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Introduction to Neuroscience and Its Influence on Studying Human 2012 BULLETIN Number 1 Serial No. 61 Introduction to Neuroscience and its Influence on Studying Human Development Karina Weichold University of Jena, Germany E-mail: [email protected] and Deepali Sharma Panjab University, Chandigarh, India E-mail: [email protected] Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, has neuroscience and development are introduced to the traditionally been seen as a branch of Biology. Due to major readers in depth. Hewig and colleagues in their lab report advances in electrophysiology or computational neu- focus on the investigation of adolescent risk taking behavior roscience during the past decades, tremendous advances while the second lab report deals with a study analyzing the have been made on how humans’ brain and nervous system development of the biliterate brain (Singh). Both the feature works, how it is structured, and how it can be influenced. articles and lab reports of this special section represent Thereby, neuroscience moved more towards an interdisci- excellent examples of research with the potential to investi- plinary field of research, collaborating, for instance, with gate developmental mechanisms at the micro-level of brain Psychology. This intersection facilitated the study of devel- networks, structure, and function of neural processes. opment of the nervous system across the life span and the This issue of the ISSBD Bulletin also contains a country identification of underlying mechanisms on a cellular basis. focus. This time, we chose to present Canadian develop- Investigation into the structural and functional aspects of the mental research to the readers because of the Biennial Meet- brain aids the explanation of psychological functioning and ings of the society taking place in Edmonton, Canada, this delivers new and exciting insights into the developmental summer. The report by Dhariwal and Connolly focuses processes at a micro-level. The current scientific and public explicitly on adolescent romantic relationships and contri- awareness about the progress and benefits of research on the butions made by Canadian researchers in this field. We are brain and the nervous system under a developmental per- sure that the readers will enjoy this paper and most likely, spective may particularly ground in the fact that insights they will be able to follow up on this topic during the con- from developmental neuroscience are informative not only ference in Edmonton 2012. Finally, this Bulletin gives infor- for basic but also applied research (e.g., with regard to plan- mation from the society with Wolfgang Schneider sharing ning interventions against adolescent risk taking behaviors, his presidential notes and our Early Career Representative, or creating optimal educational settings). Jaap Denissen, along with the editor of the IJBD, Marcel van As a reflection of this interesting new branch of Aken giving related updates. In addition, in a report on the research, the special section of this issue of the ISSBD Bulle- ISSBD Asia Workshop held in India last year, Verma and tin contains a series of stimulating papers with a focus on Sharma give an excellent example on intersections between neuroscience and development from different research research findings and their translation into action plans to sites, dealing with the neuromodulation of behavioural, improve the situation among children at-risk in Asia. cognitive, and motivational development (Li) and focusing We hope that the members of the society enjoy this issue explicitly on willpower (Posner and Rothbart) or the devel- of the bulletin. We are grateful to all the authors for their opment of episodic memory (Shing & Lindenberger). Addi- contributions towards the special section. Again, we would tionally, two reports from labs where research on human like to encourage the readers to actively approach us with development is studied under a neuro-scientific paradigm their suggestions and ideas concerning the bulletin – we are introduce their recent studies and new findings. In this very much looking forward to hearing about new ideas and way, modes on how to conduct studies in the area of suggestions for upcoming special sections. •1 International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development Neuromodulation of Behavioral, Cognitive, and Motivational Development Across the Lifespan Shu-Chen Li Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Berlin, Germany E-mail: [email protected] Behavioral, cognitive, and motivational development entail The maturation and senescence of co-constructive dynamics between the environmental and neuromodulation social influences from the developmental context, on the one hand, and the individual’s neurobiological inheritance, Currently, there is a