title: When Is an Adolescent an Adult? Assessing Cognitive Control in Emotional and Nonemotional Contexts.
abstract: An individual is typically considered an adult at age 18, although the age of adulthood varies for different legal and social policies. A key question is how cognitive capacities relevant to these policies change with development. The current study used an emotional go/no-go paradigm and functional neuroimaging to assess cognitive control under sustained states of negative and positive arousal in a community sample of one hundred ten 13- to 25-year-olds from New York City and Los Angeles. The results showed diminished cognitive performance under brief and prolonged negative emotional arousal in 18- to 21-year-olds relative to adults over 21. This reduction in performance was paralleled by decreased activity in fronto-parietal circuitry, implicated in cognitive control, and increased sustained activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, involved in emotional processes. The findings suggest a developmental shift in cognitive capacity in emotional situations that coincides with dynamic changes in prefrontal circuitry. These findings may inform age-related social policies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College.
authors.forename: Alexandra O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Kaitlyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Breiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia School of Law, University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bonnie
authors.affiliation: Columbia Law School, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Law, New York University.
authors.forename: Kim A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Taylor-Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University.
authors.forename: Marc D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Richeson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Miami.
authors.forename: Aaron S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College.
authors.forename: Melanie R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College.
authors.forename: Danielle V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Dellarco
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University.
authors.forename: Damien A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fair
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galván
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College bjc2002@med.cornell.edu.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Casey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D015141:Los Angeles; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009519:New York City; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adolescence; cognitive control; development; emotion; fMRI; legal policy; young adult