Social Cognitive Neuroscience in Development

What?

Techniques

Examples

Brain Deve - Adolescence

Social Cog - Adolescence

Models

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

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)

Disadvantages

Difficult to localise to region (estimate w/ computational modelling)

EEG and ERP

N170 Component Response to Faces

Processes within first 200ms

Occipital temporal cortex - specialised for face processing

Directly measures activity

Relatively cheap

Non-invasive: safe/easy

Limited to cortical surface activation - difficult for subcortical

Difficult to set up, e.g. hair can impede

Susceptible to artefacts such as eye blinks

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)

Structural MRI

Magnetic field/radio waves - high quality image by manipulating spin of hydrogen protons

Functional MRI

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

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

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

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

Disadvantages

Good spatial resolution

Allows localisation of function

Safe/non-invaisve

View brain networks + connectivity between regions

Flexible - active vs. at rest

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

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

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

Processing facial emotion

Interpersonal interaction

Understanding other minds (ToM)

Sensitivity to peer rejection

Risk-taking in presence of peers

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

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

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

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

Dual System Model

Testing Dual System Model Across Cultures

Beyond 'Imbalance': Life Span Wisdom Model

Seesaw Model

Implications

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

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

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

Romer et al (2017)

Increase in risk-taking/sensation seeking = adaptive

Explore + gain experience for adult roles

Adaptive? Explore new things

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