Citation

Casey BJ, Jones RM, Levita L, Libby V, Pattwell SS, Ruberry EJ, Soliman F, Somerville LH. Dev. Psychobiol. 2010; 52(3): 225-235.

Affiliation

Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weil Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Avenue, Box 140, New York, NY 10065.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/dev.20447

PMID

20222060

PMCID

PMC2850961

Abstract

The characterization of adolescence as a time of "storm and stress" remains an open debate. Intense and frequent negative affect during this period has been hypothesized to explain the increased rates of affective disorders, suicide, and accidental death during this time of life. Yet some teens emerge from adolescence with minimal turmoil. We provide a neurobiological model of adolescence that proposes an imbalance in the development of subcortical limbic (e.g., amygdala) relative to prefrontal cortical regions as a potential mechanism for heightened emotionality during this period. Empirical support for this model is provided from recent behavioral and human imaging studies on the development of emotion regulation. We then provide examples of environmental factors that may exacerbate imbalances in amygdala-ventrofrontal function increasing risk for anxiety related behaviors. Finally we present data from human and mouse studies to illustrate how genetic factors may enhance or diminish this risk. Together, these studies provide a converging methods approach for understanding the highly variable stress and turmoil experienced in adolescence.

Language: en