Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 27, Issue -, Pages 19-34Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.07.007
Keywords
Brain development; Dopamine; Decision-making; Cognitive control; Experience
Categories
Funding
- National Institute on Drug Abuse [R01DA033996]
- National Cancer Institute [R21CA149796]
- National Institute on Nursing Research [R01NR014368-01]
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture [NYC-321423, NYC-321436]
- National Institute on Mental Health [R01MH107703, K23MH098130]
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Recent neuroscience models of adolescent brain development attribute the morbidity and mortality of this period to structural and functional imbalances between more fully developed limbic regions that subserve reward and emotion as opposed to those that enable cognitive control. We challenge this interpretation of adolescent development by distinguishing risk-taking that peaks during adolescence (sensation seeking and impulsive action) from risk taking that declines monotonically from childhood to adulthood (impulsive choice and other decisions under known risk). Sensation seeking is primarily motivated by exploration of the environment under ambiguous risk contexts, while impulsive action, which is likely to be maladaptive, is more characteristic of a subset of youth with weak control over limbic motivation. Risk taking that declines monotonically from childhood to adulthood occurs primarily under conditions of known risks and reflects increases in executive function as well as aversion to risk based on increases in gist-based reasoning. We propose an alternative Life-span Wisdom Model that highlights the importance of experience gained through exploration during adolescence. We propose, therefore, that brain models that recognize the adaptive roles that cognition and experience play during adolescence provide a more complete and helpful picture of this period of development.
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