Neurocomputational basis of social learning in typical development and adolescents with conduct disorder

Antisocial behaviour disorders are one of the most common reasons for referral to child and adolescent mental health services with a cost of over £9 billion every year. Theoretical accounts suggest that those with antisocial behaviour, also known as conduct problems, find it difficult to learn how their actions help or avoid harming others. However, no existing work has empirically examined how such 'social learning' changes across typical development, its biological basis, or whether it is altered in adolescents with conduct problems.

Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have allowed the combination of measures of behaviour, computational models of learning, neuroimaging and self-report which can get us closer to understanding why there are differences in social learning between people, as well as the fundamental mechanisms (Lockwood & Klein-Flugge, 2020). Moreover, such models can bridge levels of explanation from neuroscience to psychology.

The proposed project will use these cutting-edge computational modelling and brain imaging techniques to examine the behavioural and neural basis of social learning in the transition from adolescence to adulthood and in adolescents with conduct problems. The findings will have important implications for healthy lifespan development and potential interventions to reduce antisocial behaviour.