Acute stress increases risky decisions and dampens prefrontal activation among adolescent boys

Abstract

Adolescence is characterized by increased risky decision-making, enhanced mesolimbic response to risk and reward, increased perceived stress, and heightened physiological response to stress relative to other age groups. In adults, evidence suggests that acute stress increases risky decision-making by stress-induced increases of dopamine in regions implicated in reward processing and decision-making. Acute stress also increases risky decision-making in adolescents, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remained unexplored. In this study, daily self-reports of stress were documented in adolescents and adults. Participants completed two fMRI visits during which they performed a risky decision-making task: once each when they endorsed a high and low level of stress. Results revealed that adolescent males took more advantageous risks under high stress relative to low stress whereas adult males took fewer non-advantageous risks under high stress relative to low stress. Adolescent males also showed a stress-related decrease in prefrontal activation when making risky decisions from high stress to low stress while adult males maintained prefrontal activation when making risky decisions across stress conditions. Adolescent and adult females did not exhibit stress-related changes in risky decisions. Moreover, greater prefrontal activation under stress was associated with fewer non-advantageous risks taken under stress. Implications for risk-taking under stress are discussed in light of these findings.

Sleep duration moderates the association between insula activation and risky decisions under stress in adolescents and adults

“…Using a within-subjects daily diary approach to measuring daily stress and an adaptive risky decision-making task, we showed that SLEEP AND STRESS ON RISKY DECISIONS 5 adolescent males (15-17 years) took more advantageous risks under high relative to low stress whereas adult males (25-30 years) took fewer non-advantageous (equal expected value) risks under high relative to low stress. Moreover, despite showing similar sensitivity to expected value, adolescent males demonstrated increased overall risk preference under high stress relative to adult males while there were no differences in risky decisions under low stress conditions (Uy & Galván, 2016). These developmental differences in stress-related risky behaviors were paralleled by developmental differences in stress-related functional activation in the PFC during adaptive risky decision-makingsuch that adolescent males evinced reduced PFC activation during high relative to low stress when making advantageous decisions (relative to disadvantageous decisions) whereas adult males showed no stress-related changes in PFC recruitment (Uy & Galván, 2016).…”

“…Moreover, despite showing similar sensitivity to expected value, adolescent males demonstrated increased overall risk preference under high stress relative to adult males while there were no differences in risky decisions under low stress conditions (Uy & Galván, 2016). These developmental differences in stress-related risky behaviors were paralleled by developmental differences in stress-related functional activation in the PFC during adaptive risky decision-makingsuch that adolescent males evinced reduced PFC activation during high relative to low stress when making advantageous decisions (relative to disadvantageous decisions) whereas adult males showed no stress-related changes in PFC recruitment (Uy & Galván, 2016). Moreover, decreasing PFC activation under stress was related to greater non-advantageous risks under stress, suggesting that the developing PFC may be more sensitive to the effects of stress.…”

“…Research examining the effects of acute stress on risk-taking in adolescents has been limited. Previous work from our lab examined how daily stress affects adaptive risky decisionmaking in adolescents and adults (Uy & Galván, 2016). Using a within-subjects daily diary approach to measuring daily stress and an adaptive risky decision-making task, we showed that SLEEP AND STRESS ON RISKY DECISIONS 5 adolescent males (15-17 years) took more advantageous risks under high relative to low stress whereas adult males (25-30 years) took fewer non-advantageous (equal expected value) risks under high relative to low stress.…”

Moderated Mediation of the Link between Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Adolescent Risk-Taking: the Role of Physiological Regulation and Hostile Behavior in an Experimentally Controlled Investigation

“…Along those lines, conflict intensity between parents and adolescents also increases in adolescence, and, at its extreme, is associated with adverse youth outcomes, including depression and risk behaviors (Laursen et al 1998;Weymouth et al 2016). While the mechanism of this association remains unclear, experiencing acute stress, such as conflictual interactions with parents, may affect adolescents' decision-making for risk behaviors (Galvan and Rahdar 2013;Uy and Galvan 2017). In the current study, we sought to investigate how the experience of parent-adolescent conflict impacts adolescent risk-taking, using behavioral and physiological indicators of arousal and self-regulation, respectively.…”

“…In the current study, we sought to investigate how the experience of parent-adolescent conflict impacts adolescent risk-taking, using behavioral and physiological indicators of arousal and self-regulation, respectively. Understanding how parentadolescent conflict is related to risk-taking is essential because the experience of social stress may potentiate the already-existing heightened risk for adverse outcomes in adolescence (Uy and Galvan 2017).…”