Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females
Risk-taking peaks in adolescence and reflects, in part, hyperactivity of the brain’s reward system. However, it has not been established whether the association between reward-related brain activity and risk-taking varies across adolescence. The present study investigated how neural reward sensitivi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929320300566 |
| _version_ | 1818417918872911872 |
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| author | Clara Freeman Melanie Dirks Anna Weinberg |
| author_facet | Clara Freeman Melanie Dirks Anna Weinberg |
| author_sort | Clara Freeman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Risk-taking peaks in adolescence and reflects, in part, hyperactivity of the brain’s reward system. However, it has not been established whether the association between reward-related brain activity and risk-taking varies across adolescence. The present study investigated how neural reward sensitivity is associated with laboratory risk-taking in a sample of female adolescents as a function of age. Sixty-three female adolescents ages 10–19 completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, a laboratory measure of risk-taking behavior, as well as a forced choice monetary gambling task while an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. This gambling task elicits the reward positivity (RewP), a frontocentral event-related potential component that is sensitive to feedback signaling reward. We observed a negative quadratic association between age and risk-taking, such that those in early and late adolescence had lower relative risk-taking compared to mid-adolescence, with risk-taking peaking at around 15 years of age. In predicting risk-taking, we observed an interaction between age and RewP, such that reward-related brain activity was not associated with risk-taking in early adolescence but was associated with a greater propensity for risk in later adolescence. These findings suggest that for females, neural response to rewards is an important factor in predicting risk-taking only in later adolescence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:14:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f0b06e715dd430fbd8f6d5c8b4df43f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1878-9293 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:14:25Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f0b06e715dd430fbd8f6d5c8b4df43f2022-12-21T23:01:39ZengElsevierDevelopmental Cognitive Neuroscience1878-92932020-10-0145100808Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent femalesClara Freeman0Melanie Dirks1Anna Weinberg2Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montreal QC H3A, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montreal QC H3A, CanadaCorresponding author.; Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montreal QC H3A, CanadaRisk-taking peaks in adolescence and reflects, in part, hyperactivity of the brain’s reward system. However, it has not been established whether the association between reward-related brain activity and risk-taking varies across adolescence. The present study investigated how neural reward sensitivity is associated with laboratory risk-taking in a sample of female adolescents as a function of age. Sixty-three female adolescents ages 10–19 completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, a laboratory measure of risk-taking behavior, as well as a forced choice monetary gambling task while an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. This gambling task elicits the reward positivity (RewP), a frontocentral event-related potential component that is sensitive to feedback signaling reward. We observed a negative quadratic association between age and risk-taking, such that those in early and late adolescence had lower relative risk-taking compared to mid-adolescence, with risk-taking peaking at around 15 years of age. In predicting risk-taking, we observed an interaction between age and RewP, such that reward-related brain activity was not associated with risk-taking in early adolescence but was associated with a greater propensity for risk in later adolescence. These findings suggest that for females, neural response to rewards is an important factor in predicting risk-taking only in later adolescence.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929320300566AdolescenceRisk-takingReward sensitivityEEG |
| spellingShingle | Clara Freeman Melanie Dirks Anna Weinberg Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Adolescence Risk-taking Reward sensitivity EEG |
| title | Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| title_full | Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| title_fullStr | Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| title_short | Neural response to rewards predicts risk-taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| title_sort | neural response to rewards predicts risk taking in late but not early adolescent females |
| topic | Adolescence Risk-taking Reward sensitivity EEG |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929320300566 |
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