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Psychological Science 2016

When Is an Adolescent an Adult? Assessing Cognitive Control in Emotional and Nonemotional Contexts

Alexandra O. Cohen1; Kaitlyn Breiner2; Laurence Steinberg3; Richard J. Bonnie4; Elizabeth S. Scott5; Kim Taylor‐Thompson6,7; Marc D. Rudolph8; Jason Chein3; Jennifer A. Richeson9,10; Aaron S. Heller11; Melanie Silverman1; Danielle V. Dellarco1; Damien A. Fair8; Adriana Galván2; B. J. Casey1

1 Cornell University · 2 University of California, Los Angeles · 3 Temple University · 4 University of Virginia · 5 Columbia University · 6 New York Law School · 7 New York University · 8 Oregon Health & Science University · 9 Department of Psychology, Northwestern University · 10 Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University · 11 University of Miami

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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.

DOI
10.1177/0956797615627625
Sources
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