Sipes Benjamin S, Jakary Angela, Li Yi, Max Jeffrey E, Yang Tony T, Tymofiyeva Olga
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2022 Oct 20;13:1012745. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1012745. eCollection 2022.
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 ( = 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.
青春期是社会发展的关键时期，对于助人（亲社会）行为和同情心的培养尤为重要；然而，目前参与青少年亲社会行为和同情心的脑网络仍未得到充分研究。在这里，我们试图通过将青少年的功能和结构脑网络与亲社会和同情倾向联系起来，来评估最近提出的亲社会认知领域通用发展（Do-GooD）网络模型。我们从95名青少年（年龄14 - 19岁；46名男性；49名女性）中获取了静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和扩散磁共振成像（MRI），并进行了自我报告问卷调查以评估亲社会行为和同情心。然后，我们应用基于网络的统计方法（NBS），在控制年龄和性别的同时，归纳性地研究是否存在与亲社会行为和同情心相关的重要子网络。基于Do-GooD模型，我们预期这个子网络将涉及从三个领域通用网络，即默认模式网络（DMN）、突显网络和控制网络，以及从DMN到镜像神经元系统与腹内侧前额叶皮层（VMPFC）的连接。NBS揭示了一个与亲社会行为和同情心相关的重要功能（而非结构）子网络，该子网络连接了31个区域（p = 0.02），显示出DMN和背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）与VMPFC的连接；DMN与镜像神经元系统的连接；以及DMN与小脑之间的连接。这些发现通过进一步阐明基于网络的关系，在很大程度上支持并扩展了青少年亲社会认知的Do-GooD模型，这些关系有可能推进我们对亲社会行为脑机制的理解。
