Prosocially-Motivated Learning from Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Examination of Neurocomputational Mechanisms and Antiviral Correlates

Despite mounting evidence that prosocial behavior is related to positive health outcomes, current understanding of prosocial neurodevelopment is limited. However, particular features of adolescent development (e.g., increases in perspective-taking, focus on peers) may facilitate prosocial behavior during adolescence, especially toward friends. The present work examines prosocial neurodevelopment from childhood through young adulthood by utilizing a reinforcement learning framework to assess prosocial behavior toward a friend. Participants (9-20 years old) completed self-report measures of empathy and selected a close friend. They then completed a multi-part reinforcement learning paradigm, including a) a learning phase while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, where performance was related to monetary outcomes for either the participant (self learning) or the selected friend (prosocial learning), b) a test phase to assess learning, and c) a surprise memory test to examine episodic memory to reinforcement events. A subset of participants completed a blood draw to assess the IFN-g, a cytokine related to antiviral immunity, a week later. Prosocial learning accuracy tended to peak in mid-adolescence, while the trajectory across age for self learning plateaued starting in early adolescence. Although children performed worse in terms of learning accuracy relative to other age groups, they had better episodic memory for the reinforcement events during learning. Hippocampal activity during learning was negatively associated with age and positively correlated with performance on the memory task, in line with the past work showing that the hippocampus plays a major role in memory. In females, empathy was differentially associated with prosocial learning performance across age, such that greater empathy was linked to worse prosocial learning accuracy in young adult females. This counterintuitive finding may reflect increased behavioral reactivity to other-relevant feedback in highly empathic individuals, leading to more volatile behavior and thus worse overall performance. No differences in neural activity were found with respect to prosocial vs. self learning. The subtlety of the manipulation may have contributed to the observed null results for comparisons between prosocial vs self learning in the present study. IFN-g was not significantly related to any study outcomes

Prosocially-Motivated Learning from Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Examination of Neurocomputational Mechanisms and Antiviral Correlates

Despite mounting evidence that prosocial behavior is related to positive health outcomes, current understanding of prosocial neurodevelopment is limited. However, particular features of adolescent development (e.g., increases in perspective-taking, focus on peers) may facilitate prosocial behavior during adolescence, especially toward friends. The present work examines prosocial neurodevelopment from childhood through young adulthood by utilizing a reinforcement learning framework to assess prosocial behavior toward a friend. Participants (9-20 years old) completed self-report measures of empathy and selected a close friend. They then completed a multi-part reinforcement learning paradigm, including a) a learning phase while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, where performance was related to monetary outcomes for either the participant (self learning) or the selected friend (prosocial learning), b) a test phase to assess learning, and c) a surprise memory test to examine episodic memory to reinforcement events. A subset of participants completed a blood draw to assess the IFN-g, a cytokine related to antiviral immunity, a week later. Prosocial learning accuracy tended to peak in mid-adolescence, while the trajectory across age for self learning plateaued starting in early adolescence. Although children performed worse in terms of learning accuracy relative to other age groups, they had better episodic memory for the reinforcement events during learning. Hippocampal activity during learning was negatively associated with age and positively correlated with performance on the memory task, in line with the past work showing that the hippocampus plays a major role in memory. In females, empathy was differentially associated with prosocial learning performance across age, such that greater empathy was linked to worse prosocial learning accuracy in young adult females. This counterintuitive finding may reflect increased behavioral reactivity to other-relevant feedback in highly empathic individuals, leading to more volatile behavior and thus worse overall performance. No differences in neural activity were found with respect to prosocial vs. self learning. The subtlety of the manipulation may have contributed to the observed null results for comparisons between prosocial vs self learning in the present study. IFN-g was not significantly related to any study outcomes

Associations between amygdala reactivity to social threat, perceived stress and C-reactive protein in breast cancer survivors.

Chronic inflammation in women diagnosed with breast cancer is critically linked with tumor progression, metastasis and survival. C-reactive protein (CRP)-a circulating marker of inflammation-is an important prognostic marker for cancer-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors (e.g. recurrence, fatigue). Psychological stress, which increases circulating markers of inflammation following sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation, may modulate tumor-relevant inflammatory processes. However, little is known about neural mechanisms that might link stress and downstream SNS-initiated proinflammatory processes, such as elevated CRP. Past work suggests that threat-related neural regions, such as the amygdala, may be key in translating psychological stress into SNS activity and subsequent peripheral inflammation. Thus, we examined amygdala reactivity to socially threatening stimuli in association with perceived stress and plasma CRP levels to further elucidate neuro-immune pathways of social threat processing within breast cancer survivors (N = 37). Significant positive correlations were found between left amygdala reactivity in response to socially threatening stimuli (e.g. angry/fearful faces vs happy faces) and perceived stress in the previous month (r = 0.32, P = 0.025) and between left amygdala reactivity and CRP (r = 0.33, P = 0.025). This work builds on prior research implicating the amygdala as a key structure in crosstalk between threat-related neural circuitries and peripheral inflammation, particularly within cancer survivors

Associations between amygdala reactivity to social threat, perceived stress and C-reactive protein in breast cancer survivors.

Chronic inflammation in women diagnosed with breast cancer is critically linked with tumor progression, metastasis and survival. C-reactive protein (CRP)-a circulating marker of inflammation-is an important prognostic marker for cancer-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors (e.g. recurrence, fatigue). Psychological stress, which increases circulating markers of inflammation following sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation, may modulate tumor-relevant inflammatory processes. However, little is known about neural mechanisms that might link stress and downstream SNS-initiated proinflammatory processes, such as elevated CRP. Past work suggests that threat-related neural regions, such as the amygdala, may be key in translating psychological stress into SNS activity and subsequent peripheral inflammation. Thus, we examined amygdala reactivity to socially threatening stimuli in association with perceived stress and plasma CRP levels to further elucidate neuro-immune pathways of social threat processing within breast cancer survivors (N = 37). Significant positive correlations were found between left amygdala reactivity in response to socially threatening stimuli (e.g. angry/fearful faces vs happy faces) and perceived stress in the previous month (r = 0.32, P = 0.025) and between left amygdala reactivity and CRP (r = 0.33, P = 0.025). This work builds on prior research implicating the amygdala as a key structure in crosstalk between threat-related neural circuitries and peripheral inflammation, particularly within cancer survivors

Associations between psychosocial factors and circulating cytokines in breast cancer survivors

ObjectiveResearch has established links between social isolation and heightened levels of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin-6 [IL-6], tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]). Recent advances allow for the examination of cytokines that may also play a role in antiviral immunity (interferon-gamma [IFN-γ]). The present work explored how various features of social experience relate to circulating cytokines in breast cancer survivors, as inflammation has been tied to cancer recurrence and mortality.DesignFemale breast cancer survivors (N = 43) completed a blood draw to assess circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) and levels of a cytokine that also relates to antiviral immunity (IFN-γ).Main outcome measuresWe examined associations between cytokines and different aspects of social experience, including household size, psychosocial well-being, and social threat anxiety.ResultsCirculating levels of IFN-γ were associated with larger household size (r = 0.32, p = 0.04) and higher levels of psychosocial well-being (r = 0.33, p = 0.04). Additionally, heightened levels of IL-6 were associated with social threat anxiety (r = 0.38, p = 0.01). Heightened IL-6 was also associated with household size (r = 0.33, p = 0.03).ConclusionThese findings are consistent with work suggesting that antiviral immunity and inflammation may have distinct contributions to the links between social experience and health, particularly for those previously diagnosed with breast cancer