The central theme of these models is that in adolescents, there are differences in the sensitivity, level, or effect of activity in cortical and subcortical regions within networks that subserve emotional processing and cognitive control. Based on our data and other evidence, we hypothesize that such differences may be the result of reduced neuronal coordination and processing efficiency in adolescents which manifests as a result of less-effective information transfer between regions and imbalances in neuronal excitation and inhibition within critical brain regions, such as the orbitofrontal cortex and portions of the basal ganglia. As described earlier, in vitro work has demonstrated dramatic changes in the expression patterns of various receptors, and the effects of receptor activation, including the response of inhibitory fast-spiking interneurons to dopamine and NMDA receptor stimulation. Such changes would be expected to affect both the balance of excitation and inhibition and the coordination of neuronal groups. As fast-spiking interneuron activity is critical to controlling the precise timing of neural activity and the entrainment of oscillations, the developmental shifts in adolescent interneuron activity and their response to neuromodulators
