title: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of reward-related brain activation: effects of age, pubertal stage, and reward sensitivity.
abstract: Neurobiological models suggest that adolescents are driven by an overactive ventral striatum (VS) response to rewards that may lead to an adolescent increase in risk-taking behavior. However, empirical studies showed mixed findings of adolescents' brain response to rewards. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between reward-related brain activation and risky decision-making. In addition, we examined effects of age, puberty, and individuals' reward sensitivity. We collected two datasets: Experiment 1 reports cross-sectional brain data from 75 participants (ages 10-25) who played a risky decision task. Experiment 2 presents a longitudinal extension in which a subset of these adolescents (n=33) was measured again 2years later. Results showed that (1) a reward-related network including VS and medial PFC was consistently activated over time, (2) the propensity to choose the risky option was related to increased reward-related activation in VS and medial PFC, and (3) longitudinal comparisons indicated that self-reported reward sensitivity was specifically related to VS activation over time. Together, these results advance our insights in the brain circuitry underlying reward processing across adolescence.
authors: Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: a.c.k.vanduijvenvoorde@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
authors: Anna C K
authors: AC
authors: van Duijvenvoorde
authors: University of California, Berkeley, USA.
authors: Zdeňa A
authors: ZA
authors: Op de Macks
authors: Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors: Sandy
authors: S
authors: Overgaauw
authors: Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors: Bregtje
authors: B
authors: Gunther Moor
authors: University of California, Berkeley, USA.
authors: Ronald E
authors: RE
authors: Dahl
authors: Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors: Eveline A
authors: EA
authors: Crone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011627:Puberty; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; BAS-score; Functional connectivity; Medial prefrontal cortex; Risk taking; Ventral striatum