Neural correlates of prosocial behavior in infancy: Different neurophysiological mechanisms support the emergence of helping and comforting

Paulus, Markus; Kühn-Popp, Nina; Licata, Maria Ester; Sodian, Beate; Meinhardt, Jörg

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.041

Cited by 112 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(163 reference statements)

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“…Resting state measures have also been used to predict individual differences in social cognitive and prosocial development. For instance, an infant's frontal and temporal power density asymmetries during resting state, collected at 14 mo of age, independently predicted comforting and helping behaviors several months later (24 and 18 mo of age, respectively) (30). In studies of preschool representational theory of mind, resting state frontal power densities in the alpha frequency band source localized to the right temporal-parietal junction and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex predicted theory of mind competency (31).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Precursors to morality in development as a complex interplay between neural, socioenvironmental, and behavioral facets

Cowell

Decety

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

155

160

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The nature and underpinnings of infants’ seemingly complex, third-party, social evaluations remain highly contentious. Theoretical perspectives oscillate between rich and lean interpretations of the same expressed preferences. Although some argue that infants and toddlers possess a “moral sense” based on core knowledge of the social world, others suggest that social evaluations are hierarchical in nature and the product of an integration of rudimentary general processes such as attention allocation and approach and avoidance. Moreover, these biologically prepared minds interact in social environments that include significant variation, which are likely to impact early social evaluations and behavior. The present study examined the neural underpinnings of and precursors to moral sensitivity in infants and toddlers (n = 73, ages 12–24 mo) through a series of interwoven measures, combining multiple levels of analysis including electrophysiological, eye-tracking, behavioral, and socioenvironmental. Continuous EEG and time-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) and gaze fixation were recorded while children watched characters engaging in prosocial and antisocial actions in two different tasks. All children demonstrated a neural differentiation in both spectral EEG power density modulations and time-locked ERPs when perceiving prosocial or antisocial agents. Time-locked neural differences predicted children’s preference for prosocial characters and were influenced by parental values regarding justice and fairness. Overall, this investigation casts light on the fundamental nature of moral cognition, including its underpinnings in general processes such as attention and approach–withdrawal, providing plausible mechanisms of early change and a foundation for forward movement in the field of developmental social neuroscience.

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Precursors to morality in development as a complex interplay between neural, socioenvironmental, and behavioral facets

Cowell

Decety

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

155

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In one study 4 , the authors observed that infants' performance in the instrumental helping task was related to temporal lobe activation asymmetry; helping behavior was related to relatively greater right temporal lobe activation 4 . Therefore, epileptic ictal verbal help-seeking may occur as a result of over-excitation of the nondominant hemisphere during the seizure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study was conducted with approval by Thomas Jefferson University Institutional Review Board. 4 We then searched the electronic database PubMed on August 30, 2016 using the following search terms in the English language in title: "ictal and help" OR "seizure and help" OR "epilepsy and help". Relevant publications were included.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ictal verbal help-seeking: Occurrence and the underlying etiology

Asadi‐Pooya

Asadollahi

Bujarski

et al. 2016

Epilepsy & Behavior

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“…The band-pass filter settings were 0.016-100 Hz and the sampling rate was 500 Hz. Impedance of all electrodes were kept below 10 kΩ (see also Coll, Bird, Catmur, & Press, 2015;Paulus, Kühn-Popp, Licata, Sodian, & Meinhardt, 2013;Saby et al, 2015). Thirty-two sites (Fp1, Fp2, Fpz, F3, F4, F7, F8, F9, F10, Fz, FC1, FC2, FC5, FC6, C3, C4, T7, T8, TP9, TP10, CP1, CP2, CP5, CP6, P3, P4, P7, P8, Pz, O1, O2, Oz) were placed according to the International 10/20 System at locations commonly used in infants EEG research (see Mundy et al, 2000).…”

Section: Electrophysiological Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 99%