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1. Development of inhibitory control during childhood and its relations to early temperament and later social anxiety: unique insights provided by latent growth modeling and signal detection theory

   https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13025  

   Troller‐Renfree, Sonya V. ; Buzzell, George A. ; Bowers, Maureen E. ; Salo, Virginia C. ; Forman‐Alberti, Alissa ; Smith, Elizabeth ; Papp, Leanna J. ; McDermott, Jennifer M. ; Pine, Daniel S. ; Henderson, Heather A. ; et al ( February 2019 , Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry)

   Children with the temperament of behavioral inhibition (BI) face increased risk for social anxiety. However, not all children withBIdevelop anxiety symptoms. Inhibitory control (IC) has been suggested as a moderator of the pathway betweenBIand social anxiety. This study uses longitudinal data to characterize development ofICand tests the hypothesis thatICmoderates associations between earlyBIand later social anxiety symptoms.

   Children completed a Go/Nogo task at ages 5, 7, and 10 years as part of a longitudinal study ofBI(measured at 2–3 years) and social anxiety symptoms (measured at 12 years). To assessICdevelopment, response strategy (criterion) and inhibitory performance (d′) were characterized using signal detection theory. Latent growth models were used to characterize the development ofICand examine relations amongBI,ICparameters, and social anxiety symptoms.

   ICresponse strategy did not change between 5 and 10 years of age, whereasICperformance improved over time.BIscores in toddlerhood predicted neither initial levels (intercept) nor changes (slope) inICresponse strategy orICperformance. However, between ages 5 and 10, rate of change inICperformance, but not response strategy, moderated relations betweenBIand later parent‐reported social anxiety symptoms. Specifically, greater age‐related improvements inICperformance predicted higher levels of social anxiety in highBIchildren.

   ICdevelopment in childhood occurs independent ofBIlevels. However, rapid increases inICperformance moderate risk for social anxiety symptoms in children withBI. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

    

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2. Behavioral Inhibition in Early Childhood and Adjustment in Late Adolescence in China

   https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13463  

   Chen, Xinyin ; Fu, Rui ; Li, Dan ; Chen, Huichang ; Wang, Zhengyan ; Wang, Li ( September 2020 , Child Development)

   This study examined relations between behavioral inhibition in toddlerhood and social, school, and psychological adjustment in late adolescence in China. Data on behavioral inhibition were collected from a sample of 2‐year‐olds (initialN = 247). Follow‐up data were collected at 7 years for peer relationships and 19 years for adjustment across domains. The results showed that early inhibition positively predicted later social competence and school adjustment. Peer relationships in middle childhood served as a protective factor in the development of depression of inhibited children. The results indicate the distinct functional meaning of behavioral inhibition in the Chinese context from a developmental perspective.

    

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3. Let's chat: developmental neural bases of social motivation during real‐time peer interaction

   https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12581  

   Warnell, Katherine Rice ; Sadikova, Eleonora ; Redcay, Elizabeth ( July 2017 , Developmental Science)

   Humans are motivated to interact with each other, but the neural bases of social motivation have been predominantly examined in non‐interactive contexts. Understanding real‐world social motivation is of special importance during middle childhood (ages 8–12), a period when social skills improve, social networks grow, and social brain networks specialize. To assess interactive social motivation, the current study used a novelfMRIparadigm in which children believed they were chatting with a peer. The design targeted two phases of interaction: (1) Initiation, in which children engaged in a social bid via sharing a like or hobby, and (2) Reply, in which children received either an engaged (“Me too”) or non‐engaged (“I'm away”) reply from the peer. On control trials, children were told that their answers were not shared and that they would receive either engaged (“Matched”) or non‐engaged (“Disconnected”) replies from the computer. Results indicated that during Initiation and Reply, key components of reward circuitry (e.g., ventral striatum) were more active for the peer than the computer trials. In addition, during Reply, social cognitive regions were more activated by the peer, and this social cognitive specialization increased with age. Finally, the effect of engagement type on reward circuitry activation was larger for social than non‐social trials, indicating developmental sensitivity to social contingency. These findings demonstrate that both reward and social cognitive brain systems support real‐time social interaction in middle childhood. An interactive approach to understanding social reward has implications for clinical disorders, where social motivation is more affected in real‐world contexts.

