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The social re-orientation of adolescence: a neuroscience perspective onthe process and its relation to psychopathology (Nelson et al., 2005)
Social information processing network (SIPN)
3 nodes interacting:
1. Detection node: categorizes stimuli as social
a. FFA and OFA
b. Brain areas mature well before adolescence
2. Affective node: determines the social significance of stimuli and modulates approach/avoid response
a. Amygdala, ventral striatum, OFC
b. Very sensitive to gonadal hormones, maturation during puberty
3. Cognitive-regulatory node:
a. Perceiving mental states of others (mPFC)
b. Inhibiting responses (vPFC)
c. Generation of goal-directed behaviors (interaction between dPFC and vPFC)
d. Increased myelination and synaptic pruning maturation (maturation till early adulthood)
e. Not directly affected by hormones, but secondary effects because affective node interacts with
cognitive-regulatory node
* As a result of hormones, maturation of neuronal processes and learning, the social behavior of adolescents changes.
These changes can lead to changes in the SIPN.
SIPN during adolescence
Adolescents are more sensible to emotional properties of stimulus (greater activation of the amygdala,
OFC and anterior cingulate)
Adults (not adolescents) can switch between emotional and non-emotional stimuli (engaging and
disengaging the OFC)
Hostile/fearful faces: adolescents are less able to modulate the affective node than adults (indicates
maturation of the cognitive-regulatory node is still going on during adolescence)
dmPFC is central in ToM
Affective disorders
During adolescence there is a heightened sensitivity to negative interpersonal events (e.g. romantic break-up and
peer rejection). Sex hormones might play a role in affective disorders. The ratio male : female (1 : 2) in
mood/anxiety disorders is first seen in adolescence (not yet in childhood). Adolescents socially re-orient
themselves (more focus on peers, less on family) and this places stress on the SIPN. The affective node develops
faster and a few years earlier than the cognitive node. Development of the affective node leads to more emotional
urges, while the cognitive node doesn’t have the power to regulate/inhibit these urges yet.
The social brain in adolescence: Evidence from functional magnetic
resonance imaging and behavioural studies (Burnett et al., 2011)
Social cognition = all cognitive processes required to understand and interact with others.
The social brain = fusiform face area (FFA), posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), amygdala, temporo-
parietal junction (TPJ), anterior rostral medial PFC (mPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior
temporal cortex (ATC).
Face processing
Basic face processing abilities develop at least until age 10. Brain areas linked to face processing are the FFA and
STS (are larger in adults than in children). The cortical network for face processing consists of the FFA, STS and
occipital face area (OFA). The network is present in children, adolescents and adults, but is still fine-tuned.
Facial emotion processing
The network for facial emotion processing consists of the FFA, STS, OFA, amygdala and parts of the PFC. The
ability to process emotions develops during adolescence, might be different developmental trajectories for
different emotions. From adolescence to adulthood, there is a decrease in amygdala and FFA reactivity.
Mentalizing
, Mentalizing = the ability to understand mental states of others, it helps us to understand and predict behaviors of
others. The brain network consists of the ATC, pSTS, TPJ and mPFC. The activity of the mPFC during mentalizing
decreases with age between adolescence and adulthood. The interaction between the mPFC and pSTS/TPJ also
changes.
Peer influence
Driving game: adolescents take more risks when driving in the presence of peers, compared to driving alone. This
effect was not found in adults. The ability to resist peer influence increase between 14-18 years. Higher resistance
to peer influence is linked to stronger functional connectivity between brain regions for action perception and
decision making.
Social evaluation
The Cyberball paradigm is a ball-passing game played over the internet with two anonymous players. The
participant is included or excluded. Female adolescents showed reduced positive mood during exclusion,
compared with female adults. Adults show a positive correlation between distress and dACC activity (adolescents
did not). Adults showed greater ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC) activity during exclusion than during inclusion
(adolescents showed a reversed pattern). An emotional stroop-task with rejection-words, acceptance-words and
neutral-words was done with adolescent and adult females. Adult females showed greater vlPFC activity with
rejection-words. Adolescent females showed greater vlPFC with acceptance words.
When adolescents predict social feedback, the vmPFC, ACC and striatum are activated more (and there is an age-
related increase). When adolescents predict social rejection, the OFC and lPFC are activated more (and there is an
age-related increase).
Theoretical models of adolescents brain development
Social Information Processing Network (SIPN)
Adolescence is a time of social reorienting. The affective and cognitive-regulatory node are remodeling, which
results in increased importance of peer relationships and more risk-taking. Gonadal steroids lead to remodeling of
the affective node and the gradual maturation of the PFC leads to the remodeling of the cognitive-regulatory node.
Triadic model
The affective-motivational and cognitive-regulatory systems develop during adolescence. The affective-
motivational system has an approach node (striatum) and an avoidance node (amygdala). An imbalance between
these systems in adolescence contributes to risk-taking.
Developmental mismatch models
The limbic systems matures earlier than the PFC and this results in a mismatch during adolescence. This
mismatch leads to greater sensitivity to emotional context in adolescence. The remodeling of the dopaminergic
system leads to an increase of the importance of social rewards.
Structure-function relationship in the adolescent social brain
White matter increases during adolescence, gray matter (synaptic density) decreases. This leads to more efficient
neural circuits.
Considerations of fairness in the adolescent brain (Crone, 2013)
Adolescents start to show more altruistic behaviors and behaviors that are oriented towards others. ToM is
developed by age 4-5. Perspective-taking skills develop throughout childhood and adolescence.
The Ultimatum Game (UG)
The proposer decides how to divide a stack of money and the responder accepts or refuses it. Adults often refuse
unfair offers. Fairness behavior increases with age. A better ToM is linked to more strategic fairness. Unfair offers
are linked to more activation in the anterior insula, the ACC and the dlPFC.
Mini-Ultimatum Game
The proposer can choose between 2 options. Both the proposer and the responder are aware of the 2 options.
There are 2 conditions: a fair alternative and a no-alternative condition. Study with 10, 13, 15 and 18 year olds
showed that in the no-alternative conditions increased age was related to a decrease in rejection: the older the
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