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Ganesan K, Thompson A, Smid CR, Cañigueral R, Li Y, Revill G, Puetz V, Bernhardt BC, Dosenbach NUF, Kievit R, Steinbeis N. Cognitive control training with domain-general response inhibition does not change children's brains or behavior. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:1364-1375. [PMID: 38834704 PMCID: PMC11239524 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01672-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Cognitive control is required to organize thoughts and actions and is critical for the pursuit of long-term goals. Childhood cognitive control relates to other domains of cognitive functioning and predicts later-life success and well-being. In this study, we used a randomized controlled trial to test whether cognitive control can be improved through a pre-registered 8-week intervention in 235 children aged 6-13 years targeting response inhibition and whether this leads to changes in multiple behavioral and neural outcomes compared to a response speed training. We show long-lasting improvements of closely related measures of cognitive control at the 1-year follow-up; however, training had no impact on any behavioral outcomes (decision-making, academic achievement, mental health, fluid reasoning and creativity) or neural outcomes (task-dependent and intrinsic brain function and gray and white matter structure). Bayesian analyses provide strong evidence of absent training effects. We conclude that targeted training of response inhibition does little to change children's brains or their behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keertana Ganesan
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Abigail Thompson
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
- Evidence Based Practice Unit, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK
| | - Claire R Smid
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Roser Cañigueral
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Yongjing Li
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Grace Revill
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Vanessa Puetz
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Boris C Bernhardt
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nico U F Dosenbach
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Rogier Kievit
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Nikolaus Steinbeis
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
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2
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Riva F, Lenger M, Kronbichler M, Lamm C, Silani G. The role of right supra-marginal gyrus and secondary somatosensory cortex in age-related differences in human emotional egocentricity. Neurobiol Aging 2022; 112:102-110. [PMID: 35104721 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2022.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Emotional egocentric bias (EEB) occurs when, due to a partial failure in self-other distinction, empathy for another's emotion is influenced by our own emotional state. Recent studies have revealed a higher EEB in children, adolescents and older adults compared to young adults, but the neural correlates of this finding are largely unknown. We asked female participants (N = 95) from three different age groups (adolescents, young and older adults) to perform a well-validated EEB task in an MRI scanner. We assessed task-based changes in activity and effective connectivity as well as morphometric changes in regions of interest to pinpoint functional and structural age-related differences. Results revealed higher EEB in older compared to young adults and adolescents. Connectivity between right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) and somatosensory cortices acted as a partial mediator between age and EEB. The findings suggest that an intact connectivity of rSMG, rather than its regional activity, with sensory-perceptual brain areas is crucial for overcoming egocentric biases of empathic judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Riva
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Melanie Lenger
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Kapitelgasse 4-6, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 31, Graz, 8036, Austria
| | - Martin Kronbichler
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Kapitelgasse 4-6, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; Neuroscience Institute, Christian Doppler Clinic, Paracelsus Medical University, Strubergasse 21 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Giorgia Silani
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
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3
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Hartmann H, Lengersdorff L, Hitz HH, Stepnicka P, Silani G. Emotional Ego- and Altercentric Biases in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: Behavioral and Neurophysiological Evidence. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:813969. [PMID: 35250667 PMCID: PMC8894325 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.813969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-other distinction is a crucial aspect of social cognition, as it allows us to differentiate our own mental and emotional states from those of others. Research suggests that this ability might be impaired in individuals on the autism spectrum, but convincing evidence of self-other distinction difficulties in the emotional domain is lacking. Here we aimed at evaluating emotional self-other distinction abilities in autistic and non-autistic adults, in two behavioral pilot studies and one fMRI study. By using a newly developed virtual ball-tossing game that induced simultaneous positive and negative emotional states in each participant and another person, we were able to measure emotional egocentric and altercentric biases (namely the tendency to ascribe self-/other-related emotions to others/ourselves, respectively). Despite no behavioral differences, individuals on the autism spectrum showed decreased activation (1) in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) during active overcoming of the emotional egocentric bias vs. passive game viewing, and (2) in the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) during ego- vs. altercentric biases, compared to neurotypical participants. These results suggest a different recruitment of these two regions in autistic individuals when dealing with conflicting emotional states of oneself and another person. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering different control conditions when interpreting the involvement of rTPJ and rSMG during self-other distinction processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Hartmann
