Neural processes during adolescent risky decision making are associated with conformity to peer influence

Adolescents demonstrate both heightened sensitivity to peer influence and increased risk-taking. The current study provides a novel test of how these two phenomena are related at behavioral and neural levels. Adolescent males (N = 83, 16–17 years) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in an fMRI scanner. One week later, participants completed a driving task in which they drove alone and with a safety- or risk-promoting peer passenger....