TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Eye blink rate predicts reward decisions in adolescents
JO  - Developmental science
A1  - Barkley-Levenson, Emily
A1  - Galvan, Adriana
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - The ventral striatum displays hyper-responsiveness to reward in adolescents relative to other age groups, and animal research on the developmental trajectory of the dopaminergic system suggests that dopamine may underlie adolescent sensitivity to reward. However, practical limitations prevent the direct measurement of dopamine in healthy adolescents. Eye blink rate (EBR) shows promise as a proxy measure of striatal dopamine D2 receptor function. We investigated developmental differences in the relationship between EBR and reward-seeking behavior on a risky decision-making task. Increasing EBR was associated with greater reward maximization on the task for adolescent but not adult participants. Furthermore, adolescents demonstrated greater sensitivity to reward value than adults, as evinced by shifts in decision patterns based on increasing potential reward. These findings suggest that previously observed adolescent behavioral and neural hypersensitivity to reward may in fact be due to greater dopamine receptor activity, as represented by the relationship of blink rate and reward-seeking behavior. They also demonstrate the feasibility and utility of using EBR as a proxy for dopamine in healthy youth in whom direct measurements of dopamine are prohibitively invasive.<br><br>© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1363-755X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/desc.12412
ID  - ref1
ER  -