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Lengersdorff
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hannah H. Hitz
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Philipp Stepnicka
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Giorgia Silani
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Hoffmann F, Grosse Wiesmann C, Singer T, Steinbeis N. Development of functional network architecture explains changes in children's altruistically motivated helping. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13167. [PMID: 34383977 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Childhood is marked by profound changes in prosocial behaviour. The underlying motivational mechanisms remain poorly understood. We investigated the development of altruistically motivated helping in middle childhood and the neurocognitive and -affective mechanisms driving this development. One-hundred and twenty seven 6-12 year-old children performed a novel gustatory costly helping task designed to measure altruistic motivations of helping behaviour. Neurocognitive and -affective mechanisms including emotion regulation, emotional clarity and attentional reorienting were assessed experimentally through an extensive task-battery while functional brain activity and connectivity were measured during an empathy for taste paradigm and during rest. Altruistically motivated helping increased with age. Out of all mechanisms probed for, only emotional clarity increased with age and accounted for altruistically motivated helping. This was associated with greater functional integration of the empathy-related network with fronto-parietal brain regions at rest. We isolate a highly specific neuroaffective mechanism as the crucial driver of altruistically motivated helping during child development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferdinand Hoffmann
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Institute of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann
- Research Group Milestones of Early Cognitive Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tania Singer
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Steinbeis
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK
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5
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Weigand A, Trilla I, Enk L, O’Connell G, Prehn K, Brick TR, Dziobek I. How Much of Me Do I See in Other Minds? Modulating Egocentricity in Emotion Judgments by tDCS. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11040512. [PMID: 33923752 PMCID: PMC8073044 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11040512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 04/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When inferring the mental states of others, individuals’ judgments are influenced by their own state of mind, an effect often referred to as egocentricity. Self–other differentiation is key for an accurate interpretation of other’s mental states, especially when these differ from one’s own states. It has been suggested that the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) is causally involved in overcoming egocentricity in the affective domain. In a double-blind randomized study, 47 healthy adults received anodal (1 mA, 20 min) or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the rSMG prior to performing a newly developed paradigm, the self–other facial emotion judgment (SOFE) task. In this task, participants made judgments of facial emotional expressions while having been previously confronted with congruent or incongruent emotion-inducing situations. To differentiate between emotional and cognitive egocentricity, participants additionally completed an established visual perspective-taking task. Our results confirmed the occurrence of emotional egocentric biases during the SOFE task. No conclusive evidence of a general role of the rSMG in emotional egocentricity was found. However, active as compared to sham tDCS induced descriptively lower egocentric biases when judging incongruent fearful faces, and stronger biases when judging incongruent happy faces, suggesting emotion-specific tDCS effects on egocentric biases. Further, we found significant tDCS effects on cognitive egocentricity. Results of the present study expanded our understanding of emotional egocentricity and point towards emotion-specific patterns of the underlying functionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Weigand
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (I.T.); (L.E.); (G.O.); (I.D.)
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Irene Trilla
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (I.T.); (L.E.); (G.O.); (I.D.)
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| | - Lioba Enk
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (I.T.); (L.E.); (G.O.); (I.D.)
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| | - Garret O’Connell
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (I.T.); (L.E.); (G.O.); (I.D.)
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kristin Prehn
- MSH Medical School Hamburg, University of Applied Sciences and Medical University, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany;
| | - Timothy R. Brick
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, 231 Health and Human Development Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA;
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (I.T.); (L.E.); (G.O.); (I.D.)
