Adverse experiences throughout development confer risk for a multitude of negative long-term outcomes, but the processes via which these experiences are neurobiologically embedded are still unclear. Adolescence provides an opportunity to understand how these experiences impact the brain's rapidly changing structure. Two models are central to…

During adolescence, increases in pubertal hormones lead to reproductive maturity as well as changes in cognitive development. Yet, little is known about how to best characterize interindividual differences in hormone concentrations. The goal of the current study was to examine the antecedents and consequences of membership in empirically derived…

Education changes the brain. The purpose of this meta-review is to afford teachers access to the most up-to-date research regarding principal neuro-processes of adolescent development and behavior to improve students' well-being and motivation in the classroom. This includes facets such as emotional, social, risk and reward mechanisms, stressors,…

New advances in neurobiology are revealing that brain development and the learning it enables are directly dependent on social-emotional experience. Growing bodies of research reveal the importance of socially-triggered epigenetic contributions to brain development and brain network configuration, with implications for social-emotional…

During adolescence, students experience a variety of biological changes in their bodies and brains. This Alliance for Excellent Education report argues that by understanding these changes--as well as the science behind student learning and development--education leaders can take advantage of this second critical window of development to support…

Adolescents become increasingly sensitive to social evaluation. Some previous studies have related this change to pubertal development. The present longitudinal study examined the role of sociocognitive development. We investigated whether or not the transition to recursive thinking, the ability to think about (others') thoughts, would be…

Empathy is an important social skill and is believed to play an essential role in moral development (Hoffman, 2000). In the present longitudinal study, the authors investigated adolescents' development of perspective taking and empathic concern from age 13 to 18 years (mean age at Wave 1 = 13 years, SD = 0.46) and examined its association with…

It is important to account for timing of puberty when studying the adolescent brain and cognition. The use of classical methods for assessing pubertal status may not be feasible in some studies, especially in male adolescents. Using data from a sample of 478 males from a longitudinal birth cohort, we describe the calculations of three independent…

Executive functions and social cognition develop through childhood into adolescence and early adulthood and are important for adaptive goal-oriented behavior (Apperly, Samson, & Humphreys, 2009; Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006). These functions are attributed to frontal networks known to undergo protracted maturation into early adulthood…

The social brain undergoes developmental change during adolescence, and pubertal hormones are hypothesized to contribute to this development. We used fMRI to explore how pubertal indicators (salivary concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and DHEA; pubertal stage; menarcheal status) relate to brain activity during a social emotion task.…

Links among concurrent and longitudinal changes in pubertal development and empathic ability from ages 10 to 13 and neural responses while witnessing peer rejection at age 13 were examined in 16 participants. More advanced pubertal development at age 13, and greater longitudinal increases in pubertal development, related to increased activity in…

The purpose of the study is to assess the relationship between timing of adolescent development and risk factors for suicide. Nationally representative data from the Add Health survey were used. The relationship of sociodemographic characteristics, known risk factors, and physical developmental timing and cognitive developmental style to suicide…

Objective: Changes in reward-related behavior are an important component of normal adolescent affective development. Understanding the neural underpinnings of these normative changes creates a foundation for investigating adolescence as a period of vulnerability to affective disorders, substance use disorders, and health problems. Studies of…

Adolescence is a time characterized by change--hormonally, physically, and mentally. We now know that some brain areas, particularly the frontal cortex, continue to develop well beyond childhood. There are two main changes with puberty. First, there is an increase in axonal myelination, which increases transmission speed. Second, there is a…

Studies the relationship between timing of puberty and spatial ability in 53 undergraduate women. Results do not show evidence for greater spatial ability on the part of those who have late maturation. (RJC)