This course's overall aim is to provide an introduction to current themes in developmental neuroscience, with emphasis on social decision making and its development during adolescence. The course begins by providing an introduction to decision theory and the neural substrates of decision making. The course then passes from individual decisions to social decisions, and their neural correlates. We will go over structural and functional MRI research showing changes in grey matter and white matter during adolescence, and the proposed underlying cellular and synaptic developmental processes. In particular, neural regions implicated in social cognition (e.g., mentalizing) and executive function undergo protracted development during adolescence. This framework will be used to address how social decision making changes with age during adolescence, and how this can help better understand the unique opportunities and vulnerabilities of this age. Indeed, on the one hand, adolescence is an age of heightened neuroplasticity, exploration and learning. However, adolescence is also an age of heightened risk taking (especially with peers), susceptibility to social influence, and the age in which most socio-emotional disorders emerge.
- Docente: GABRIELE SAM CHIERCHIA