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
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6
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Bukowski H, Tik M, Silani G, Ruff C, Windischberger C, Lamm C. When differences matter: rTMS/fMRI reveals how differences in dispositional empathy translate to distinct neural underpinnings of self-other distinction in empathy. Cortex 2020; 128:143-161. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Revised: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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7
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Trilla I, Weigand A, Dziobek I. Affective states influence emotion perception: evidence for emotional egocentricity. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 85:1005-1015. [PMID: 32206856 PMCID: PMC8049894 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01314-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Research in social cognition has shown that our own emotional experiences are an important source of information to understand what other people are feeling. The current study investigated whether individuals project their own affective states when reading other's emotional expressions. We used brief autobiographical recall and audiovisual stimuli to induce happy, neutral and sad transient states. After each emotion induction, participants made emotion judgments about ambiguous faces displaying a mixture of happiness and sadness. Using an adaptive psychophysics procedure, we estimated the tendency to perceive the faces as happy under each of the induced affective states. Results demonstrate the occurrence of egocentric projections, such that faces were more likely judged as happy when participants reported being happy as compared to when they were sad. Moreover, the degree of emotional egocentricity was associated with individual differences in perspective-taking, with smaller biases being observed in individuals with higher disposition to take the perspective of others. Our findings extend previous literature on emotional egocentricity by showing that self-projection occurs when we make emotion attributions based on the other's emotional expressions, and supports the notion that perspective-taking tendencies play a role in the ability to understand the other's affective states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Trilla
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany. .,Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Anne Weigand
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
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8
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von Mohr M, Finotti G, Ambroziak KB, Tsakiris M. Do you hear what I see? An audio-visual paradigm to assess emotional egocentricity bias. Cogn Emot 2019; 34:756-770. [PMID: 31672095 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.1683516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
We often use our own emotions to understand other people's emotions. However, emotional egocentric biases (EEB), namely the tendency to use one's own emotional state when relating to others' emotions, may hinder this process, especially when emotions are incongruent. We capitalised on the classic EEB task to develop a new version that is easier to implement and control. Unlike the original EEB task that relies on a combination of private (e.g. touch) and public (e.g. vision) sensory information, our EEB task (AV-EEB) used audio-visual stimuli to evoke congruent/incongruent emotions in participants. Auditory and visual signals are both public, in that they can be shared among individuals, and make the task easier to implement and control. We provide lab-based and online validations of the AV-EEB, and demonstrate a positive relationship between EEB and social negative potency. This new, easily implemented version of the EEB task can accelerate the investigation of egocentricity biases in several research areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana von Mohr
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | - Gianluca Finotti
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | - Klaudia B Ambroziak
- The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.,The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
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Hayashi H, Nishikawa M. Egocentric bias in emotional understanding of children and adults. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 185:224-235. [PMID: 31164226 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2019] [Revised: 04/13/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
This study examined whether egocentric bias in emotional understanding occurs in children and adults. Children aged 8 and 9 years (third graders), 11 and 12 years (sixth graders), and 15 and 16 years (tenth graders), as well as adults, participated. They were presented with two types of stories in both negative and positive contexts. In one story, an actor intentionally harmed or helped a protagonist. In the other story, an actor accidentally harmed or helped a protagonist. In the knowledge condition, the protagonists in both stories watched the actors and therefore knew that the actors intentionally or accidentally harmed or helped. In the ignorance condition, the protagonists in both stories did not watch the actors and therefore did not know the actors' intentions. Participants were asked which protagonists felt sadder or happier. Not only in the knowledge condition but also in the ignorance condition, all age groups judged that the protagonists who were harmed or helped by the actors' intentional actions felt sadder or happier than the protagonists who were harmed or helped by the actors' accidental actions, aligning with participants' current knowledge. This tendency was greater in third and sixth graders than in tenth graders and adults. These results indicate that egocentric bias in emotional understanding occurred irrespective of age and negative or positive context, although this bias was stronger at younger ages.
