Examining threat responses through a developmental lens.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Behavioral Biology

Background:

• Adolescence is paradoxically characterized by risk-taking behaviors and a peak in anxiety disorders.
• Adolescents display heightened stress sensitivity compared to children and adults.
• Existing research on threat circuitry in adult rodents provides a foundation for studying adolescent responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reconcile the apparent contradiction between adolescent fearlessness and heightened anxiety.
• To investigate the developmental changes in threat circuitry during adolescence.
• To understand the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of adolescent threat responses.

Main Methods:

• Building upon foundational discoveries in adult rodent threat circuitry.
• Extending threat response mechanisms to developing humans and rodents.
• Elucidating specific situations triggering heightened or blunted threat responses in adolescents.

Main Results:

• Identified developmental changes in threat circuitry during adolescence.
• Linked specific environmental contexts to varying adolescent threat responses.
• Demonstrated situations where adolescents exhibit heightened threat responses and others where they appear fearless.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent threat responses are shaped by developmental changes in neural circuitry.
• These responses have implications for both individual/species survival and the risk of anxiety disorders.
• Optimizing behavioral treatments for youth anxiety may require targeting developmental stage-specific brain circuits.