Influences of affective processing and emotional context on neural activation during cognitive control from adolescence through adulthood

Emotion processing and cognitive control show marked development through adolescence, during which these systems have an enhanced effect on decision-making. Past studies have shown increased engagement of emotion-related regions in adolescents compared to adults during tasks eliciting different moods on a trial-by-trial basis, but few studies have examined state-related effects of emotion. Here, we investigated age-related changes in effects of emotional state on cognitive control using background connectivity, in which task-based signals are removed from fMRI data to examine spontaneous background fluctuations in neural activity. 50 participants completed a standard antisaccade fMRI task in a 3T scanner. Each trial included a positive, negative, or neutral sound that played before and during each trial. All subjects also completed a 5-minute resting state scan in the same session. Outside of the scanner, all subjects completed valence and arousal ratings of all sounds. Data were preprocessed using a standard preprocessing pipeline including wavelet despiking. Resting state data additionally underwent bandpass filtering and global signal regression. To obtain background connectivity data, task-related effects were estimated and then removed using multiple linear regression. Across subjects, latency significantly decreased with increasing age in negative trials, while the percentage of correct responses significantly increased in silent trials. The negative sounds were also perceived as more “arousing” in adults compared to adolescents. Using a bilateral amygdala seed to examine whole-brain background connectivity, increasing age was associated with increasing connectivity to brain regions with the dorsal attention network and salience network, among others. Resting state connectivity analyses revealed no significant age-related changes in amygdala background connectivity with these brain regions. This study suggests that negative affective stimuli may be more salient to adults, which may have a beneficial effect on their behavioral performance. Additionally, this may indicate increased emotional awareness in adults, as compared to adolescents, which may be driven by the development of connectivity between the amygdala and various cortical regions through this period

The Contributions of Pubertal Maturation to the Neurobiological Mechanisms of Cognitive and Affective Development

Puberty, the major biological process defining adolescence, is thought to demarcate a unique period of brain maturation associated with significant cognitive and affective development. Notably, pubertal hormones directly affect the brain through interactions with neurotransmitters including gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, and dopamine, particularly in regions that are also key nodes of the brain’s cognitive and affective systems, including the hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, and prefrontal cortex (PFC). These neurotransmitters support critical period plasticity in the brain, which facilitates neurocognitive development from adolescence into adulthood. However, while puberty likely contributes to adolescent brain maturation, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms underlying puberty’s influence on cognitive and affective development. This study used a multimodal longitudinal dataset of adolescents ages 10-18 to examine how pubertal development affects cognitive and emotional development, and whether this influence is exerted through neurotransmitters underlying critical period plasticity (GABA, glutamate, and dopamine). Pubertal development was measured using self-reported pubertal stage, with follow-up analyses incorporating testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estradiol, and progesterone as potential hormonal mechanisms. Associations were tested with measures of cognition (antisaccade task), emotion regulation (Behavioral Indicator of Resilience to Distress task), and neurotransmitters across the PFC, striatum, thalamus, and hippocampus (in vivo neuroimaging measures of GABA, glutamate, and dopamine). Pubertal stage was significantly associated with antisaccade performance and Behavioral Indicator of Resilience to Distress (BIRD) performance, and DHEA was significantly associated with BIRD performance in males only. Principal components analysis identified systematic relationships across neurotransmitters, resulting in three components of combined neurotransmitter function. Pubertal stage was significantly related to the third component, which captured hippocampal GABA levels and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) GABA/glutamate levels. Follow-up analyses revealed that this component was also associated with progesterone levels in females. However, this component did not mediate relationships between pubertal stage and behavioral performance. These findings suggest a nuanced role of puberty in cognitive and emotional development and provide additional support for puberty’s theorized role in demarcating the adolescent critical period of brain development. This study has important implications for future study design, and findings will provide behavioral and neurobiological targets for further examination of pubertal contributions to neurocognitive development

Adolescent neurocognitive development and decision-making abilities regarding gender-affirming care

Recently, politicians and legislative bodies have cited neurodevelopmental literature to argue that brain immaturity undermines decision-making regarding gender-affirming care (GAC) in youth. Here, we review this literature as it applies to adolescents’ ability to make decisions regarding GAC. The research shows that while adolescence is a time of peak risk-taking behavior that may lead to impulsive decisions, neurocognitive systems supporting adult-level decisions are available given deliberative processes that minimize influence of short-term rewards and peers. Since GAC decisions occur over an extended period and with support from adult caregivers and clinicians, adolescents can engage adult-level decision-making in this context. We also weigh the benefits of providing GAC access during adolescence and consider the significant costs of blocking or delaying GAC. Transgender and non-binary (TNB) adolescents face significant mental health challenges, many of which are mitigated by GAC access. Further, initiating the GAC process during adolescence, which we define as beginning at pubertal onset, leads to better long-term mental health outcomes than waiting until adulthood. Taken together, existing research indicates that many adolescents can make informed decisions regarding gender-affirming care, and that this care is critical for the well-being of TNB youth. We highlight relevant considerations for policy makers, researchers, and clinicians