Our lab seeks to understand the neural changes that support social, emotional, and cognitive development from childhood to adulthood. We are interested in the neural mechanisms that are involved during decision making, social interactions, and emotion regulation, and how experience, culture, and the motivational context affect behavior and brain function. Our goal is to understand how the social world is processed in the developing brain to ultimately impact adolescents’ well being. We focus on many outcomes, including psychological well being, academic motivation, intergroup biases, and health compromising behaviors such as substance use.