associated with motivationally salient cues. When this bias is strong and stable across development, the risk for SAD is increased. Later in development, children with a history of BI tend to display normative levels of performance on controlled attention tasks, but they demonstrate exaggerated neural responses in order to do so, which may further potentiate risk for anxiety-related problems. We conclude by discussing the reviewed studies with reference to the hypothetical models and make suggestions regarding future research and implications for treatment.

In vivo evidence of neurophysiological maturation of the human adolescent striatum

Maturation of the striatum has been posited to play a primary role in observed increases in adolescent sensation-seeking. However, evidence of neurophysiological maturation in the human adolescent striatum is limited. We applied T2*-weighted imaging, reflecting indices of tissue-iron concentration, to provide direct in vivo evidence of neurophysiological development of the human adolescent striatum. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of striatal T2*-weighted signal generated age predictions that accounted for over 60% of the sample variance in 10-25 year olds, using both task-related and resting state fMRI. Dorsal and ventral striatum showed age related increases and decreases respectively of striatal neurophysiology suggesting qualitative differences in the maturation of limbic and executive striatal systems. In particular, the ventral striatum was found to show the greatest developmental differences and contribute most heavily to the multivariate age predictor. The relationship of the T2*-weighted signal to the striatal dopamine system is discussed. Together, results provide evidence for protracted maturation of the striatum through adolescence.

Association of regional gray matter volumes in the brain with disruptive behavior disorders in male and female children

Because the disruptive behavior disorders are highly impairing conditions, it is important to determine if structural variations in brain are associated early in life with these problems among children. Structural MRI data were acquired from 111 9-11 year olds (58 girls and 53 boys), 43 who met diagnostic criteria for oppositional defiant disorder and/or conduct disorder and 68 healthy controls. Voxel-based morphometry was used to examine associations of behavioral measures with gray matter volumes in whole-brain analyses. Unlike previous studies, variation in gray matter volume was not found to be associated with a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis in any brain region at p < .05 with FWE correction. Nonetheless, an inverse nonlinear association of the number of conduct disorder (CD) symptoms with gray matter volume along the left superior temporal sulcus was significant in the full sample (p < .05 with FWE correction), with a trend in the right hemisphere (p < 0.001 uncorrected). There also was a trend toward a stronger association of the number of CD symptoms with gray matter volume along the left superior temporal sulcus in girls than boys. The present findings did not replicate previous findings of reduced gray matter volumes in the anterior insula, amygdala, and frontal cortex in youth with CD, but are consistent with previous findings of reduced gray matter volumes in temporal regions, particularly in girls.

Age-related changes in reappraisal of appetitive cravings during adolescence

The ability to regulate temptation and manage appetitive cravings is an important aspect of healthy adolescent development, but the neural systems underlying this process are understudied. In the present study, 60 healthy females evenly distributed from 10 to 23years of age used reappraisal to regulate the desire to consume personally-craved and not craved unhealthy foods. Reappraisal elicited activity in common self-regulation regions including the dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (specifically superior and inferior frontal gyri), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and inferior parietal lobule. Viewing personally-craved foods (versus not craved foods) elicited activity in regions including the ventral striatum, as well as more rostral and ventral anterior cingulate cortex extending into the orbitofrontal cortex. Age positively correlated with regulation-related activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus, and negatively correlated with reactivity-related activity in the right superior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Age-adjusted BMI negatively correlated with regulation-related activity in the predominantly left lateralized frontal and parietal regions. These results suggest that the age-related changes seen in the reappraisal of negative emotion may not be as pronounced in the reappraisal of food craving. Therefore, reappraisal of food craving in particular may be an effective way to teach teenagers to manage cravings for other temptations encountered in adolescence, including alcohol, drugs, and unhealthy food.

The relation between gray matter morphology and divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults

Adolescence and early adulthood are developmental time periods during which creative cognition is highly important for adapting to environmental changes. Divergent thinking, which refers to generating novel and useful solutions to open-ended problems, has often been used as a measure of creative cognition. The first goal of this structural neuroimaging study was to elucidate the relationship between gray matter morphology and performance in the verbal (AUT; alternative uses task) and visuo-spatial (CAT; creative ability test) domain of divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults. The second goal was to test if gray matter morphology is related to brain activity during AUT performance. Neural and behavioral data were combined from a cross-sectional study including 25 adolescents aged 15-17 and 20 young adults aged 25-30. Brain-behavior relationships were assessed without a priori location assumptions and within areas that were activated during an AUT-scanner task. Gray matter volume and cortical thickness were not significantly associated with verbal divergent thinking. However, visuo-spatial divergent thinking (CAT originality and fluency) was positively associated with cortical thickness of the right middle temporal gyrus and left brain areas including the superior frontal gyrus and various occipital, parietal, and temporal areas, independently of age. AUT brain activity was not associated with cortical thickness. The results support an important role of a widespread brain network involved in flexible visuo-spatial divergent thinking, providing evidence for a relation between cortical thickness and visuo-spatial divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults. However, studies including visuo-spatial divergent thinking tasks in the scanner are warranted.