consensus that the integrities of the on the other hand. Key brain networks underlying cogni- dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine systems decline tion, emotion, and motivation are innervated by major during the course of usual aging. For instance, cross- transmitter systems (e.g., the catecholamines and acetylcho- sectional estimates showed that in various extrastriatal line). Thus, the maturation and senescence of neurotrans- and striatal regions the pre- and postsynaptic markers of mitter systems have direct implications for lifespan the dopamine system decline about 10% per decade start- development. This brief review highlights recent research ing around the begin of the third decade of life (e.g., Kaa- on the roles of neuromodulation in different domains of sinen et al., 2000; Inoue et al., 2001; see also Ba¨ckman, behavioral, cognitive, and motivational development. Nyberg, Lindenberger, Li, & Farde, 2006 for review). Simi- Development across the lifespan entails cumulative larly, cross-sectional estimates of aging-related declines in reciprocal interactions between the individual’s neurobio- the availability of serotonin receptors in various brain logical faculty (genetic predispositions and brain mechan- regions also range from 3% to 10% per decade (e.g., Pirker isms) and the social as well as environmental contexts et al., 2000; Yamamoto et al., 2002; see also Eppinger, (Baltes, Reuter-Lorentz, & Ro¨sler, 2006; Li, 2003; Gottlieb, Ha¨mmerer,&Li,2011,forreview).Asforthecholinergic 1998). I thus propose that behavioral and cognitive develop- system, which is known to implicate neurodegenerative ment be conceptualized as the development of adaptive processes associated with dementa (see Court et al., 2001 neurocognitive representations, which are ‘‘embodied’’ in for review), results from a recent receptor imaging study motor, sensory, and perceptual processes and ‘‘situated’’ also showed that, on average, there is about 5% per decade in situational contexts that often involve social interactions decline of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in eight (Clark, 1999; 2001; Robbins & Aydede, 2008). The embodied brain regions, including the frontal cortex and striatum and situated neurocognitive representations are modulated (Mitsis et al., 2009). Empirical evidence and computational by various neurotransmitter systems (see Figure 1 for a studies have related aging-related declines in dopamine schematic diagram). modulation to age-related deficits in processing speed, One of the most striking features of brains is that neu- processing fluctuations, episodic memory, working mem- rons contain and release a very large number of neurotrans- ory, and cognitive control (e.g., see Ba¨ckman et al., 2006 for mitters, which play important roles in regulating signal an empirical review; see Li, Lindenberger, & Sikstro¨m, transmission between neurons (see Vizi & Lajtha, 2008, for 2001 for a theoretical integration). overviews). Several transmitter systems, such as the cate- As for the maturation of neuromodulatory systems dur- cholamines (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) and ing child and adolescent development, the evidence is acetylcholine, broadly innervate various neural circuitries much scarcer due to practical limitations of applying inva- throughout the brain to modulate key aspects of cognition, sive methods, such as PET receptor imaging, in these age such as attention and memory as well as reward-mediated groups. Therefore, comparisons of dopamine functions motivational influences on behavior control (see Noudoost across the human lifespan have, so far, come from post- & Moore, 2011; Shohamy & Adcock, 2010; Cools, Roberts, & mortem studies (Haycock et al., 2003; Tunbridge et al., Robbins, 2008; Volkow, Wang, & Baler, 2011 for recent 2007). For instance, postnatally dopamine level in the stria- reviews). Depending on situational or task demands as well tum increases 2- to 3-fold through adolescence and then as the integrity of brain functions, neurotransmitters mod- decreases during aging (Haycock et al., 2003). The activity ulate task-relevant brain circuitries, so that individuals can of the Catechol-o-Methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme adapt their behavior, action, and goals. Therefore, the that regulates extracellular dopamine levels in the prefron- maturation and senescence of neurotransmitter systems tal cortex, increases about 2-fold from neonate to adult- have direct implications for behavioral, cognitive, and hood, and declines slightly afterwards (Tunbridge et al., motivational development across the lifespan. 2007). Evidence from animal studies also suggests that the •2 2012 BULLETIN Number 1 Serial No. 61 Lifespan Differences in Subcortical and Cortical Dopamine Modulation
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