Brain structural correlates of risk-taking behavior and effects of peer influence in adolescents

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 12;9(11):e112780. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112780. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Adolescents are characterized by impulsive risky behavior, particularly in the presence of peers. We discriminated high and low risk-taking male adolescents aged 18-19 years by assessing their propensity for risky behavior and vulnerability to peer influence with personality tests, and compared structural differences in gray and white matter of the brain with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. We also compared the brain structures according to the participants' actual risk-taking behavior in a simulated driving task with two different social conditions making up a peer competition situation. There was a discrepancy between the self-reported personality test results and risky driving behavior (running through an intersection with traffic lights turning yellow, chancing a collision with another vehicle). Comparison between high and low risk-taking adolescents according to personality test results revealed no significant difference in gray matter volume and white matter integrity. However, comparison according to actual risk-taking behavior during task performance revealed significantly higher white matter integrity in the high risk-taking group, suggesting that increased risky behavior during adolescence is not necessarily attributed to the immature brain as conventional wisdom says.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / physiology*
  • Adult
  • Automobile Driving
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping / methods
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Peer Group
  • Peer Influence
  • Personality / physiology
  • Risk-Taking
  • Social Behavior
  • Young Adult

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.1173239

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA, http://www.vegvesen.no/): HH; Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi, http://www.trafi.fi/): HH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.