Motor resonance in adolescence

在青春期的关键时期，人类经历了巨大的变化。复杂的改变发生在大脑的特定区域，而身体外观、行为和认知的重要变化同时发生。青春期最引人注目的问题之一是标志着一个人在社交世界中导航方式的深刻变化。虽然青春期的社会功能在行为层面上已经有了很好的特征，但关于这些变化背后的大脑机制仍有许多需要了解。 社会神经科学的最新进展表明，模拟过程有助于我们理解他人的思维。根据这一观点，在观察动作、情绪和感觉时被激活的回路与那些参与执行和体验相同动作、情绪和感觉的回路共享关键的、共同的底物。在这项建议中，我们希望研究青少年运动共振系统的功能特性，描述其发育特点，并将其变化特性与行为和情绪结果联系起来。此外，我们计划对初级运动皮质成熟的神经生理学特性进行彻底的评估，以更好地了解皮质脊髓束功能的基本改变如何影响青春期的运动共振。 这项为期五年的研究计划将首次尝试描述青春期社会变化的感觉运动相关性。预计的数据将通过解决近年来社会神经科学中出现的令人兴奋的假设来弥合儿童和成人数据之间存在的差距。运动共振机制的研究无疑将为了解青春期大脑是如何工作和发育的提供重要的见解，此外还将有助于揭示大脑在感觉运动皮质水平上成熟的基本机制。

Humans undergo significant changes during the critical years of adolescence. Complex modifications occur in specific areas of the brain while important changes in physical appearance, behavior and cognition happen at the same time. One of the most compelling issues characterizing adolescence is the profound alterations that mark the way in which an individual navigates the social world. Whereas social functioning in adolescence has been well characterized at a behavioral level, much remains to be learned about what brain mechanism underlies these changes. Recent advances in social neuroscience suggest that a simulation process contributes to our ability to understand other minds. According to this view, the circuits that are activated during the obervation of actions, emotions and sensations share critical, common substrates with those that are involved in the execution and experiencing of the same actions, emotions and sensations. In this proposal, we wish to examine the functional properties of the motor resonance sytem in adolescents, characterize its development and relate its changing properties to behavioral and emotional outcomes. In addition, we plan to provide a thorough assessment of the neurophysiological properties of primary motor cortex maturation to better understand how basic modifications in corticospinal tract function impact motor resonance during adolescence. This five year research program will provide a first attempt at characterizing the sensorimotor correlates of social change occuring during adolescence. The expected data will bridge the gap that exists between children and adult data by addressing exciting hypotheses that have emerged in recent years in social neuroscience. The study of motor resonance mechanisms will undoubtedly provide significant insight into how the adolescent brain works and develops, in addition to shedding some light on the basic mechanisms of brain maturation at the sensorimotor cortex level.