Brain structural correlates of risk-taking behavior and effects of peer influence in adolescents

Adolescents are characterized by impulsive risky behavior, particularly in the presence of peers. We discriminated high and low risk-taking male adolescents aged 18-19 years by assessing their propensity for risky behavior and vulnerability to peer influence with personality tests, and compared structural differences in gray and white matter of the brain with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. We also compared the brain structures according to the participants' actual risk-taking behavior in a simulated driving task with two different social conditions making up a peer competition situation. There was a discrepancy between the self-reported personality test results and risky driving behavior (running through an intersection with traffic lights turning yellow, chancing a collision with another vehicle). Comparison between high and low risk-taking adolescents according to personality test results revealed no significant difference in gray matter volume and white matter integrity. However, comparison according to actual risk-taking behavior during task performance revealed significantly higher white matter integrity in the high risk-taking group, suggesting that increased risky behavior during adolescence is not necessarily attributed to the immature brain as conventional wisdom says.

Reading enjoyment amongst non-leisure readers can affect achievement in secondary school

This study aimed to evaluate determinants of differences in leisure reading behavior and school achievement. We specifically examined reading enjoyment, mental imagery, and sex as predictors in a large, age-homogeneous sample of Dutch secondary school students (N = 1,071). Results showed that the prevalence of leisure reading was low in both the lower, pre-vocational track (19.5%) and the higher, pre-academic track (32.5%). Boys read even less than girls. Almost all leisure readers enjoyed reading and engaged in mental imagery, i.e., the propensity "to see images" of a written story in the mind's eye. Overall, boys who did not like to read for leisure had the poorest school performance. Non-leisure readers who reported that they enjoyed reading got higher school grades in the higher educational track. In the lower track, this was the case for girls. Our study findings imply that reading promotion programs should take into account individual differences in sex, achievement level, and reading enjoyment when aiming to decrease the academic achievement gap.

Adolescents misperceive and are influenced by high-status peers' health risk, deviant, and adaptive behavior

Most peer influence research examines socialization between adolescents and their best friends. Yet, adolescents also are influenced by popular peers, perhaps due to misperceptions of social norms. This research examined the extent to which out-group and in-group adolescents misperceive the frequencies of peers' deviant, health risk, and adaptive behaviors in different reputation-based peer crowds (Study 1) and the prospective associations between perceptions of high-status peers' and adolescents' own substance use over 2.5 years (Study 2). Study 1 examined 235 adolescents' reported deviant (vandalism, theft), health risk (substance use, sexual risk), and adaptive (exercise, studying) behavior, and their perceptions of jocks', populars', burnouts', and brains' engagement in the same behaviors. Peer nominations identified adolescents in each peer crowd. Jocks and populars were rated as higher status than brains and burnouts. Results indicated that peer crowd stereotypes are caricatures. Misperceptions of high-status crowds were dramatic, but for many behaviors, no differences between populars'/jocks' and others' actual reported behaviors were revealed. Study 2 assessed 166 adolescents' substance use and their perceptions of popular peers' (i.e., peers high in peer perceived popularity) substance use. Parallel process latent growth analyses revealed that higher perceptions of popular peers' substance use in Grade 9 (intercept) significantly predicted steeper increases in adolescents' own substance use from Grade 9 to 11 (slope). Results from both studies, utilizing different methods, offer evidence to suggest that adolescents misperceive high-status peers' risk behaviors, and these misperceptions may predict adolescents' own risk behavior engagement.

