CAREER: Biological Mechanisms Underlying Individual Differences in Elevation and Altruism

这份职业资助金探索了基本的生物现象，这些现象是提升和利他主义心理状态展示的基础。提升指的是在目睹了美德或道德之美的行为后所经历的情感反应。当人们目睹这些行为时，他们也可以振作起来，激励他们改善自己的品格，并执行利他主义行为。这项研究特别新颖，因为它结合了多方法和横断面方法，包括测量海拔、利他行为、催产素分泌、心脏自主调节以及催产素受体的遗传和表观遗传学特征。研究人员将研究催产素神经肽系统中的个体差异是如何调节升迁和利他主义的。这项为期5年的职业计划侧重于了解催产素的自然变化如何影响幼儿、年轻人和老年人提升和利他主义的体验和表达。这一系列实验将揭示大脑-身体协调提升和随后的利他主义背后的生物过程，以及这些特征如何在整个生命周期内进行比较和对比。该研究项目加强了调查员的教育目标，包括教授和鼓励从儿童到老年人的社区群体中的科学探究和亲社会行为。该计划的一个组成部分是与俄勒冈州立大学(OSU)的大学援助移民计划(CAMP)和跨文化导师计划建立合作伙伴关系，以向未被充分代表的第一代大学生介绍校园内的各种科研机会。另一项教育努力包括调查人员参与由NSF资助的综合研究生教育和研究培训计划(IGERT)，该计划旨在促进和鼓励希望从事健康心理学研究的学生的多样性，这些学生的主题是健康老龄化。

This CAREER grant explores the basic biological phenomena that underlie displays of the psychological states of elevation and altruism. Elevation refers to the emotional response experienced after witnessing acts of great virtue or moral beauty. When people witness these acts, they too can be uplifted and inspired to improve their own character and perform altruistic acts. The research is particularly novel in that it incorporates a multi-method and cross-sectional approach by including measurements of elevation, altruistic behavior, oxytocin secretion, autonomic regulation of the heart, and genetic and epigenetic profiles of the oxytocin receptor. The investigator will investigate how elevation and altruism are mediated by individual differences in the neuropeptide system of oxytocin. The 5-year CAREER project focuses on understanding how naturally-occurring variations in oxytocin influence the experience and expression of elevation and altruism in young children, young adults, and older adults. The series of experiments will reveal the biological processes underlying the brain-body coordination of elevation and subsequent altruism as well as how these profiles compare and contrast across the lifespan. The research project enhances the investigator's educational goals including teaching and encouraging scientific inquiry and prosocial behavior in community groups ranging from children to the elderly. An integral component of this plan involves the formation of a partnership with the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and the Cross-Cultural Mentorship Program at the Oregon State University (OSU) in order to introduce underrepresented and first-generation college students to a variety of scientific research opportunities on campus. Another educational endeavor includes the investigator's involvement in the NSF-funded Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, which is designed to facilitate and encourage diversity in students who wish to pursue a career in health psychology research on the topic of healthy aging.