# Normative and atypical trajectories of cognitive-emotional development in adolescence

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2021 · $658,852

## Abstract

Project Summary
The overarching goal of this proposal is to map neurodevelopmental trajectories of emotion regulation in
healthy adolescents and adolescents with affective disorders. The ability to regulate emotion is a critical
developmental task and predicts numerous social and emotional outcomes into adulthood. Conversely,
emotion regulation development is compromised in affective disorders, particularly in youth with a history of
maltreatment. Crucially, maltreatment not only increases risk for affective disorders, but is also associated with
greater illness severity, suicide attempts, and treatment resistance in both youth and adults. However, no
studies have comprehensively and longitudinally examined neurodevelopmental trajectories of cognitive-
emotional control in typical development, nor how these trajectories are disrupted in affective disordered youth
with and without maltreatment. Notably, preliminary data suggest that maltreatment may represent a unique
subtype of affective disorders, characterized by declining emotion regulation capacity over adolescence. This
innovative research program will 1) map trajectories of cognitive-emotional neurodevelopment in typically
developing (TD) adolescents, 2) characterize divergence in these trajectories in non-maltreated and maltreated
adolescents with affective disorders (AD, AD+M, respectively), and 3) determine to what extent
neurodevelopmental trajectories of emotion regulation contribute to recovery vs. illness persistence over time.
This interdisciplinary research team will recruit 210 youth (70/group TD, AD, AD+M), ages 10-16, to be
followed over 3 annual assessments. At each assessment, behavioral and neural indices of cognitive-
emotional control will be captured during fMRI. Here, youth will complete a comprehensive battery of validated
tasks probing multiple levels of cognitive-emotional function including emotional reactivity, implicit (automatic)
emotion regulation, explicit (voluntary) emotion regulation, and general executive function. Simultaneous with
fMRI, physiological markers of emotional arousal will be measured including skin conductance, corrugator
EMG, and pupillary response. Primary analyses will 1) examine neurobehavioral trajectories of emotion
regulation in TD youth, 2) elucidate divergence in neurobehavioral trajectories of emotion regulation in AD and
AD+M youth, and 3) map neurodevelopmental trajectories of illness recovery vs. persistence in affective
disordered youth. This ambitious program of neurodevelopmental research promises to yield the first
longitudinal and comprehensive set of behavioral and neural markers of cognitive-emotional control in pediatric
affective disorders. Furthermore, it will explore the potential for maltreatment to represent a deleterious
subtype of affective disorders. In total, this research addresses key areas of the NIMH Strategic Plan including
(1) characterizing neurodevelopmental trajectories and biomarkers of illness trajectorie...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10159327
- **Project number:** 5R01MH115910-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** RYAN J HERRINGA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $658,852
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10159327

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10159327, Normative and atypical trajectories of cognitive-emotional development in adolescence (5R01MH115910-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10159327. Licensed CC0.

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