The Cognitive Neuroscience of Adolescent Decision-Making & Social Cognition - PSY00107M

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Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

Adolescence can be a challenging phase of life. Most mental health illnesses begin during adolescence and at the same time there is a peak in deaths and serious injuries from risky behaviours. One important factor that has been linked to atypical adolescent behaviour and mental health is the late broad maturation and residual plasticity of the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex, within a circuit of other key subcortical structures, controls a range of cognitive functions including decision making. Critically, many of these cognitive functions, like decision making, are affected in mental health conditions. This suggests that some aspects of adolescence physiology or environment creates a window for ill health and poor decisions.

In the context of recent advances in our understanding of the neurobiology of decision making and social cognition in the adult, this course aims to examine typical and atypical adolescent learning, decision making and social cognition. This course will critically examine evidence from developmental psychology, as well as cognitive, computational and comparative neuroscience, in human and non-human animal models.

Module learning outcomes

• Describe the neurobiological development of learning and decision making circuits, critically commenting on the limitations of the current methodological techniques.
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the development of cognitive and neural mechanisms underpinning adolescent goal-directed learning and decision making.
• Describe the development of social and emotional processes across adolescence and evaluate the contribution of the social brain.
• Evaluate the contribution to our understanding of human development from the study of non-human animal development.
• Critically evaluate the evidence linking aberrant decision making and social cognitive processes to adolescent-onset mental health conditions.

Module content

• The anatomy of goal-directed learning and decision making
• Neurobiological development of learning and decision making circuits.
• Adolescent learning and decision making
• Aberrant learning and decision making in adolescent onset mental health conditions
• Social and emotional development across adolescence
• Development of the social brain across adolescent
• Social influence on goal-directed learning and decision making
• Disruptions to social development and impact on mental health

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Module feedback

Marks will be released through e:vision.

Indicative reading

Reading lists for each topic will be available via the course home page. Key readings from the lectures will be available via the University library’s e-journals. The main reading involves primary source material and published review papers.

Sample Reading:

• The Neuroscience of Adolescence (Cambridge Fundamentals of Neuroscience in Psychology) by Galvan A. (2017)
• Decision making in the adolescent brain by Blakemore, SJ & Robbins TW (2012)