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Contributions of Reward Sensitivity to Ventral Striatum Activity Across Adolescence and Early Adulthood
Author(s) -
Schreuders Elisabeth,
Braams Barbara R.,
Blankenstein Neeltje E.,
Peper Jiska S.,
Güroğlu Berna,
Crone Eveline A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13056
Subject(s) - ventral striatum , psychology , striatum , nucleus accumbens , reward system , pleasure , developmental psychology , trait , young adult , reward dependence , addiction , early adulthood , neuroscience , dopamine , social psychology , novelty seeking , personality , temperament , computer science , programming language
It was examined how ventral striatum responses to rewards develop across adolescence and early adulthood and how individual differences in state‐ and trait‐level reward sensitivity are related to these changes. Participants (aged 8–29 years) were tested across three waves separated by 2 years (693 functional MRI scans) in an accelerated longitudinal design. The results confirmed an adolescent peak in reward‐related ventral striatum, specifically nucleus accumbens, activity. In early to mid‐adolescence, increases in reward activation were related to trait‐level reward drive. In mid‐adolescence to early adulthood decreases in reward activation were related to decreases in state‐level hedonic reward pleasure. This study demonstrates that state‐ and trait‐level reward sensitivity account for reward‐related ventral striatum activity in different phases of adolescence and early adulthood.