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Adolescence represents a unique period of the lifespan, characterized by heightened susceptibility to social feedback and increased autonomy in a wide range of choice behaviors, including those relating to consumer decisions and buying preferences. These adolescent behaviors arise in part as the result of substantial change in the structure and function of the brain that occurs during this crucial developmental period. Over the last two decades, the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience has examined the role of brain development in adolescent behavior. This article considers the key processes that undergird adolescent decision making and how they are differentially emphasized in alternative neurodevelopmental theories. We explore common themes and important distinctions across theories—and the implications for utilizing these frameworks—to inform the field of adolescent consumer behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present analysis, we test the dual systems model of adolescent risk taking in a cross-national sample of over 5,200 individuals aged 10 through 30 (M = 17.05 years, SD = 5.91) from 11 countries. We examine whether reward seeking and self-regulation make independent, additive, or interactive contributions to risk taking, and ask whether these relations differ as a function of age and culture. To compare across cultures, we conduct 2 sets of analyses: 1 comparing individuals from Asian and Western countries, and 1 comparing individuals from low- and high-GDP countries. Results indicate that reward seeking and self-regulation have largely independent associations with risk taking and that the influences of each variable on risk taking are not unique to adolescence, but that their link to risk taking varies across cultures.

Systems consolidation theories posit that consolidation occurs primarily through a coordinated communication between hippocampus and neocortex [Moscovitch, M., & Gilboa, A. Systems consolidation, transformation and reorganization: Multiple trace theory, trace transformation theory and their competitors. PsyArXiv, 2021; Kumaran, D., Hassabis, D., & McClelland, J. L. What learning systems do intelligent agents need? Complementary learning systems theory updated. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20, 512–534, 2016; McClelland, J. L., & O'Reilly, R. C. Why there are complementary learning systems in the hippocampus and neocortex: Insights from the successes and failures of connectionist models of learning and memory. Psychological Review, 102, 419–457, 1995]. Recent sleep studies in rodents have shown that hippocampus and visual cortex replay the same information at temporal proximity ("co-replay"; Lansink, C. S., Goltstein, P. M., Lankelma, J. V., McNaughton, B. L., & Pennartz, C. M. A. Hippocampus leads ventral striatum in replay of place-reward information. PLoS Biology, 7, e1000173, 2009; Peyrache, A., Khamassi, M., Benchenane, K., Wiener, S. I., & Battaglia, F. P. Replay of rule-learning related neural patterns in the prefrontal cortex during sleep. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 919–926, 2009; Wierzynski, C. M., Lubenov, E. V., Gu, M., & Siapas, A. G. State-dependent spike-timing relationships between hippocampal and prefrontal circuits during sleep. Neuron, 61, 587–596, 2009; Ji, D., & Wilson, M. A. Coordinated memory replay in the visual cortex and hippocampus during sleep. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 100–107, 2007). We developed a novel repetition time (TR)-based co-reactivation analysis method to study hippocampal–cortical co-replays in humans using fMRI. Thirty-six young adults completed an image (face or scene) and location paired associate encoding task in the scanner, which were preceded and followed by resting state scans. We identified post-encoding rest TRs (± 1) that showed neural reactivation of each image–location trials in both hippocampus (HPC) and category-selective cortex (fusiform face area [FFA]). This allowed us to characterize temporally proximal coordinated reactivations ("co-reactivations") between HPC and FFA. Moreover, we found that increased HPC–FFA co-reactivations were associated with incorrectly recognized trials after a 1-week delay (p =.004). Finally, we found that these HPC–FFA co-reactivations were also associated with trials that were initially correctly recognized immediately after encoding but were later forgotten in 1-day (p =.043) and 1-week delay period (p =.031). We discuss these results from a trace transformation perspective [Sekeres, M. J., Winocur, G., & Moscovitch, M. The hippocampus and related neocortical structures in memory transformation. Neuroscience Letters, 680, 39–53, 2018; Winocur, G., & Moscovitch, M. Memory transformation and systems consolidation. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 766–780, 2011] and speculate that HPC–FFA co-reactivations may be integrating related events, at the expense of disrupting event-specific details, hence leading to forgetting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of adolescent risk taking occurs in the presence of peers, and recent research suggests that the presence of peers may alter how the potential rewards and costs of a decision are valuated or perceived. The current study further explores this notion by investigating how peer observation affects adolescent risk taking when the information necessary to make an informed decision is explicitly provided. We used a novel probabilistic gambling task in which participants decided whether to play or pass on a series of offers for which the reward and loss outcome probabilities were made explicit. Adolescent participants completed the task either alone or under the belief that they were being observed by an unknown peer in a neighboring room. Participants who believed a peer was observing them chose to gamble more often than participants who completed the task alone, and this effect was most evident for decisions with a greater probability of loss. These results suggest that the presence of peers can increase risk taking among adolescents even when specific information regarding the likelihood of positive and negative outcomes is provided. The findings expand our understanding of how peers influence adolescent decision making and have important implications regarding the value of educational programs aimed at reducing risky behaviors during adolescence.

