title: Developmental changes in the reward positivity: an electrophysiological trajectory of reward processing.
abstract: Children and adolescents learn to regulate their behavior by utilizing feedback from the environment but exactly how this ability develops remains unclear. To investigate this question, we recorded the event-related brain potential (ERP) from children (8-13 years), adolescents (14-17 years) and young adults (18-23 years) while they navigated a "virtual maze" in pursuit of monetary rewards. The amplitude of the reward positivity, an ERP component elicited by feedback stimuli, was evaluated for each age group. A current theory suggests the reward positivity is produced by the impact of reinforcement learning signals carried by the midbrain dopamine system on anterior cingulate cortex, which utilizes the signals to learn and execute extended behaviors. We found that the three groups produced a reward positivity of comparable size despite relatively longer ERP component latencies for the children, suggesting that the reward processing system reaches maturity early in development. We propose that early development of the midbrain dopamine system facilitates the development of extended goal-directed behaviors in anterior cingulate cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Canada. Electronic address: clukie@uvic.ca.
authors.forename: Carmen N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lukie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Canada. Electronic address: somayyeh.montazer.h@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Somayyeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montazer-Hojat
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Canada. Electronic address: holroyd@uvic.ca.
authors.forename: Clay B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Holroyd
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012201:Reward; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine
keywords: Anterior cingulate cortex; Cognitive control; Development; Dopamine; Reinforcement learning; Reward positivity