Adolescence as a neurobiological critical period for the development of higher-order cognition
By Bart Larsen, Beatriz Luna. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2018
694 citations recorded by the source corpus.
HighlightsWe propose a critical period model of adolescent neurocognitive development.Critical period mechanisms refine and stabilize association cortex development.The development of the dopamine system may act as a critical period trigger.Our model provides a framework for normative development and psychopathology. Abstract The transition from adolescence to adulthood is characterized by improvements in higher‐order cognitive abilities and corresponding refinements of the structure and function of the brain regions that support them. Whereas the neurobiological mechanisms that govern early development of sensory systems are well‐understood, the mechanisms that drive developmental plasticity of association cortices, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), during adolescence remain to be explained. In this review, we synthesize neurodevelopmental findings at the cellular, circuit, and systems levels in PFC and evaluate them through the lens of established critical period (CP) mechanisms that guide early sensory development. We find remarkable correspondence between these neurodevelopmental processes and the mechanisms driving CP plasticity, supporting the hypothesis that adolescent development is driven by CP mechanisms that guide the rapid development of neurobiology and cognitive ability during adolescence and their subsequent stability in adulthood. Critically, understanding adolescence as a CP not only provides a mechanism for normative adolescent development, it provides a framework for understanding the role of experience and neurobiology in the emergence of psychopathology that occurs during this developmental period.
Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b9aaf6719d277968971c9b774b3eea05165b934c
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In Cognitive Neuroscience
Citations in the corpus
- Neurodevelopment of the association cortices: Patterns, mechanisms, and implications for psychopathology (2021, neutral): “…cortical plasticity underlies hypotheses that late childhood and adolescence represent a sensitive or critical period for refinement of association cortices and the functions that they subserve (Fuhrmann et al., 2015; Gabard-Durnam and McLaughlin, 2020; Larsen and Luna, 2018; Larsen et al., 2021).”
- Heterochronous laminar maturation in the human prefrontal cortex (2025, unknown): “Layers 1 and 4 are non-pyramidal “input” layers that receive substantial input from the thalamus and other cortical regions.”
- Aperiodic EEG and 7T MRSI evidence for maturation of E/I balance supporting the development of working memory through adolescence (2024, background): “Importantly, these findings are in line with a model of adolescence as a critical period for frontal cortex maturation supporting cognitive development into adulthood (Larsen and Luna, 2018).”
- Sexual dimorphism in cortical theta rhythms relates to elevated internalizing symptoms during adolescence (2024, unknown): “…including the posterior cingulate, show protracted development (Sydnor et al., 2021) and are particularly sensitive to the major influx of sex hormones during puberty (Kaczkurkin, Raznahan, et al., 2019), with heightened neuroplasticity during adolescence (Larsen & Luna, 2018; Larsen et al., 2022).”
- Inflammation-related aberrations in beta and gamma oscillatory dynamics serving attention processing in typically developing youth (2025, unknown): “20 Of course, with this increased plasticity comes a window of vulnerability to multiple sources, including physiological processes like inflammation.”