MaryAnn Noonan

9/In summary, both local and global reward learning changes during adolescence and are both linked to (slightly different subdivisions of) lateral prefrontal cortex in humans and macaques.

1/We are excited to share our recent @PLOSBiology paper: Local and global reward learning in the lateral frontal cortex show differential development during human adolescence tinyurl.com/yfzknt9u. Team effort by @mkwittmann @mscheuplein @SophieGGibbons +big thanks to @acmedsci

8/ … Phew, that tour de force does not even cover our big-data HCP neuroanatomy analysis or human neuropsychology results. For these and a fuller description of the above check out the paper.

7/Strikingly, the negative GRS effect contrasted with both previous studies and our own analysis of GRS effects in a large sample of non-human primates (same paradigm, same analysis), pointing towards a potentially meaningful species difference.

6/Interestingly, the influence of the global reward state (GRS) was negative and became more negative with age, meaning young adults, more than adolescents, were less likely to persist with an option if there were other valuable alternatives.

5/We showed that the influence of both local and global reward learning was greater in adults compared with adolescents. As people get older, they more strongly associate local rewards with actions.

4/To look into this this we used the same learning task originally developed in non-human primates to dissociate learning from immediate reward (local) and the overall reward state (global) and tested a large online sample of adolescents and young adults.

3/We know from monkey work that lateral prefrontal cortex is important for learning the consequences of our choices. Interestingly, those brain regions are some of the last to mature, suggesting that the supported learning mechanisms may continue to change during adolescence.

2/People often assume that teenagers struggle to learn from the consequences of their actions. But how exactly do adolescents differ from adults when they learn about what actions are good and what actions are bad? And how is that rooted in brain development?

A bunch of @StokesNeuro's trainees (from many points in time) put together a list of '10 simple rules for a supportive lab environment', inspired by the example he set. This has been a wonderful moment of reflection for me personally, as I start my own lab direct.mit.edu/jocn/article/d…

Our article "Ten simple rules to study distractor suppression“ is out in Progress in Neurobiology: tinyurl.com/2s48pb2n. Team: @Malte_Woestmann,@violastoermer,@jonasobleser,@dougaddleman,Søren Andersen,@nickgaspelin,@JoyJGeng,@stevenjluck,@NoonanMP,@HeleenASlagter,@TheeuwesJan

What a line up for day 1 of #CPPC! First day of in-person conference talks including - @lukejchang, @OlgaDalMonte1, @xiaosigu and @mkwittmann on social cognition & prefrontal cortex summarised by @thepsychologist

TWO NEW STUDIES from my lab asking how decision-making strategies are linked to mental health in young people (11-17 yrs). Follow the links for more information devneurolab.com/foraging-monke… AND devneurolab.com/foraging-fish-…

Home working, shielding and anxiety around health are new to many of us, but not to those with compromised immune systems. With up to 20% prevalence, you DO know someone immuno-compromised. Distancing? It's a habit. Hand sanitzer? They've carried it for years. 1/4

Second, with @mkwittmann @mscheuplein @SophieGGibbons we show changes in credit assignment across adolescence biorxiv.org/content/10.110… as predicted by regional delays in grey matter maturation.

It has been a busy start to the year! First, @SophieGGibbons and I have a preprint out suggesting that OFC subregions mature at different rates across adolescence biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

What happens in the brain when we make decisions? Wadham Lecturer MaryAnn @NoonanMP describes her studies exploring the mysteries of the mind wadham.ox.ac.uk/news/2021/janu…

@RudebeckLab @LauraGrimaNeuro That's a good point. I'm afraid I don't know. Hopefully they'd managed to architect something to support graduate students. There are so few college-based scholarship schemes. It would be such a shame to lose that one.

@vinnycosta_phd @LauraGrimaNeuro No! Does this mean the lamb and flag scholarship is also doomed? @NoonanMP ?

I used to live above this pub. Can't believe they're closing down one of the best pubs in Oxford. Will always have fond memories of hanging out in the back rooms with my SJC friends.

@fmrib_karla @OxfordWIN Let's do it! Small loves listening to virtual stories. Jill et al did an amazingly dramatic "Room on the Broom" for us with props!

Does this work? If so I would 100% organise a @OxfordWIN story hour! My inner thespian loves reading to kids...

Work-Life balance: On my days with the kids, I find myself in one of two states during the peaceful post-lunch nap hour: 1. Frantically checking emails/making figures/writing papers or 2. Asleep on Small's floor. I'd call that balanced!