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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Oct;1(4):560-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.06.006.

Developmental changes in adolescents’ neural response to challenge

Nicole M Strang  1 , Jens Pruessner, Seth D Pollak
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Free PMC article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Developmental changes in adolescents’ neural response to challenge

Nicole M Strang et al. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Oct.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Adolescents often fail to adaptively regulate their emotions and behaviors. This is most clearly demonstrated by the marked increase during this period in fatalities that are attributable to preventable causes. Using functional magnetic resonance methodology, this study explored whether adolescents and adults differed in their engagement of prefrontal circuitry in response to a cognitive and emotional challenge. Twenty-four adolescents and twenty-three adults were scanned while they solved difficult math problems with induced failure and negative social evaluation. Data is reported from 23 adolescents and 23 adults. Adult and adolescent participants showed similar increases in heart rate when responding to the experimental challenge. Despite the similarity of the autonomic response, adolescents recruited a more restricted network of prefrontal regions as compared to adults. Both adolescents and adults recruited the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, however adults additionally recruited the anterior insula. Functional connectivity between the anterior insula and other prefrontal regions was stronger in adults as compared to adolescents. Further, for adults, the magnitude of activity in the insula predicted lower autonomic activity in response to the challenge. Differences between adolescents and adults engagement of prefrontal networks may relate to adolescents’ poor behavioral and emotional regulation.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Depiction of a scanning run and task interface. During each run participants completed the Perceptual/Motor Control, Baseline Math, and Challenge conditions, and also viewed fixation. The interface for each condition is illustrated above its label. Each run began and terminated with 20 s of fixation. In both the Baseline Math condition and the Challenge condition each trial began with 500 ms of fixation. In the Baseline Math condition participants had an unlimited amount of time to respond to the trial. Once a response was made, feedback based on the participant's response (i.e., either the word “Correct” or “Incorrect”) appeared in the lower left hand corner for the display. Feedback was displayed for 500 ms. After another 500 ms of fixation a new math problem was presented in the same display and the rotary diary was reset so that position 0 was highlighted. Trials proceeded identically in the challenge condition with the exception that there was a time limit, and if a response was not made within the allotted amount of time, the word “Timeout!” was presented in the feedback portion of the screen and the trial ended.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Proportion of trials correct in the Baseline Math and Challenge conditions.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Differences in Brain activation for the contrast of Challenge minus Baseline Math conditions for the adolescents and adults. Both groups had greater activation in the DLPFC and ACC to the Challenge as compared to the Baseline Math condition.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Region of the left anterior insula that differed in the interaction between group (Adolescent, Adult) and condition (Baseline Math, Challenge). In adults, there was increased activity in the Challenge relative to the Baseline Math condition. For adolescents, activity did not change between conditions.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Correlations between activity in the left anterior insula and heart rate in the Challenge condition for adolescents and adults.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Differences in left anterior insula functional connectivity between adolescents and adults. (A) Adults had greater connectivity in the right DLPFC (peak x y z 44 48 6). (B) Adults also had greater connectivity in the dACC (peak x y z 0 10 26).
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