NIH 2011 Annual Science of Behavioral Change Meeting
Emotion Regulation and Self Control
BJ Casey, Ph.D.
The Sackler Professor and Director
Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology
and Neuroscience Graduate Program
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, NY
Sackler Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College
Current or Past Fellows
Dima Amso & Kevin Bath (Brown) Matt Davidson (U Mass)
Stephanie Duhoux Sarah Durston * (Utrecht)
Inge Marie Eigsti (U Conn) Helena Frielingsdorf
Adriana Galvan* (UCLA)
Barbara Ganzel (at Cornell)
Todd Hare * (Zurich) Rebecca Jones
Vicki Libby Conor Liston Sumit Niogi
Matt Malter Cohen Nick Franklin Fatima Soliman
Siobhan Pattwell Alisa Powers Sarah Getz (at Princeton)
Alex Millner (at Harvard) Erika Ruberry
Theresa Teslovich Leah Somerville*
Liat Levita (at York) Katie Thomas (at U Minn)
Nim Tottenham * (now at UCLA)
Faculty
Doug Ballon
Gary Glover
Ian Gotlib
Walter Mischel
Yuichi Shoda
Henning Voss
Special
thanks to
THE
FAMILIES.
FUNDING SOURCES: P50 MH62196, R01 MH63255, R21 DA15882, R01 DA018879,
NSF 06-509, R01 HD069178, the Mortimer D. Sackler, M.D. family Dewitt-Wallace Fund,
WCMC Department of Psychiatry and CBIC Imaging Core.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
allows us to visualize and measure deep, primitive brain
regions involved in desire and emotion.
Source: PBS graphic based on Galvan et al 2006, Hare et al 2008, Sackler Institu
Individual differences in brain activity
(High Anxiety vs Low Anxiety)
SOURCE:
Hare et al 2008
Sackler Institute
And during brain development
from childhood to adulthood
SOURCE: Gogtay et al 2004 PNAS, NIMH
and in Social
and Psychological
Contexts
SOURCE: National Geographic: A Beautiful Brain based on Casey et al Neuron 2010
Key Areas
1) Development. Age-specific changes in regional
brain development can impact behavioral choices.
2) Contexts. Emotionally charged contexts may lead to
emotional brain regions “hijacking” prefrontal control
circuitry leading to poor behavioral choices.
3) Individuals. Variation across individuals (impulsivity,
sensation seeking, emotional reactivity) impacts
choice behavior.
Development
MRI Data shows Cortical Development
across Childhood
SOURCE: Gogtay et al 2004 PNAS
Dramatic developmental changes in
prefrontal and subcortical regions
during adolescence
Focus has
typically been
on prefrontal
cortex (PFC)
Subcortical limbic regions involved in desire, fight, flight
SOURCE: Sowell et al 1999 Nature Neuroscience
Neurobiological (Imbalance) Model of Adolescence
Emphasizes deep structure development as well as cortical.
OURCE: Casey et al., 2008 Dev Reviews; Somerville & Casey, 2010 Brain & Cogn
How does Regional Brain Development
map onto Behavioral Development
• Hallmark of behavioral development is a gain in ability
to suppress an inappropriate action in favor of an
appropriate one (impulse control).
• Individual Differences
• Influence of Context
Development of impulse control
Development of impulse control
(Commission Errors- Go when should Not)
SOURCE: Somerville et al. 2010
Prefrontal Activity shows Linear pattern
of development that is correlated with
measures of impulse control
SOURCE: Somerville et al 2010 JoCN
Incentives (e.g., money, food, peers) can
alter behavior without conscious awareness
Reaction Time
Small
Medium
Re a cti on ti m e ( m se c)
650
Large
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
Run1
Run2
Run3
Run4
Run5
SOURCE: Galvan et al 2005 J Neuroscience
Teens make more commission errors
to rewarding cues than neutral ones
Source: Somerville et al 2010 JoCN
Adolescent show enhanced ventral striatum
activity
to monetary rewards relative to children and adults
*
*
0.3
Children
0.2
Adolescents
0.1
Adults
0
Ventral Striatum
Orbital Frontal Cortex
1000
terpolated Voxels
(mm3)
Peak % MR
Signal Change
0.4
800
600
400
200
Volume of Activity
*
*
*
SOURCE: Galvan et al 2006 J Neuroscience
Teens show enhanced activity in ventral striatum
to positive social cues (e.g., happy faces)
Source: Somerville et al 2010 JoCN
Emotional Bias on Choice Behavior
Source: Hare et al. 2005 Bio Psychiatry
Inverse association of subcortical limbic and
ventromedial prefrontal activity with behavior bias
Hare et al
2008 Bio
Psychiatry
Inflection in amygdala activity in adolescents
to cues that signal threat
Source: Hare et al. 2008 Bio Psychiatry
Amygdala Activity
to Repeated Exposures of Fear related
cues( i.e., empty threat)
Early
Trials
Late
Trials
Hare et al. 2008 Bio Psychiatry
Habituation of Amygdala Response
is associated with Trait Anxiety
(i.e., decrease in activity from early to late trials)
Individual differences in brain activity
(High Anxiety vs Low Anxiety)
SOURCE:
Hare et al 2008
Sackler Institute
Social Context
SOURCE: Chein et al Dev Sci 2010
More risky decisions and crashes in
adolescents when with peer than
alone
SOURCE: Chein et al Dev Sci 2010
Greater Peer Influence in Adolescents
in Ventral Striatum
SOURCE: Chein et al Dev Sci 2010
Psychological Context
Effects of Stress
on Prefrontal Structure &Function
Source: Liston et al 2006 Neuron, 2007 J Neuro, 2009 PNAS
Effects of Stress
on Prefrontal Structure &Function
Source: Liston et al 2006 Neuron, 2007 J Neuro, 2009 PNAS
Individual Differences
Neural Correlates of Delay of
Gratification 40 years later
Low Delayers have difficulty suppressing
responses to “hot”, but not “cold” cues
* p < .025
Source: Casey et al 2011 under review
The Prefrontal Cortex is involved
in Impulse Control
SOURCE: Casey et al 2011 under review
The Ventral Striatum is sensitive to social positive
cues and its activity is enhanced in Low Delayers
Right Ventral Striatum
Source: Casey et al 2011 under review
Imbalance between primitive brain regions involved
in desire and rational prefrontal circuitry
involved in emotional and self regulation
Source: PBS graphic based on Galvan et al 2006, Hare et al 2008, Sackler Institu
Conclusions
The behavioral and imaging studies of emotion
regulation and self control provide evidence for:
-significant individual and developmental differences in
these abilities.
-potential for change in these abilities by social and
psychological contexts.
Conclusions
The behavioral and imaging studies of emotion
regulation and self control provide evidence for:
-significant individual and developmental differences in
these abilities.
-potential for change in these abilities by social and
psychological contexts.
All 3 can lead to imbalances between control and
emotional systems, yielding suboptimal choice
behavior.
and require careful consideration when considering
approach for behavioral change!
Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiolog
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Photograph by Michael Weinstein