Adolescence is a period of substantial neural and social development, and prosocial decisions are beneficial to personal well-being, the well-being of others, and the functioning of society. Advances in network neuroscience call for a systematic synthesis and reappraisal of prosocial neural correlates during adolescent development. In this systematic review, we aim to outline the progress made in this field, identify the similarities between study results, and propose a model for prosocial cognition in adolescents to young adults. A total of 25 articles were included in this review. After reviewing and synthesizing the literature, we propose a DOmain-General Developmental “Do-GooD” network model of prosocial cognition that aligns with the reviewed literature, accounts for development, and combines elements of the value-based decision-making model with distinct value contributions from the default mode network, salience network, and control network. We offer predictions to test the “Do-GooD” model and propose new future directions for studying prosocial behavior and its development during adolescence, which in turn may lead to improving education and the development of better health interventions for adolescents.
Understanding how complex dynamic activity propagates over a static structural network is an overarching question in the field of neuroscience. Previous work has demonstrated that linear graph-theoretic models perform as well as non-linear neural simulations in predicting functional connectivity with the added benefits of low dimensionality and a closed-form solution which make them far less computationally expensive. Here we show a simple model relating the eigenvalues of the structural connectivity and functional networks using the Gamma function, producing a reliable prediction of functional connectivity with a single model parameter. We also investigate the impact of local activity diffusion and long-range interhemispheric connectivity on the structure-function model and show an improvement in functional connectivity prediction when accounting for such latent variables which are often excluded from traditional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methods.
Social distancing, home confinement, economic challenges, and COVID-19-related illness and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic can significantly affect mental health in youth. One promising approach to reduce anxiety and depression in adolescents is the neuroscience-based mindfulness intervention Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA). The objective of this individually randomized waitlist-controlled trial (RCT) was (1) to test the feasibility of TARA, delivered partially over Zoom, and (2) to assess changes in the emotional wellbeing in healthy adolescents between the ages of 14–18 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Twenty-one healthy adolescents were randomized to the TARA intervention or to the waitlist control group in February 2020, just before the start of the pandemic. The TARA group intervention was delivered in person for the first five sessions and remotely over Zoom for the remaining seven sessions due to the pandemic. The participants’ acceptability of TARA was assessed weekly using the Child Session Rating Scale (CSRS). The primary outcome was the emotional wellbeing measured using emotional symptoms subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) pre/post-TARA. We also explored weekly changes in TARA participants’ wellbeing using the Child Outcome Rating Scale (CORS). Results: The overall session rating in TARA participants improved after the switch to Zoom (Cohen’s d = 1.2, p = 0.008). The results of the two-way ANOVA showed no statistically significant difference in the change of the SDQ emotional symptoms during the 12 weeks between the TARA group and waitlist-control group (timepoint × group interaction: F = 0.77, p = 0.38). The exploratory analysis using the CORS in the TARA participants showed a significant improvement in their functioning over the weeks of training. Conclusion: Our results support the feasibility of TARA delivered over Zoom. While our primary outcome did not provide support for the improvement of the emotional wellbeing with TARA compared to a passive control group, our exploratory analysis in the intervention group indicated an improved functioning over the weeks of TARA training. The important general positive impact of this study lies in the possibility of offering a neuroscience-based mindfulness intervention remotely to youth living in remote areas and for all youth during pandemic times.
Adolescence is a crucial time for social development, especially for helping (prosocial) and compassionate behaviors; yet brain networks involved in adolescent prosociality and compassion currently remain underexplored. Here, we sought to evaluate a recently proposed domain-general developmental (Do-GooD) network model of prosocial cognition by relating adolescent functional and structural brain networks with prosocial and compassionate disposition. We acquired resting state fMRI and diffusion MRI from 95 adolescents (ages 14–19 years; 46 males; 49 females) along with self-report questionnaires assessing prosociality and compassion. We then applied the Network-Based Statistic (NBS) to inductively investigate whether there is a significant subnetwork related to prosociality and compassion while controlling for age and sex. Based on the Do-GooD model, we expected that this subnetwork would involve connectivity to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) from three domain-general networks, the default mode network (DMN), the salience network, and the control network, as well as from the DMN to the mirror neuron systems. NBS revealed a significant functional (but not structural) subnetwork related to prosociality and compassion connecting 31 regions (p = 0.02), showing DMN and DLPFC connectivity to the VMPFC; DMN connectivity to mirror neuron systems; and connectivity between the DMN and cerebellum. These findings largely support and extend the Do-GooD model of prosocial cognition in adolescents by further illuminating network-based relationships that have the potential to advance our understanding of brain mechanisms of prosociality.
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