topic 2

• in adolescence you go through synaptic pruning which is where connections not used are eliminated and this is determined by the environment.
• the ventral striatum is the rewards centre of the brain
• aimed to investigate if adolescents attach more value to rewards then adults do and neural development of the expected value in brains of adolescents
• the sample was 19 adults aged 25-30 and 22 adolescents aged 13-17.
• method was a quasi experiment in lab conditions
• all ppts gave informed consent
• each ppt given 20 dollars to play with. saw a spinner with 50% chance of loosing
• neural activation showed more activation in the ventral striatum in adolescents as the expected value increased
• both groups as the expected value increased so did the likelihood of accepting a gamble
• concluded from the study that adolescents place greater value on rewards then adults do
• graduated driving schemes in California have a 12 month probation period and no passengers under 20 and night time restriction between 10pm and 5am.