The article describes research conducted by Dr. Maya Rosen, a postdoc in the Stress and Development lab, and Dr. Katie A. McLaughlin, the lab’s director.  The study found that adolescents have heightened neural activity in the salience network of the brain when the emotional expressions of other people change (e.g., from a smile to a frown) as compared to children.  Moreover, greater salience network recruitment in response to these changes was associated with better social functioning, including fewer social problems and less social anxiety. This work shows that adolescent-specific sensitivities to social and emotional information may confer advantages that promote adaptive behavior during this unique developmental period. 

Read the story here: What Teenagers Gain From Fine-Tuned Social Radar