Clinical Improvement and Neural Reactivity in Adolescents Treated with Behavioral Therapy (1 CE)

This course is for:  Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and Nurses

Course By: Tamara Avery, PsyD

Content By: Schwartz, K.T.G, Kryza-Lacombe, M., Liuzzi, M.T., Weersing, V.R., and Wiggins, J.L. (2019). Social and Non-social Reward: A Preliminary Examination of Clinical Improvement and Neural Reactivity in Adolescents Treated with Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. San Diego State University, San Diego, California frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 13(177)

Course Description: Pediatric anxiety and depression are highly prevalent disorders that can frequently co-occur. There is emerging evidence linking treatment response to brain patterns of reward processing. Whole-brain activation and functional connectivity analyses identified neural responses to both social (Face Task) and non-social (Piñata Task) tasks separately. Overall, varying neural regions (frontal and temporal) that were found to be related to clinical improvement within the context of social verse non-social rewards were similar to regions that have been shown to support reward processing in normative samples.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the concepts relating to neural circuitry of reward processing in the pediatric population
2. Consider the differences between the Face Task (social) and the Piñata Task (non-social) to understand the impact of each task context on neural reactivity to the reward
3. Evaluate the statistical findings, how each reward was observed in various regions of the brain, and review the conclusions

Course Outline:

1. Read thoroughly Social and Non-social Reward: A Preliminary Examination of Clinical Improvement and Neural Reactivity in Adolescents Treated With Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression
2. Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
3. Consider varying brain patterns of reward processing concomitant with the statistical results in the accompanying article
4. Complete the post-test questions; keep in mind that the answers should come from the article provided
5. Return to the article for any missed questions to better understand social (Face Task) and non-social (Piñata Task) reward processing in the pediatric population

Approvals: