UC Davis Study Links Amygdala Signals in 5,832 Children to Teen Social Life 2 Years Later
Updated
Updated · Earth.com · Jul 14
UC Davis Study Links Amygdala Signals in 5,832 Children to Teen Social Life 2 Years Later
3 articles · Updated · Earth.com · Jul 14
Summary
Brain scans from 5,832 children ages 8 to 11 showed that stronger amygdala responses to emotional faces predicted social involvement two years later, making it the only one of eight brain regions to forecast later social profiles.
That link split by sex: among girls, higher amygdala activity pointed to greater peer involvement, while among boys the same pattern predicted less involvement.
Social outcomes clustered into three groups at ages 10 to 13 — selective at 53.09%, robust at 33.95% and concerning at 12.96% — with both robust and concerning profiles marked by heavy peer engagement.
UC Davis researchers said the amygdala signal appeared to track how deeply teens engage with peers rather than whether those ties become supportive or harmful, and called the effects modest.
The study, published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, did not track brain or friendship changes across the two years, leaving puberty and socialization as possible explanations for the boy-girl divide.