Brain correlates of peer influence in adolescents

Grosbras et al. have explored neural correlates of inter-individual differences in the probability of resisting peer influence in early adolescence. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, they found differences between 10-year-old children with high and low resistance to peer influence in brain activity during observation of angry hand movements and angry facial expressions. Compared with subjects with low resistance to peer influence, individuals with high resistance showed a highly coordinated brain activity in neural systems underlying perception of action and decision making: the right dorsal premotor cortex and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This suggests that resisting peer influence depends activities in these areas during observation of emotion-laden actions.