Impact of Emotional State on Impulsivity in Adolescence

Abstract

Teenagers' impulsivity is linked to the underdevelopment of the prefrontal cortex. Using delayed gratification techniques, one can test impulsive actions and test an individual's ability to resist a small immediate reward in order to receive a better reward later. Most research in this field has focused on delayed rewards when it comes to food (for rats) and money (for adults). Adolescents, while being known as the most impulsive, have rarely been tested in this manner. Not only that, the experiments that did test adolescent impulsivity treated adolescence and adult decision-making the same, despite the fact that the adolescent brain is still undergoing development in important decision-making structures while the adult brain is more stable.  Adolescents (15-18) also have unique experiences because they are in the transition phase of childhood to adulthood. Therefore, many of their values are more centered around academics, friends, and social media than adults (over 21). While the data found in this study was inconclusive, it leads to further questioning of if and why, in a state of dysphoria (negative affect) or anhedonia (lack of pleasure) adolescents have been found to prefer the smaller immediate rewards over the larger delayed rewards. It goes through all hypotheses and relates  dopamine activity or weaker/less developed brain structures including the ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal, and the anterior cingulate cortices with reasoning behind adolescent decision-making. This study inspires further research on the extent of adolescent impulsivity when in a state of dysphoria (negative affect) with results more centered around adolescent experiences unlike the research conducted before it.