BJ Casey, Ph.D.

The Sackler Professor and DirectorSackler Institute for Developmental

Psychobiologyand Neuroscience Graduate Program

Weill Cornell Medical CollegeNew York, NY

NIH 2011 Annual Science of Behavioral Change Meeting

Emotion Regulation and Self Control

Sackler Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College

Current or Past FellowsDima 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 NiogiMatt 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)

FacultyDoug BallonGary GloverIan Gotlib

Walter Mischel Yuichi Shoda

Henning Voss

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.

Special thanks to

THE FAMILIES.

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 Institute

Individual differences in brain activity (High Anxiety vs Low Anxiety)

SOURCE:Hare et al

2008Sackler Institute

And during brain developmentfrom 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

SOURCE: Gogtay et al 2004 PNAS

MRI Data shows Cortical Development across Childhood

Dramatic developmental changes in prefrontal and subcortical regions

during adolescence

Subcortical limbic regions involved in desire, fight, flight

Focus has typically been on prefrontal cortex (PFC)

SOURCE: Sowell et al 1999 Nature Neuroscience

Neurobiological (Imbalance) Model of Adolescence

Emphasizes deep structure development as well as cortical. SOURCE: 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 JoCN

Prefrontal Activity shows Linear pattern of development that is correlated with

measures of impulse control

SOURCE: Somerville et al 2010 JoCN

Reaction Time

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

650

Run1 Run2 Run3 Run4 Run5

Reaction time (msec)

Small

Medium

Large

Incentives (e.g., money, food, peers) can alter behavior without conscious awareness

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

200

400

600

800

1000

No o

f In

terp

ola

ted

Vox

els

(m

m3

) *

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Ventral Striatum Orbital Frontal Cortex

Peak %

MR

S

ignal C

hang

e

* *

*

*Volume of Activity

Children

Adolescents

Adults

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 al2008 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) Late Trials

Early 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

2008Sackler 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

Source: Casey et al 2011 under review

* p < .025

SOURCE: Casey et al 2011 under review

The Prefrontal Cortex is involved in Impulse Control

The Ventral Striatum is sensitive to social positive cues and its activity is enhanced in

Low Delayers

Source: Casey et al 2011 under review

Right Ventral Striatum

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 Institute

ConclusionsThe 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.

ConclusionsThe 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 PsychobiologyWeill Medical College of Cornell University

Photograph by Michael Weinstein