Adolescents take more risks in the presence of their peers, but the mechanism through which peer presence affects risky decision-making is unknown. We propose that the presence of peers increases the salience of the immediate rewards of a risky choice. The current study examined the effect of peer presence on reward sensitivity in a sample of 100 late adolescents ages 18 through 20 (M=18.5) using a delay discounting task, which assesses an individual's preference for immediate versus delayed rewards. Participants were randomly assigned to complete the task alone or with 2 same-age, same-sex peers observing. Consistent with our prediction, adolescents demonstrated a greater preference for immediate rewards when with their peers than when alone. Heightened risk taking by adolescents in the company of their friends may be due in part to the effect that being with one's peers has on reward sensitivity.

Portions of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) play a role in working memory (WM) yet the precise mechanistic function of this region remains poorly understood. The "pure storage" hypothesis proposes that this region functions as a short-lived modality-specific memory store. Alternatively, the "internal attention" hypothesis proposes that the PPC functions as an attention-based storage and refreshing mechanism deployable as an alternative to material-specific rehearsal. These models were tested in patients with bilateral PPC lesions. Our findings discount the pure storage hypothesis because variables indexing storage capacity and longevity were not disproportionately affected by PPC damage. Instead, our data support the internal attention account by showing that (a) normal participants tend to use a rehearsal-based WM maintenance strategy for recall tasks but not for recognition tasks; (b) patients with PPC lesions performed normally on WM tasks that relied on material-specific rehearsal strategies but poorly on WM tasks that relied on attention-based maintenance strategies and patient strategy usage could be shifted by task or instructions; (c) patients' memory deficits extended into the long-term domain. These findings suggest that the PPC maintains or shifts internal attention among the representations of items in WM.

The presence of peers increases risk taking among adolescents but not adults. We posited that the presence of peers may promote adolescent risk taking by sensitizing brain regions associated with the anticipation of potential rewards. Using fMRI, we measured brain activity in adolescents, young adults, and adults as they made decisions in a simulated driving task. Participants completed one task block while alone, and one block while their performance was observed by peers in an adjacent room. During peer observation blocks, adolescents selectively demonstrated greater activation in reward-related brain regions, including the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex, and activity in these regions predicted subsequent risk taking. Brain areas associated with cognitive control were less strongly recruited by adolescents than adults, but activity in the cognitive control system did not vary with social context. Results suggest that the presence of peers increases adolescent risk taking by heightening sensitivity to the potential reward value of risky decisions.

Working memory is believed to play a central role in almost all domains of higher cognition, yet the specific mechanisms involved in working memory are still fiercely debated. We describe a neuroimaging experiment with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a companion behavioral experiment, and in both we seek to adjudicate between alternative theoretical models of working memory on the basis of the effects of interference from articulatory suppression, irrelevant speech, and irrelevant nonspeech. In Experiment 1 we examined fMRI signal changes induced by each type of irrelevant information while subjects performed a probed recall task. Within a principally frontal and left-lateralized network of brain regions, articulatory suppression caused an increase in activity during item presentation, whereas both irrelevant speech and nonspeech caused relative activity reductions during the subsequent delay interval. In Experiment 2, the specific timing of interference was manipulated in a delayed serial recall task. Articulatory suppression was found to be most consequential when it coincided with item presentation, whereas both irrelevant speech and irrelevant nonspeech effects were strongest when limited to the subsequent delay period. Taken together, these experiments provide convergent evidence for a dissociation of articulatory suppression from the 2 irrelevant sound conditions. Implications of these findings are considered for 4 prominent theories of working memory. (Contains 5 footnotes, 3 tables, and 7 figures.)

