title: Age differences in the impact of peers on adolescents' and adults' neural response to reward.
abstract: Prior research suggests that increased adolescent risk-taking in the presence of peers may be linked to the influence of peers on the valuation and processing of rewards during decision-making. The current study explores this idea by examining how peer observation impacts the processing of rewards when such processing is isolated from other facets of risky decision-making (e.g. risk-perception and preference, inhibitory processing, etc.). In an fMRI paradigm, a sample of adolescents (ages 14-19) and adults (ages 25-35) completed a modified High/Low Card Guessing Task that included rewarded and un-rewarded trials. Social context was manipulated by having participants complete the task both alone and while being observed by two, same-age, same-sex peers. Results indicated an interaction of age and social context on the activation of reward circuitry during the receipt of reward; when observed by peers adolescents exhibited greater ventral striatal activation than adults, but no age-related differences were evinced when the task was completed alone. These findings suggest that, during adolescence, peers influence recruitment of reward-related regions even when they are engaged outside of the context of risk-taking. Implications for engagement in prosocial, as well as risky, behaviors during adolescence are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Ashley R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Strang
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: jchein@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Development; Neuroimaging; Peer influence; Reward processing; Striatum