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10
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Hoffmann F, Viding E, Puetz VB, Gerin MI, Sethi A, Rankin G, McCrory EJ. Evidence for Depressogenic Spontaneous Thoughts and Altered Resting-State Connectivity in Adolescents With a Maltreatment History. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2018; 57:687-695.e4. [PMID: 30196872 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Revised: 05/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Childhood maltreatment has been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Atypical self-generated thoughts (SGT), lacking in positive and privileging negative content-a feature of ruminative thinking-might represent one vulnerability factor for developing depression. Rumination in MDD has been linked to alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) to the default mode network and the fronto-parietal network (FPN). This study aimed to investigate online SGT content and its variability, as well as sgACC RSFC, as potential risk markers for depression in adolescents who experienced maltreatment. METHOD Adolescents 12 to 16 years old (29 with maltreatment history [MT] and 39 with no maltreatment history [NMT]) performed an established mind-wandering task. Participants made nondemanding number discriminations during which intermittent questions probed their SGTs that were classified as off-task, positive, negative, self-related, other-related, past-oriented, or future-oriented. Resting-state data were acquired separately for 22 of 29 MT and 27 39 NMT adolescents, and seed-based functional connectivity analyses of the sgACC were performed. RESULTS MT, relative to the NMT adolescents, generated significantly fewer positively valenced thoughts, and exhibited more extreme ratings for positively valenced thoughts. MT adolescents also showed significantly reduced RSFC between the sgACC and the FPN. Group differences in depressive symptoms between the MT and NMT adolescents were partly accounted by differences in sgACC-FPN RSFC. CONCLUSION Adolescents who experienced maltreatment show a reduction in positively valenced spontaneous thoughts and reduced sgACC-FPN RSFC at the neural level. These may contribute to a ruminative thinking style, representing risk factors for developing depression later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Vanessa B Puetz
- University College London, UK; Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK
| | - Mattia I Gerin
- University College London, UK; Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK
| | | | | | - Eamon J McCrory
- University College London, UK; Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK
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11
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Khu M, Chambers C, Graham SA. When You're Happy and I Know It: Four-Year-Olds' Emotional Perspective Taking During Online Language Comprehension. Child Dev 2017; 89:2264-2281. [PMID: 28581688 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Using a novel emotional perspective-taking task, this study investigated 4-year-olds' (n = 97) use of a speaker's emotional prosody to make inferences about the speaker's emotional state and, correspondingly, their communicative intent. Eye gaze measures indicated preschoolers used emotional perspective inferences to guide their real-time interpretation of ambiguous statements. However, these sensitivities were less apparent in overt responses, suggesting preschoolers' ability to integrate emotional perspective cues is at an emergent state. Perspective taking during online language processing was positively correlated with receptive vocabulary and an offline measure of emotional perspective taking, but not with cognitive perspective taking, conflict or delay inhibitory control, or working memory. Together, the results underscore how children's emerging communicative competence involves different kinds of perspective inferences with distinct cognitive underpinnings.
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12
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Milward SJ, Sebanz N. Mechanisms and development of self-other distinction in dyads and groups. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150076. [PMID: 26644595 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This opinion piece offers a commentary on the four papers that address the theme of the development of self and other understanding with a view to highlighting the important contribution of developmental research to understanding of mechanisms of social cognition. We discuss potential mechanisms linking self-other distinction and empathy, implications for grouping motor, affective and cognitive domains under a single mechanism, applications of these accounts for joint action and finally consider self-other distinction in group versus dyadic settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie J Milward
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca, 7, Budapest 1051, Hungary
| | - Natalie Sebanz
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca, 7, Budapest 1051, Hungary
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13
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Steinbeis N. The role of self-other distinction in understanding others' mental and emotional states: neurocognitive mechanisms in children and adults. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150074. [PMID: 26644593 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Social interactions come with the fundamental problem of trying to understand others' mental and affective states while under the overpowering influence of one's own concurrent thoughts and feelings. The ability to distinguish between simultaneous representations of others' current experiences as well as our own is crucial to navigate our complex social environments successfully. The developmental building blocks of this ability and how this is given rise to by functional and structural brain development remains poorly understood. In this review, I outline some of the key findings on the role of self-other distinction in understanding others' mental as well as emotional states in children and adults. I will begin by clarifying the crucial role for self-other distinction in avoiding egocentric attributions of one's own cognitive as well as affective states to others in adults and outline the underlying neural circuitry in overcoming such egocentricity. This will provide the basis for a discussion of the emergence of self-other distinction in early childhood as well as developmental changes therein throughout childhood and into adulthood. I will demonstrate that self-other distinction of cognitive and emotional states is already dissociable early in development. Concomitantly, I will show that processes of self-other distinction in cognitive and affective domains rely on adjacent but distinct neural circuitry each with unique connectivity profiles, presumably related to the nature of the distinction that needs to be made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaus Steinbeis
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Leiden University, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands; 2. Department of Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1a, 04105 Leipzig, Germany.