This paper provides an overview of developments in a dual processing theory of automatic and controlled processing that began with the empirical and theoretical work described by Schneider and Shiffrin (1977) and Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) over a quarter century ago. A review of relevant empirical findings suggests that there is a set of core behavioral phenomena reflecting differences between controlled and automatic processing that must be addressed by a successful theory. These phenomena relate to: consistency in training, serial versus parallel processing, level of effort, robustness to stressors, degree of control, effects on long-term memory, and priority encoding. We detail a computational model of controlled processing, CAP2, that accounts for these phenomena as emergent properties of an underlying hybrid computational architecture. The model employs a large network of distributed data modules that can categorize, buffer, associate, and prioritize information. Each module is a connectionist network with input and output layers, and each module communicates with a central Control System by outputting priority and activity report signals, and by receiving control signals. The Control System is composed of five processors including a Goal Processor, an Attention Controller, an Activity Monitor, an Episodic Store, and a Gating & Report Relay. The transition from controlled to automatic processing occurs in this model as the data modules become capable of transmitting their output without mediation by the Control System. We describe recent progress in mapping the components of this model onto specific neuroanatomical substrates, briefly discuss the potential for applying functional neuroimaging techniques to test the model's predictions, and its relation to other models. Keywords: Attention; Skill acquisition; Automaticity; Cognitive control; Computational modeling; Cognitive neuroscience; Connectionist modeling; Frontal; Parietal; Anterior cingulate; Hippocampus; Learning; Dual processing; Workload

