Understanding the teenage brain of today Rhoshel Lenroot Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry UNSW and Neurosciences Research Australia Clinical Director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Southeastern Sydney Local Health District
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Rhoshel Lenroot Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent ......2015/08/06 · Understanding the teenage brain of today Rhoshel Lenroot Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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Understanding the teenage brain of today
Rhoshel LenrootChair of Infant, Child and Adolescent PsychiatryUNSW and Neurosciences Research Australia
Clinical Director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health ServicesSoutheastern Sydney Local Health District
Adolescence
• Beginning of puberty till achieve self-sufficiency
• Developmental tasks: – Individuation– Formation of intimate relationships outside the
family
Teens are not defective adults
• Evolutionarily conserved– Increased risk taking– Socializing with peers– Fighting with parents– Increased ethanol intake
1 Eaton et al, Youth risk behavior surveillance – United State, 2005, surveillance summmaries. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2006
• Motor vehicle crashes• Unintentional injuries
• Homicide• Suicide
• Lifelong adverse consequences• Due to individual choices: preventable
Early onset of psychiatric disorders:50% age 14; 75% by age 24
What do we know about the teenage
brain?I. Differences in functionII. Developmental changes III. Influences
I. DIFFERENCES IN TEENAGE BRAIN FUNCTION
Observations
• Improvements in cognition– Multitasking– Social cognition
• Interactions between cognition and emotion – both positive and negative
Somerville et al, J Cogn Sci 2011
Dreyfuss et al, Dev Neurosci 2014
Social exclusion
• Cyberball task
Social exclusion
Younger and mid adolescent decreased mood; younger also increased anxiety (from Sebastian et al, Brain Cog 2010)
Learning
(From Casey, Ann Rev Psych 2015)
Effects of peers on risk taking
Chein et al, Dev Sci 2014
Neurobiologic models of adolescence
Casey, Ann Rev Psych 2015
Triadic model
Pictures “Inside out”, Pixar
Giedd, Sci Amer 2015
II. DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
Growth during childhood and adolescence
• Mean volume by age in years for males ( 588 scans) and females (375 scans)
Cortical Thickness
Changes in cortical thickness ages 4-22Gogtay et al, PNAS 2004
Prolonged development
More focal activation with maturation: increased
efficiency?
Comparison of activation during inhibition in go-nogo task7 boys participated twice at 9yo and 11yoRegion in red correlated with increased task performance
Blue: Dec activationRed: Inc activation
Durston et al, Developmental Science 2006 (1-20)
Decreases in cerebral blood flow with
maturation• Arterial spin labeling: use MRI for noninvasive
quantification of cerebral perfusion• Cross-sectional study of 922 youth ages 8-22• Map changes in blood flow according to age and
to pubertal stage (self-reported Tanner stage)• Satterthwaite et al, PNAS 2014
Compare developmental changes in brain activity associated with eye saccadestowards a target with saccades away from a target – measure of inhibitory control
Increased connections between frontal regions and other brain regions with ageduring inhibitory activity; fewer local connections
Networks and Peer Pressure
• Assess resistance to peer influence – (RPI) with questionnaire
• Use fMRI to determine strength of brain response to angry or neutral stimuli
• Compare those with higher versus lower RPI scores• Individuals with higher RPI scores
– Had pattern of less reaction to angry stimuli in non-cognitive brain regions and stronger reaction in executive function regions areas
• Suggests increased integration of brain regions may be associated with more mature ability to resist peer influence
Grosbras et al, J Neuroscience 2007
III. INFLUENCES
Hormones and adolescent brain
development
• Puberty: complex onset• Many areas of brain rich in sex steroid
receptors– Limbic – hippocampus, amygdala– Motivation and reward systems– Cortex
Effects of hormones on brain development:
organization/activation
• Two-stage model – Early organizational effects– Pubertal activation– Now: recognition that organizational
effects also occur to less extent during puberty
Growth during childhood and adolescence
• Mean volume by age in years for males ( 588 scans) and females (375 scans)
Netherland twins cohort
• Cohort of twins followed longitudinally • 7 years onward (Peper et al, 2008, 2009)• Measure sex steroids levels and MRI• Luteinizing hormone when twins aged 9: levels
predicted WM volumes • Estradiol and testosterone aged 10-15
– Estradiol had negative correlation with GM volume in females
– Testosterone had positive correlation in boys– Girls slightly older: different point in development?
Pubertal changes
• Complex: – different aspects of puberty occur at different
rates– measuring steroid levels that are undergoing
circadian changes– Relating to non-linear brain changes
• Evidence however that organizational effects occurring during adolescence
Changes in heritability with age
Schmitt et al, PNAS 2014
Environment
Surface area in 1,099 children and youth aged 3-20Affected areas also correlate with performanceNoble et al, Nat Neuro2015
CONCLUSION
Conclusions
• Neuroimaging techniques:– window into adolescent brain
• Structural and functional changes continue throughout adolescence
• Development ≠ Growth: integration and efficiency increase, plasticity decreases
Adolescent behavioral changes present across
species
Ability to take risks adaptive
“Scaffolding”
• Today’s environment has different risks –- Driving- Access to drugs