The Adolescent Brain and the Impact of Early Adversity

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Organized By: Frontiers of Innovation

The brain develops in response to the environment across the human lifespan. During adolescence, remarkable development occurs in regions of the brain associated with the experience of emotion, response to reward, and behavioral control. Please join us for a Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) webinar exploring the social neuroscience of adolescent brain development, the impact of early adversity, and how the promotion of executive function and emotion regulation can nurture resilience.   Topics for discussion will include:  How interactions between the brain’s emotional, reward and cognitive control centers may help explain the emergence of common risk-taking behaviors and emotional problems in adolescence. How the transition from childhood to adolescence is critical to understanding adolescents' increased vulnerability to emotional and behavioral disorders. Implications of this emerging research for policy and practice. We are delighted to welcome our panelists:   Katie McLaughlin, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Washington Dr. McLaughlin's research seeks to identify psychological and neurobiological mechanisms linking childhood experiences of trauma, violence, and social disadvantage to the onset of child and adolescent mental disorders. She has identified a variety of neurodevelopmental mechanisms that underlie the relationship between exposure to adverse environments in childhood and the later development of psychiatric disorders. Dr. McLaughlin is currently working with the Boston Public Schools to develop and evaluate a stress-reduction intervention aimed at preventing the onset of anxiety and mood disorders in high school students. Nim Tottenham, Ph.D.  Associate Professor of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles Dr. Tottenham's research uses magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral methods to examine human brain development and associated emotional behaviors, including emotional reactivity and regulation, with the aim of identifying neural sensitive periods when environments can have an especially large impact. She examines brain development in both typical groups of children and adolescents, and those who have experienced early life adversity.   Kevin King, Ph.D.  Associate Professor of Child Clinical Psychology, University of Washington Dr. King’s work has shown that individuals' cognitive and emotional self-regulation are shaped by both positive and negative aspects of the environment, as well as individual   experiences, such as exposure to stress. His research demonstrates that the development of cognitive and emotional self-regulation during adolescence is not uniform across adolescents, that poor or under-developed self-regulation increases adolescents’ risk for behavior problems, and that exposure to stressful life events and parental behaviors may affect the development of self-regulation during adolescence.