Developmental changes in dopamine neurotransmission in adolescence: Behavioral implications and issues in assessment

Dustin Wahlstrom; Paul Collins; Tonya White; Monica Luciana

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2009.10.013

Developmental changes in dopamine neurotransmission in adolescence: Behavioral implications and issues in assessment

Dustin Wahlstrom, Paul Collins, Tonya White, Monica Luciana

Psychology (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

238 Scopus citations

Abstract

Adolescence is characterized by increased risk-taking, novelty-seeking, and locomotor activity, all of which suggest a heightened appetitive drive. The neurotransmitter dopamine is typically associated with behavioral activation and heightened forms of appetitive behavior in mammalian species, and this pattern of activation has been described in terms of a neurobehavioral system that underlies incentive-motivated behavior. Adolescence may be a time of elevated activity within this system. This review provides a summary of changes within cortical and subcortical dopaminergic systems that may account for changes in cognition and affect that characterize adolescent behavior. Because there is a dearth of information regarding neurochemical changes in human adolescents, models for assessing links between neurochemical activity and behavior in human adolescents will be described using molecular genetic techniques. Furthermore, we will suggest how these techniques can be combined with other methods such as pharmacology to measure the impact of dopamine activity on behavior and how this relation changes through the lifespan.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	146-159
Number of pages	14
Journal	Brain and Cognition
Volume	72
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.10.013
State	Published - Feb 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grant DA017843 awarded to Monica Luciana by the National Institute on Drug Abuse . The genotyping studies reported here were supported by a seed Grant from the University of Minnesota’s Biomedical Genomics Center awarded to Tonya White, M.D. Dustin Wahlstrom was supported by T32 Grant MH017069 . The support of the University of Minnesota’s General Clinical Research Center (M01-RR00400 National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health) and Center for Neurobehavioral Development are also gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

Adolescence
Development
Dopamine
Prefrontal cortex

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10.1016/j.bandc.2009.10.013

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abstract = "Adolescence is characterized by increased risk-taking, novelty-seeking, and locomotor activity, all of which suggest a heightened appetitive drive. The neurotransmitter dopamine is typically associated with behavioral activation and heightened forms of appetitive behavior in mammalian species, and this pattern of activation has been described in terms of a neurobehavioral system that underlies incentive-motivated behavior. Adolescence may be a time of elevated activity within this system. This review provides a summary of changes within cortical and subcortical dopaminergic systems that may account for changes in cognition and affect that characterize adolescent behavior. Because there is a dearth of information regarding neurochemical changes in human adolescents, models for assessing links between neurochemical activity and behavior in human adolescents will be described using molecular genetic techniques. Furthermore, we will suggest how these techniques can be combined with other methods such as pharmacology to measure the impact of dopamine activity on behavior and how this relation changes through the lifespan.",

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author = "Dustin Wahlstrom and Paul Collins and Tonya White and Monica Luciana",

note = "Funding Information: Preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grant DA017843 awarded to Monica Luciana by the National Institute on Drug Abuse . The genotyping studies reported here were supported by a seed Grant from the University of Minnesota{\textquoteright}s Biomedical Genomics Center awarded to Tonya White, M.D. Dustin Wahlstrom was supported by T32 Grant MH017069 . The support of the University of Minnesota{\textquoteright}s General Clinical Research Center (M01-RR00400 National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health) and Center for Neurobehavioral Development are also gratefully acknowledged.",

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Developmental changes in dopamine neurotransmission in adolescence: Behavioral implications and issues in assessment

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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