Neurodevelopment of the functional connectivity of the salience network in facial emotion recognition from adolescence to adulthood

Background Adolescence is characterized by ongoing neurocognitive maturation, particularly in regions that support social–emotional processing and cognitive control. Despite extensive research on emotion regulation, the developmental trajectories of critical neural networks—such as the salience network and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)—remain incompletely understood. Methods We prospectively enrolled 30 adolescents (12–18 years), 35 early adults (19–24 years), and 35 adults (25–34 years). While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants performed an emotional discrimination task on facial expressions. The imaging data were analyzed to assess the neural activity across the emotional conditions, and a generalized psychophysiological interaction approach was applied to examine salience network connectivity. Results Adolescents exhibited lower behavioral performance than adults. Regarding brain activation, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and bilateral insula—key components of the salience network—seemingly differentiated adolescents from early adults and adults. In contrast, DLPFC activity distinguished adults from the two younger groups. Functional connectivity analyses revealed that adolescents either over-sustained or under-recruited dACC–insula connectivity during emotional transitions, correlating with poorer behavioral performance. Conclusion These findings underscore distinct developmental trajectories for the salience network and the DLPFC, with adolescents showing heightened vulnerability in social–emotional processing and cognitive control.