Understanding the adolescent brain

The Affective Neuroscience and Development (AND) Lab at the University of Melbourne studies how changes in the brain from pre-puberty through early adulthood influence emotion and behaviour. Led by researchers in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, the team combines high-resolution brain imaging, decision-making tasks, and computational modelling to understand how young people process reward, safety and threat and how this may relate to mental health.

“The AND Lab focuses on how neurobiological changes from pre-puberty through early adulthood influence affect and behaviour,” the team explains. “We’re particularly interested in how the way the adolescent brain processes reward, safety and threat confers risk for psychopathology such as anxiety.”

Adolescence is a time of enormous transformation - emotional, social and physical. The experiences and challenges faced during these years can have lasting effects on mental health and wellbeing. “It is a time of both vulnerability and resilience, risk and exploration, challenge and growth,” the researchers note. “Because of this complexity, adolescence offers a unique window to study the interplay of factors that shape development.”

The AND Lab’s flagship project, Neuropaths, is a five-year longitudinal neuroimaging study supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council. It aims to identify pathways in the brain that lead to - or protect against - anxiety. The study follows young people aged 12 to 17 over several years, tracking mental health, brain structure, and brain activity. Participants attend sessions at the Melbourne Brain Imaging Centre, where researchers use one of only two 7-Tesla MRI scanners in Australia to capture highly detailed images of the brain.

“The use of the 7 Tesla MRI at the Melbourne Brain Imaging Centre has allowed us to study the brain at an unprecedented level of detail,” the team says. The project also gives participants a chance to learn more about neuroscience. Many have expressed curiosity about their scans and the technology behind them, with some even sparking an interest in science and STEM.

As a thank you, participants receive a reimbursement and a picture of their brain, and in later years of the study, a 3D-printed model of their own brain scan. This creative component has helped lab members develop new technical skills in 3D printing while offering a memorable takeaway for young people involved.

The AND Lab continues to recruit participants aged 12–17 years for the Neuropaths study. More information is available at andlabunimelb.github.io/neuropath-study.