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14
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Empathy in depression: Egocentric and altercentric biases and the role of alexithymia. J Affect Disord 2016; 199:23-9. [PMID: 27060429 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2015] [Revised: 02/20/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with empathy deficits. The exact nature of these deficits and their relation to concurrent alexithymia remain unknown. Here we tested under which conditions MDD patients with high and low alexithymia show deficient empathy, particularly investigating empathic abilities when inhibition of self-related emotional states is needed and when it is not. METHODS Healthy controls (low: n=28, high: n=14) and currently depressed MDD patients (low: n=11, high: n=18) with low or high alexithymia performed an emotional egocentricity paradigm based on tactile stimulation. This task measures empathic judgements, when emotional states of self and other differ and inhibition of self-related emotional states is needed, and when they do not and thus empathic judgments can be based on simple projection mechanisms. RESULTS Only alexithymia but not depression decreased empathy, in situations when simple projection sufficed. However, when inhibition of self-related emotional states was needed, MDD patients showed an egocentric bias during empathic judgments and an altercentric bias during self emotion judgments, the latter suggesting heightened emotional contagion, both independent of alexithymia. Across the entire sample, alexithymia decreased the size of the egocentric bias. LIMITATIONS This study was based on a relatively sample size. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that MDD patients show intact empathic judgments, when simple projection is required and no concurrent alexithymia is present. In situations when incongruent emotional states of self and other have to be resolved, MDD patients are prone to egocentric and altercentric biases.
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Riva F, Triscoli C, Lamm C, Carnaghi A, Silani G. Emotional Egocentricity Bias Across the Life-Span. Front Aging Neurosci 2016; 8:74. [PMID: 27199731 PMCID: PMC4844617 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 03/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In our daily lives, we often have to quickly estimate the emotions of our conspecifics in order to have successful social interactions. While this estimation process seems quite easy when we are ourselves in a neutral or equivalent emotional state, it has recently been shown that in case of incongruent emotional states between ourselves and the others, our judgments can be biased. This phenomenon, introduced to the literature with the term Emotional Egocentricity Bias (EEB), has been found to occur in young adults and, to a greater extent, in children. However, how the EEB changes across the life-span from adolescence to old age has been largely unexplored. In this study, we recruited 114 female participants subdivided in four cohorts (adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, older adults) to examine EEB age-related changes. Participants were administered with a recently developed paradigm which, by making use of visuo-tactile stimulation that elicits conflicting feelings in paired participants, allows the valid and reliable exploration of the EEB. Results highlighted a U-shape relation between age and EEB, revealing enhanced emotional egocentricity in adolescents and older adults compared to young and middle-aged adults. These results are in line with the neuroscientific literature which has recently shown that overcoming the EEB is associated with a greater activation of a portion of the parietal lobe, namely the right Supramarginal Gyrus (rSMG). This is an area that reaches full maturation by the end of adolescence and goes through an early decay. Thus, the age-related changes of the EEB could be possibly due to the life-span development of the rSMG. This study is the first one to show the quadratic relation between age and the EEB and set a milestone for further research exploring the neural correlates of the life-span development of the EEB. Future studies are needed in order to generalize these results to the male population and to explore gender differences related to the aging of socio- emotional processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Riva
- International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA-ISAS)Trieste, Italy; Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
| | - Chantal Triscoli
- Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Claus Lamm
- Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea Carnaghi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste Trieste, Italy
| | - Giorgia Silani
- International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA-ISAS)Trieste, Italy; Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention, Faculty of Psychology, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
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