Increased neural response to peer rejection associated with adolescent depression and pubertal development

Sensitivity to social evaluation has been proposed as a potential marker or risk factor for depression, and has also been theorized to increase with pubertal maturation. This study utilized an ecologically valid paradigm to test the hypothesis that adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) would show altered reactivity to peer rejection and acceptance relative to healthy controls in a network of ventral brain regions implicated in affective processing of social information. A total of 48 adolescents (ages 11-17), including 21 with a current diagnosis of MDD and 27 age- and gender-matched controls, received rigged acceptance and rejection feedback from fictitious peers during a simulated online peer interaction during functional neuroimaging. MDD youth showed increased activation to rejection relative to controls in the bilateral amygdala, subgenual anterior cingulate, left anterior insula and left nucleus accumbens. MDD and healthy youth did not differ in response to acceptance. Youth more advanced in pubertal maturation also showed increased reactivity to rejection in the bilateral amygdala/parahippocampal gyrus and the caudate/subgenual anterior cingulate, and these effects remained significant when controlling for chronological age. Findings suggest that increased reactivity to peer rejection is a normative developmental process associated with pubertal development, but is particularly enhanced among youth with depression.

Training creative cognition: adolescence as a flexible period for improving creativity

Creativity commonly refers to the ability to generate ideas, solutions, or insights that are novel yet feasible. The ability to generate creative ideas appears to develop and change from childhood to adulthood. Prior research, although inconsistent, generally indicates that adults perform better than adolescents on the alternative uses task (AUT), a commonly used index of creative ideation. The focus of this study was whether performance could be improved by practicing alternative uses generation. We examined the effectiveness of creative ideation training in adolescents (13-16 years, N = 71) and adults (23-30 years, N = 61). Participants followed one of three types of training, each comprising eight 20-min practice sessions within 2 week time: (1) alternative uses generation (experimental condition: creative ideation); (2) object characteristic generation (control condition: general ideation); (3) rule-switching (control condition: rule-switching). Progression in fluency, flexibility, originality of creative ideation was compared between age-groups and training conditions. Participants improved in creative ideation and cognitive flexibility, but not in general ideation. Participants in all three training conditions became better in fluency and originality on the AUT. With regard to originality, adolescents benefitted more from training than adults, although this was not specific for the creative ideation training condition. These results are interpreted in relation to (a) the different underlying processes targeted in the three conditions and (b) developmental differences in brain plasticity with increased sensitivity to training in adolescents. In sum, the results show that improvement can be made in creative ideation and supports the hypothesis that adolescence is a developmental stage of increased flexibility optimized for learning and explorative behavior.

Neural responses to maternal criticism in healthy youth

Parental criticism can have positive and negative effects on children's and adolescents' behavior; yet, it is unclear how youth react to, understand and process parental criticism. We proposed that youth would engage three sets of neural processes in response to parental criticism including the following: (i) activating emotional reactions, (ii) regulating those reactions and (iii) social cognitive processing (e.g. understanding the parent's mental state). To examine neural processes associated with both emotional and social processing of parental criticism in personally relevant and ecologically valid social contexts, typically developing youth were scanned while they listened to their mother providing critical, praising and neutral statements. In response to maternal criticism, youth showed increased brain activity in affective networks (e.g. subcortical-limbic regions including lentiform nucleus and posterior insula), but decreased activity in cognitive control networks (e.g. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and caudal anterior cingulate cortex) and social cognitive networks (e.g. temporoparietal junction and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus). These results suggest that youth may respond to maternal criticism with increased emotional reactivity but decreased cognitive control and social cognitive processing. A better understanding of children's responses to parental criticism may provide insights into the ways that parental feedback can be modified to be more helpful to behavior and development in youth.

Cognitive flexibility in adolescence: neural and behavioral mechanisms of reward prediction error processing in adaptive decision making during development

Adolescence is associated with quickly changing environmental demands which require excellent adaptive skills and high cognitive flexibility. Feedback-guided adaptive learning and cognitive flexibility are driven by reward prediction error (RPE) signals, which indicate the accuracy of expectations and can be estimated using computational models. Despite the importance of cognitive flexibility during adolescence, only little is known about how RPE processing in cognitive flexibility deviates between adolescence and adulthood.

In this study, we investigated the developmental aspects of cognitive flexibility by means of computational models and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We compared the neural and behavioral correlates of cognitive flexibility in healthy adolescents (12–16 years) to adults performing a probabilistic reversal learning task. Using a modified risk-sensitive reinforcement learning model, we found that adolescents learned faster from negative RPEs than adults. The fMRI analysis revealed that within the RPE network, the adolescents had a significantly altered RPE-response in the anterior insula. This effect seemed to be mainly driven by increased responses to negative prediction errors.

In summary, our findings indicate that decision making in adolescence goes beyond merely increased reward-seeking behavior and provides a developmental perspective to the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility in the context of reinforcement learning.

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Adolescents and adults show differences in processing RPEs.

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Adolescents learn faster from negative prediction errors.

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The anterior insula activation may cause altered sensitivity to RPEs.