Neuroimaging of the Development of Neural Mechanisms Social Cognition

心理学家已经提出了关于社会认知的基本组成部分的理论和丰富的经验证据。这种认识最近得益于功能性磁共振成像(Fmrl)的使用，以识别支持社会各方面的大脑区域网络。 人类的认知能力。我们如何看待自己和他人的思想，我们如何模仿和回应，以及我们如何调节自己的情绪，这些研究让我们了解了通向更好和更糟糕的心理健康结果的途径。然而，这些工作中的大部分几乎都集中在成年人的成熟思想上。越来越明显的是，为了了解成人心理健康和疾病的基础，了解儿童社会认知的发展是很重要的，因为这样的焦点可以提供至关重要的早期观点，了解形成过程中复杂的心理过程。发展中的大脑成像技术的进步为研究社会认知能力发展所涉及的机制提供了令人兴奋的机会。有待启动的是产生第一批经验性研究的研究计划。这笔赠款的首要目标是使用fmrl来识别和描述社会认知方面发展的神经基础。我们将招募神经学正常的儿童和青少年(5-14岁)。在这项为期两年的纵向研究中，每个孩子每年将接受一次研究。该设计将提供关于以下方面的急需的纵向数据 儿童时期社会性大脑的正常发育。我们的研究将集中于大脑机制的发展：(1)感知他人的行为和意图；(2)自我表征的形成以及自我与他人之间的关系。

Psychologists have produced theories and a wealth of empirical evidence concerning the basic building blocks of social cognition. This understanding has recently benefited from the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRl) to identify a network of brain regions that support various facets of social cognition in humans. Studies of how we think about ourselves and other minds, how we mimic and respond, and how we regulate our emotions have allowed us to learn about the paths toward better and worse mental health outcomes. However, much of this work has focused on the mature minds of adult humans almost exclusively. lt is becoming clear that in order to understand the basis of mental health and illness in adults, it is important to understand the development of social cognition in children because such a focus can provide the crucially needed early view of intricate mental processes during formation. Advances in techniques for imaging the developing brain have provided exciting opportunities for studying the mechanisms involved in the development of social cognition abilities. What remains to be initiated are programs of research to produce the first empirical studies. The overarching aim of this grant is to use fMRl to identify and characterize the neural basis of development in aspects of social cognition. We will recruit neurologically normal children and adolescents (5-14 years of age). ln this two-year longitudinal study, each child will be studied once per year. This design will provide the start of much needed longitudinal data regarding the normal development of the social brain in childhood. Our studies will focus on the development of brain mechanisms for: (1) the perception of other people's actions and intentions and (2) the formation of representations of the self and the relationship between self and others.