Jennifer Lau (Kings College London) - The adolescent social brain: age-typical changes and individual differences in anxiety

Adolescence is a period of transition; individuals move away from the family to developing their own independent social ties and networks. Concurrently, changes in social cognition and regions of the social brain occur. While most adolescents find the increased sociability and their friendships rewarding, for some young people, social experiences can be thought of as threatening and anxiety-provoking. In this talk, we first consider age-typical changes in social behaviour and social cognition. Next we examine the neurocognitive factors that make social experiences more anxiety-provoking for some young people. Finally, we present preliminary data on experimental interventions that can help to challenge biased cognitive styles.