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Sophie Taylor
Developmental trajectory of socio-cognitive and executive functions in late adolescence and early adulthood
Contact s.j.taylor@shu.ac.uk
Research centre
Brain, Behaviour and Cognition Group
Discipline/professional area
Psychology
Outline of research project
Evidence showing that brain maturation increases steeply in adolescence and adulthood has been provided by post mortem (e.g.Yakovlev and Lecours, 1967), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (e.g. Riddle et al, 2008) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging studies (e.g. Lebel et al, 2008).
Blakemore and Choudhury (2006) proposed that the protracted maturation of prefrontal and parietal cortices results in changes in social cognition and executive functions mediated by these regions. Social cognition is concerned with the perception and interpretation of social situations (Fiske and Taylor, 2008). Executive functions include planning, problem solving, allocation of attention and inhibitory control (Anderson, 2002; De Luca et al 2003).
Social cognition studies have previously involved participants with atypical development, e.g. children and adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome (e.g. Kaland et al, 2008) and Traumatic Brain Injury (e.g. Barker et al, 2009). Executive function studies have also included participants with atypical development, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (e.g. Barker et al, 2009) and depression (e.g. Kyte, Goodyer and Sahakian, 2005).
The proposed study will examine the developmental trajectory of social cognition and executive function development in late adolescence/early adulthood in a stratified longitudinal design. A non-clinical cohort will complete tests of social cognition and executive function, and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (Wechsler, 1999), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Watson, Clark and Tellegan, 1988), and measures of pubertal development and demographics at age 17, 18 and 19, with follow-up one year later.
Currently, there is little data on social cognitive and executive function ability in late adolescence and early adulthood. These data will provide norms for the typical trajectory of social cognition and executive functions in late adolescence/early adulthood and inform our understanding of abnormal functioning in neuropathological groups.
Key references
- Anderson, P. (2002) Assessment and development of executive function during childhood. Child Neuropsychology, 8 (2), 71-82.
- Barker, L. A., Andrade, J., Morton, N., Romanowski, C. A. and Bowles, D. (2009) The latent deficit hypothesis. Age at time of injury, executive functions and social cognition. Neuropsychologia, under review.
- Blakemore, S-J and Choudhury, S. (2006) Development of the adolescent brain: Implications for executive function and social cognition. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47 (3/4), 296-312.
- Lebel, C., Walker, L., Leemans, A., Phillps, L. and Beaulieu, C. (2008) Microstructural maturation of the human brain from childhood to adulthood. Neuroimage, 40, 1044-1055.
- Riddle, W. R., DonLevy, S. C., Wushensky, C. A., Dawant, B. M., Fitzpatrick, J. M. and Price, R. R. (2008) Quantifying cerebral changes in adolescence with MRI and Deformation Based Morphometry. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 28, 320-36.
- Yakolvlev, P. A. and Lecours, I. R. (1967) The myelogenetic cycles of regional maturation of the brain. In A. Minkowski (Ed) Regional development of the brain in early life (pp. 3-70). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Director of studies
Dr Lynne Barker (l.barker@shu.ac.uk)
Supervisors
Dr Lisa Reidy (l.reidy@shu.ac.uk)
Dr Sue McHale (s.l.mchale@shu.ac.uk)
