Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Social Cognitive Neuroscience in Development (Brain Deve - Adolescence…
Social Cognitive Neuroscience in Development
What?
Social Cog Neuroscience
Social Cog
Process, store and use info about others
Social perception
Social relationships
ToM - intentions, thoughts beliefs
Moral cog
Empathy
Co-operation + fairness
Neuroscience - central nervous system
Combined = Social Cog Neuorscience
Empirical methods
Brain processes allow to understand others/navigate social world
Brain
Social neuroscience, doctrine of multilevel analysis -
Cacioppo & Bernston (1992)
Several levels (to fully understand)
Molecules > synapses > neurons > networks > brain regions > systems > CNS
Complex organ
~ 100 billion neurons
~ 1 million billion connections (info processing)
Grey matter - cell bodies w/ dendrites (connections)
White matter - bundles of axons (cables)
Social brain
Network of regions - work together to solve problems
Amygdala = emotion face processing + salient things in enviro
Techniques
Not appropriate for children (invasive)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - magnetic pulses to scalp interfering w/ neuron beneath
Positron Emission Tomography - Often involves radioactive traces
Electroencephalography (EEG) + Event-Related Potentials (ERP)
Painless/sensation free
EEG = electrical activity of neutrons over period of time
Electrodes on scalp record differences - can build up a picture of where activity is coming from
ERPs - perform task and signal is measured with onset of stimulus
Averaged over trails = picture of response to stimuli
Commonly used for responses to social stimuli
Advantages
Excellent temporal resolution (ms)
Directly measures activity
Relatively cheap
Non-invasive: safe/easy
Disadvantages
Difficult to localise to region (estimate w/ computational modelling)
Limited to cortical surface activation - difficult for subcortical
Difficult to set up, e.g. hair can impede
Susceptible to artefacts such as eye blinks
Structural MRI
Magnetic field/radio waves - high quality image by manipulating spin of hydrogen protons
Differing physical properties (grey/white matter/cerebrospinal fluid) of tissue types = differing contrast
Voxel based morphometry or cortical thickness analysis can quantify amount of particular tissue in certain region
3D XYZ co-ordniates to describe brain region locations
Advantages
Excellent spatial resolution
Safe/non-invasive
Quick to acquire scans
Not functional, but structure = often related to behavioural indices/IDs
Disadvantages
Cannot infer causality
Does not measure function
Requires stillness in enclosed space
Expensive + needs expertise to collect/analyse
Magnet can be dangerous
Functional MRI
Indirectly measures brain activity - changes in blood flow
Oxygenated blood = over supplied, increase in ratio between oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin
Scanned while performing task
Increased neural activity > increased demand for oxygen and glucose, supplied by blood flow
Ratio = Blood Oxygen Level Dependent response
Advantages
Good spatial resolution
Allows localisation of function
Safe/non-invaisve
View brain networks + connectivity between regions
Flexible - active vs. at rest
Disadvantages
Poor temporal resolution
BOLD response = indirect measure of function
Remain still as movement lessens quality of data (age differences in ability)
No standard analysis pipeline
Examples
EEG and ERP
N170 Component Response to Faces
Processes within first 200ms
Occipital temporal cortex - specialised for face processing
Negatie electrical component
ERP + Face Processing Development
Response specialised for face processing
Adults = N170 response to inverted faces = more negative that to upright
Same complexity not configuration, working harder, can identify difference
Similar pattern in infancy at 12 mnths
Cortical fac processing tuned to upright faces by this age
250 ms later in infancy - brain still maturing (slower WM, pathways aren't as strong)
sMRI
Neural markers of vulnerability in maltreated children
Compare different groups of children
VBM = reduced grey matter volume (maltreated) in orbitofrontal cortex + middle temporal gyrus
Regions = decision making, emotion regulation, autobiographical memory and social behaviour
Links to behaviour = indirect
fMRI
Adults/children in scanner shown complex visual stimuli
Fusiform Face Area (FFA) responds preferentially to faces compared to symbols/objects
Same pattern of cortical specialisation in 4 yr old
Specialisation but on right
Brain Deve - Adolescence
What is adolescence?
Physical, psychological + social transition (child > adult)
Onset of puberty (BIO) > stable adult role (SOCIAL)
Roughly spans the second decade of life
Adolescence = associated with (-)
200% increase in mortality - health paradox/social + bio
Increased risk taking
Increased emotional reactivity
Increased susceptibility to peer influence
Increased behavioural + emotional problems
Synaptic reorganisation
Continues during adolescence in human prefrontal cortex
Visual cortex high early = want to create visual picture of the world
0-5 yrs = profound synaptic genesis
Genesis = later, pruning = gradual
Prefrontal cortex high longer = learn from enviro for longer plasticity + learning during adolescence
5-15 yrs = synaptic pruning > synapses used = kept, not used = pruned
Toddlers = more synapses than adults
Grey Matter
Structural brain deve
Consists of cell bodies + glea cells
Changes in density follow region-specific, non-linear pattern
Appears regressive (inverted-U)
Parietal + frontal lobes
Peak coincides with onset of puberty - start of pruning
Cortical maturation
Thinning in grey matter between 4-21yrs
Across regions
Different patterns of cortical maturation
Newer = complex trajectory
General decrease in cortical thickness + grey matter over adolescents
Reduced grey matter means
Synaptic pruning - preceded by synaptogenesis
Flexible system - genetic programming to interact with enviro influences to shape cog deve
E.g. native lang learning
Brain initially tuned to many sounds
1st year, synapses relating to non-native speech sounds = pruned away
Post mortem - pruning continues in adolescence
Rodent model - new wave of synaptic pruning triggered at puberty
No evidence in living human adolescent: link between sMRI/fMRI findings + the synaptic level is speculative
White Matter
Structural brain deve
Linear increase in white matter across lobes
Volume insulates connectivity = still improving so connections can be faster
Deve: DTI Data
Increasing fractional anisotropy (WM integrity) in multiple WM tracts between 13-22yrs (longitudinal)
More efficient at transmitting info
Regions = more highly integrated therefore more effective
Brain "done"?
