CAREER: Biological Mechanisms Underlying Individual Differences in Elevation and Altruism

这个职业奖助金探索基本的生物学现象，这些现象是提升和利他主义心理状态的基础。 提升是指在目睹伟大的美德或道德美的行为后所经历的情感反应。 当人们目睹这些行为时，他们也可以被提升和激励，以改善自己的性格和执行利他行为。 这项研究特别新颖，因为它采用了多方法和横截面方法，包括测量海拔，利他行为，催产素分泌，心脏的自主调节以及催产素受体的遗传和表观遗传特征。 研究者将研究如何通过催产素神经肽系统中的个体差异来介导海拔和利他主义。这个为期5年的CAREER项目的重点是了解催产素的自然变化如何影响幼儿，年轻人和老年人的海拔和利他主义的体验和表达。 这一系列实验将揭示海拔和随后的利他主义的脑体协调的生物学过程，以及这些配置文件如何在整个生命周期中进行比较和对比。 该研究项目增强了研究者的教育目标，包括在从儿童到老年人的社区群体中教授和鼓励科学探究和亲社会行为。 该计划的一个组成部分涉及与学院援助移民计划（CAMP）和跨文化导师计划在俄勒冈州州立大学（OSU）的伙伴关系的形成，以介绍代表性不足和第一代大学生在校园里的各种科学研究的机会。另一项教育奋进包括研究员参与NSF资助的综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）计划，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。

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.