Abstract
BackgroundMyelination of white matter in the brain continues throughout adolescence and early adulthood. This cortical immaturity has been suggested as a potential cause of dangerous and impulsive behaviors in adolescence.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe tested this hypothesis in a group of healthy adolescents, age 12–18 (N = 91), who underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to delineate cortical white matter tracts. As a measure of real-world risk taking, participants completed the Adolescent Risk Questionnaire (ARQ) which measures engagement in dangerous activities. After adjusting for age-related changes in both DTI and ARQ, engagement in dangerous behaviors was found to be positively correlated with fractional anisotropy and negatively correlated with transverse diffusivity in frontal white matter tracts, indicative of increased myelination and/or density of fibers (ages 14–18, N = 60).Conclusions/SignificanceThe direction of correlation suggests that rather than having immature cortices, adolescents who engage in dangerous activities have frontal white matter tracts that are more adult in form than their more conservative peers.
Highlights
Each year, according to the CDC, 27,000 people between the ages of 10 and 24 die from bad decisions – primarily accidents, homicide, and suicide [1]
The Adolescent Risk Questionnaire (ARQ) was normed in a sample of 970 adolescents [28], and principal component analysis identified four factors: 1) thrillseeking behaviors; 2) rebellious behaviors; 3) reckless behaviors; and 4) antisocial behaviors
Nine subjects tested positive for marijuana, and all but one of them indicated on the ARQ that they had taken drugs
Summary
Each year, according to the CDC, 27,000 people between the ages of 10 and 24 die from bad decisions – primarily accidents, homicide, and suicide [1]. There are two broadly different theories about why adolescents might engage in risky, or dangerous, behaviors Both theories are informed by the biological changes that occur during adolescence, including both sexual development and neurobiological changes in the brain. One theory suggests that risk-taking in adolescence results from a mismatch in maturity between emotional systems and cognitive control systems of the brain [4,5,6]. According to this dual-systems theory, development of hedonic drive systems This cortical immaturity has been suggested as a potential cause of dangerous and impulsive behaviors in adolescence
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