Health advice in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has called upon the public to re-evaluate risk associated with recently routine behavior. However, differences in demographics, situational circumstances, and psychological dispositions create inequities in how people are able to respond to risks presented by the virus. Within a sample of 482 Americans, we examined the frequency of behavior reconceptualized as 'risky' by CDC public health guidelines released on 30 March 2020. We applied a cluster analysis using a data-driven persona framework from the field of user-design research, using only situational and dispositional (i.e. psychological) variables to identify profiles of individuals. This profile approach unpacked important variability in the evaluation of risk for COVID-19 contagion, as well as adherence to public health guidance. Profiles engaged in high-risk behaviors were more likely required to work on-site and report higher financial impact related to the pandemic. Applying the profile approach facilitates personalized communications tailored to the psychological and situational circumstances of each profile that can promote compliance with public health guidelines and guide policy decisions. These results also suggest that risk-taking behaviors within the context of COVID-19 may also be driven by factors related to economic inequity since those who are more likely to be essential workers do not have the ability to remain as compliant to social distancing compared to those with higher economic status. Recommendations for policies promoting federally mandated paid leave policy in the US and employing qualitative methods for future research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents take more risks than adults in the real world, but laboratory experiments do not consistently demonstrate this pattern. In the current study, we examine the possibility that age differences in decision making vary as a function of the nature of the task (e.g., how information about risk is learned) and contextual features of choices (e.g., the relative favorability of choice outcomes), due to age differences in psychological constructs and physiological processes related to choice (e.g., weighting of rare probabilities, sensitivity to expected value, sampling, pupil dilation). Adolescents and adults made the same 24 choices between risky and safe options twice: once based on descriptions of each option, and once based on experience gained from sampling the options repeatedly. We systematically varied contextual features of options, facilitating a fine-grained analysis of age differences in response to these features. Eye-tracking and experience-sampling measures allowed tests of age differences in predecisional processes. Results in adolescent and adult participants were similar in several respects, including mean risk-taking rates and eye-gaze patterns. However, adolescents' and adults' choice behavior and process measures varied as a function of decision context. Surprisingly, age differences were most pronounced in description, with only marginal differences in experience. Results suggest that probability weighting, expected-value sensitivity, experience sampling and pupil dilation patterns may change with age. Overall, results are consistent with the notion that adolescents are more prone than adults to take risks when faced with unlikely but costly negative outcomes, and broadly point to complex interactions between multiple psychological constructs that develop across adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amygdala abnormalities are widely documented in bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD). Amygdala volume typically is measured after BSD onset; thus, it is not known whether amygdala abnormalities predict BSD risk or relate to the disorder. Additionally, past literature often treated the amygdala as a homogeneous structure, and did not consider its distinct subnuclei and their differential connectivity to other brain regions. To address these issues, we used a behavioral high‐risk design and diffusion‐based subsegmentation to examine amygdala subnuclei among medication‐free individuals with, and at risk for, BSD. The behavioral high‐risk design (N = 114) included low‐risk (N = 37), high‐risk (N = 47), and BSD groups (N = 30). Diffusion‐based subsegmentation of the amygdala was conducted to determine whether amygdala volume differences related to particular subnuclei. Individuals with a BSD diagnosis showed greater whole, bilateral amygdala volume compared to Low‐Risk individuals. Examination of subnuclei revealed that the BSD group had larger volumes compared to the High‐Risk group in both the left medial and central subnuclei, and showed larger volume in the right lateral subnucleus compared to the Low‐Risk group. Within the BSD group, specific amygdala subnuclei volumes related to time since first episode onset and number of lifetime episodes. Taken together, whole amygdala volume analyses replicated past findings of enlargement in BSD, but did not detect abnormalities in the high‐risk group. Examination of subnuclei volumes detected differences in volume between the high‐risk and BSD groups that were missed in the whole amygdala volume. Results have implications for understanding amygdala abnormalities among individuals with, and at risk for, a BSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that young men's tendency to take risks may be exacerbated or attenuated in different social contexts. Despite widespread evidence that social context influences young men's risk-taking, few studies have examined the impact of romantic partners on risky decision-making. The present study examined risk-taking among young men in relationships with women (n = 134, ages 18–24) randomly assigned to be tested alone (n = 47), in the presence of their romantic partner (n = 44), or in the presence of an attractive female stranger (n = 43). The presence of a romantic partner diminished young men's tendency to take risks. Findings demonstrate that a dampening effect on risk-taking is attributable to the romantic partner's presence and not merely due to knowledge of being in a relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth around the world are increasingly dependent on social media and mobile smartphones. This phenomenon has generated considerable speculation regarding the impacts of extensive technology engagement on cognitive development and how these habits might be 'rewiring' the brains of those growing up in a heavily digital era. In an initial study conducted with healthy young adults, we utilized behavioral and self-report measures to demonstrate associations between smartphone usage habits (assessed both subjectively and objectively) and individual differences in intertemporal preference and reward sensitivity. In a follow-up neuroimaging study, we used probabilistic tractography of diffusion-weighted images to determine how these individual difference characteristics might relate to variation in white matter connectivity, focusing on two dissociable pathways—one connecting the ventral striatum (vSTR) with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the other connecting the vSTR with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Regression analyses revealed opposing patterns of association, with stronger vSTR–vmPFC connectivity corresponding to increased mobile technology engagement but stronger vSTR–dlPFC connectivity corresponding to decreased engagement. Taken together, the results of these two studies provide important foundational evidence for both neural and cognitive factors that can be linked to how individuals engage with mobile technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Developmental scientists have examined the independent effects of peer presence, social cues, and rewards on adolescent decision‐making and cognitive control. Yet, these contextual factors often co‐occur in real world social situations. The current study examined the combined effects of all three factors on cognitive control, and its underlying neural circuitry, using a task to better capture adolescents' real world social interactions. A sample of 176 participants ages 13–25, was scanned while performing an adapted go/no‐go task alone or in the presence of a virtual peer. The task included brief positive social cues and sustained periods of positive arousal. Adolescents showed diminished cognitive control to positive social cues when anticipating a reward in the presence of peers relative to when alone, a pattern not observed in older participants. This behavioral pattern was paralleled by enhanced orbitofrontal activation. The results demonstrate the synergistic impact of social and reward influences on cognitive control in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual systems model of adolescent risk-taking portrays the period as one characterized by a combination of heightened sensation seeking and still-maturing self-regulation, but most tests of this model have been conducted in the United States or Western Europe. In the present study, these propositions are tested in an international sample of more than 5000 individuals between ages 10 and 30 years from 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, using a multi-method test battery that includes both self-report and performance-based measures of both constructs. Consistent with the dual systems model, sensation seeking increased between preadolescence and late adolescence, peaked at age 19, and declined thereafter, whereas self-regulation increased steadily from preadolescence into young adulthood, reaching a plateau between ages 23 and 26. Although there were some variations in the magnitude of the observed age trends, the developmental patterns were largely similar across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research on adolescent risk behaviour has focused on the development of prefrontal self-regulatory mechanisms, prior studies have elicited mixed evidence of a relationship between individual differences in the capacity for self-regulation and individual differences in risk taking. To explain these inconsistent findings, it has been suggested that the capacity for self-regulation may be, for most adolescents, adequately mature to produce adaptive behaviour in non-affective, “cold” circumstances, but that adolescents have a more difficult time exerting control in affective, “hot” contexts. To further explore this claim, the present study examined individual differences in self-control in the face of affective and non-affective response conflict, and examined whether differences in the functioning of cognitive control processes under these different conditions was related to risk taking. Participants completed a cognitive Stroop task, an emotional Stroop task, and a risky driving task known as the Stoplight game. Regression analyses showed that performance on the emotional Stroop task predicted laboratory risk-taking in the driving task, whereas performance on the cognitive Stroop task did not exhibit the same trend. This pattern of results is consistent with theories of adolescent risk-taking that emphasise the impacts of affective contextual influences on the ability to enact effective cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]