Brain structural correlates of risk-taking behavior and effects of peer influence in adolescents

Adolescents are characterized by impulsive risky behavior, particularly in the presence of peers. We discriminated high and low risk-taking male adolescents aged 18-19 years by assessing their propensity for risky behavior and vulnerability to peer influence with personality tests, and compared stru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-11, Vol.9 (11), p.e112780-e112780
Main Authors: Kwon, Myoung Soo, Vorobyev, Victor, Moe, Dagfinn, Parkkola, Riitta, Hämäläinen, Heikki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - physiology
Adolescents
Adult
Automobile Driving
Behavior
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping - methods
Brain research
Child development
Comparative analysis
Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods
Driving conditions
Drug abuse
Health aspects
Humans
Impulsive behavior
Impulsivity
Integrity
Magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Morphometry
Neuroimaging
Neurosciences
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Peer Group
Peer Influence
Peer pressure
Peer relationships
Peers
Personality
Personality - physiology
Personality tests
Risk
Risk taking
Social aspects
Social Behavior
Social conditions
Studies
Substantia alba
Substantia grisea
Teenagers
Traffic safety
Traffic signals
Young Adult
Youth
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Summary:Adolescents are characterized by impulsive risky behavior, particularly in the presence of peers. We discriminated high and low risk-taking male adolescents aged 18-19 years by assessing their propensity for risky behavior and vulnerability to peer influence with personality tests, and compared structural differences in gray and white matter of the brain with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. We also compared the brain structures according to the participants' actual risk-taking behavior in a simulated driving task with two different social conditions making up a peer competition situation. There was a discrepancy between the self-reported personality test results and risky driving behavior (running through an intersection with traffic lights turning yellow, chancing a collision with another vehicle). Comparison between high and low risk-taking adolescents according to personality test results revealed no significant difference in gray matter volume and white matter integrity. However, comparison according to actual risk-taking behavior during task performance revealed significantly higher white matter integrity in the high risk-taking group, suggesting that increased risky behavior during adolescence is not necessarily attributed to the immature brain as conventional wisdom says.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0112780