Multiple maturities
22/23 for brain to reach adult levels of maturity
Social Cog - Adolescence
Processing facial emotion
Faces + adolescent brain
Emotional go/no go task
Adolescents = increased response across all emotional expressions
Also more variation - some exaggerated while others = similar
Amygdala
Activated
Responds to emotioanl expressions
Salient/important in enviro
Changing response/ connectivity
Facial emotional go/no go task
Increased response to happy (reward) face in teens in the ventral striatum
VS = reward/decision making, adolescents = increased response
Connectivity between prefrontal cortex + dorsal/ventral striatum changes across age groups
Interpersonal interaction
Understanding other minds (ToM)
Medial PFC + Social Cog
Meta-analysis
Decreased activity between adolescence + adulthood in medial prefrontal cortex
Looking at understanding though and feelings
Social Cog:ToM
Ability to impute mental states of self/others
Allows instant understanding of out own + others' behaviour
Allows to predict what people will do next
Vital aspect of human reciprocal interaction
Activates social brain network: Medial PFC, STS, temporal pole
Thought develop by 4 yrs
Automatic - social brain inferring mental states, even to inanimate objects
Instructor Experimenter
Not always automatic
Social interaction element of taking into account others POV
Experimental
Explicit instructions - can't see hidden grey items
More large jar one slot to the right
Distractor jar - hidden
Control
Control for distractor
Adolescents still making errors taking into account others POV
Abilities still deveoping
However, not necessarily ToM but perspective
Sensitivity to peer rejection
Interpersonal interaction in adolescence
Adolescents spend more time with peers than other points in lifespan (away from family)
Adults = commit crimes alone, Adolescents = groups
Social rewards
Sensitive
More than other points in lifespan
Remodelling of DA system
Puberty leads to changes in social feedback system
Perceve social failure
Painful
Relevance for development of depression
Excluded, rejected, ridiculed
Cyberball Social Rejection Task
Responses to social rejection
Williams et al (2000)
Playing catch > excluded
Game with two other people
Mentally visualise game as much as possible
Even adults find exclusion painful - mood low, anxiety high
All reduced mood but sig in adolescents
Peer rejection = important drive in school hierarchy, however still sensitive even when not in school
Neural Basis
fMRI = reduced response during rejection in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex 14-16yrs
Not mature enough to down regulate distress
Region = previously found to be involved in regulating distress during rejection in adults
Risk-taking in presence of peers
Sensitivity to peer influence
Self-reported ability to resist peer influence increases linearly during adolescence
Increased in linear fashion
Odd w/ stereotypes - expect low resistance through teens
Effects
Driving behaviour - stop light game, real world risk task
Adolescents
Safe on own
Two friends = increased risk > social context makes huge difference
Small effect in young adults but not adults
Neural bases
Grater activity in adults across conditions in lateral prefrontal cortext
Greater activity in adolescents ventral striatum + orbitofrontal cortex only with peers
Taking risks in group context but bot adults
Models
Dual System Model
Schulman et al (2016)
Dual System Model
Peak in social reward + sensation seeing in adolescence
Gradual maturation of cognitive control
Maturation Imbalance Model
Faster maturation of social reward system
Gradual maturation of cognitive control
Driven Dual Systems Model
Peak in social reward + sensation seeking in adolescence
Cognitive control matures early but is overwhelmed in adolescence
Respond differently during adolescences compared to others times in life
Testing Dual System Model Across Cultures
Romer et al (2017)
Increase in risk-taking/sensation seeking = adaptive
Explore + gain experience for adult roles
Adaptive? Explore new things
Beyond 'Imbalance': Life Span Wisdom Model
Steinberg et al (2017)
Sensation seeking - inverted U, peak at 19 in N=5000 from around the world
Self-regulation - improvement throughout adolescent period, plateau at 23 yrs
Suggests mis-match
Seesaw Model
Blakemore + Mills (2014)
Some rewards to be gained from risk taking are social
Influence of peers may be exaggerated in adolescence, brain development
Adaptive to prioritise social reward
Peer approval = vital
Implications
Mental Health?
14yrs = emergence + peak mental disorders (50%)
75% by 24yrs
Why emerge?
Exaggeration/anomalies in the normal developmental process (mismatch=vulnerable)
Emerging ability to think abstractly, others thoughts + feelings
Cont deve of emotion regulation capacity
Increased risk=taking + novelty seeking may increase risk substance abuse
Psychological factors: rapidly changing social environment, expectations or others, physical appearance