    

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4. A break in parental interaction does not affect the temporal dependency of infant social engagement, but disrupts non-social engagement

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33270-9  

   Mattson, Whitney I. ; Messinger, Daniel S. ; Gangi, Devon N. ; Myers, Nicholas D. ( October 2018 , Scientific Reports)

   Infant looking patterns during interaction offer an early window into social and nonsocial engagement. Recent evidence indicates that infant looks exhibit temporal dependency—one look duration predicts the next look duration. It is unknown, however, whether temporal dependency emerges as infants structure their own looking or whether it is influenced by interaction. We examined whether a perturbation of social interaction affected temporal dependency. Using the Face-to-Face/Still-Face procedure, we compared temporal dependency during parental interaction (the Face-to-Face & Reunion episodes) to parental non-responsiveness (the Still-Face episode). Overall, the durations of successive infant looks were predictable; past behavior constrained current behavior. The duration of one look at the parent (Face Look) predicted the duration of the nextFace Look. Likewise, the duration of a look at any place that was not the parent’s face (Away Look) predicted the duration of the nextAway Look. The temporal dependency ofFace Looks(social engagement) was unaffected by the Still-Face perturbation, but the temporal dependency ofAway Looks(nonsocial engagement) declined during the Still-Face. Infant temporal structuring of engagement during social looking is not dependent on parental interaction while the disruption of interaction affects infants’ structuring of their own non-social engagement.

    

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5. Epigenetic tuning of brain signal entropy in emergent human social behavior

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01683-x  

   Puglia, Meghan H. ; Krol, Kathleen M. ; Missana, Manuela ; Williams, Cabell L. ; Lillard, Travis S. ; Morris, James P. ; Connelly, Jessica J. ; Grossmann, Tobias ( December 2020 , BMC Medicine)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Background How the brain develops accurate models of the external world and generates appropriate behavioral responses is a vital question of widespread multidisciplinary interest. It is increasingly understood that brain signal variability—posited to enhance perception, facilitate flexible cognitive representations, and improve behavioral outcomes—plays an important role in neural and cognitive development. The ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to complex and dynamic social information is particularly critical for the development of adaptive learning and behavior. Social perception relies on oxytocin-regulated neural networks that emerge early in development. Methods We tested the hypothesis that individual differences in the endogenous oxytocinergic system early in life may influence social behavioral outcomes by regulating variability in brain signaling during social perception. In study 1, 55 infants provided a saliva sample at 5 months of age for analysis of individual differences in the oxytocinergic system and underwent electroencephalography (EEG) while listening to human vocalizations at 8 months of age for the assessment of brain signal variability. Infant behavior was assessed via parental report. In study 2, 60 infants provided a saliva sample and underwent EEG while viewing faces and objects and listening to human speech and water sounds at 4 months of age. Infant behavior was assessed via parental report and eye tracking. Results We show in two independent infant samples that increased brain signal entropy during social perception is in part explained by an epigenetic modification to the oxytocin receptor gene ( OXTR ) and accounts for significant individual differences in social behavior in the first year of life. These results are measure-, context-, and modality-specific: entropy, not standard deviation, links OXTR methylation and infant behavior; entropy evoked during social perception specifically explains social behavior only; and only entropy evoked during social auditory perception predicts infant vocalization behavior. Conclusions Demonstrating these associations in infancy is critical for elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms accounting for individual differences in cognition and behavior relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders. Our results suggest that an epigenetic modification to the oxytocin receptor gene and brain signal entropy are useful indicators of social development and may hold potential diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic value. 

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