Adolescent peer interaction and trait surgency weaken medial prefrontal cortex responses to failure

Adolescent risk taking has been known to increase in the presence of peers. We hypothesized that peer interaction reduces the activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that is required for self-regulation of reward-driven behavior. We also expected that mPFC activity would be reduced more in those with greater surgency, a composite trait of behavioral approach, sensation seeking and positive affect. In our study, 20 15-year-old boys...