Developmental differences in the control of action selection by social information

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Everyday actions often occur within social interactions.
• Previous research linked action selection based on social/symbolic cues to fronto-parietal cognitive control and social brain networks (temporal and medial prefrontal cortex).

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate developmental changes in cognitive control and social brain networks during action selection in a social context.
• Compare brain activations between adolescents and adults performing a social cue-based action selection task.

Main Methods:

• Compared brain activity in 14 adults (21-30 years) and 14 adolescents (11-16 years).
• Participants followed instructions to move objects, with interpretation based on a "director's" viewpoint or symbolic cues.
• Manipulated the number of objects (3 vs. 1) and presence/absence of the director.

Main Results:

• Increased fronto-parietal and temporal activations observed in 3-object trials, with greater left lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal activation in adults.
• Social cues activated dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), precuneus, and temporal sulci.
• Developmental differences in dorsal MPFC activation: adolescents showed greater activation with any social information, while adults showed greater activation only when director viewpoints were task-relevant.

Conclusions:

• Significant developmental differences exist in both domain-general (fronto-parietal) and domain-specific (social brain) prefrontal cortex activations.
• These differences reflect varying engagement with social information processing during action selection between adolescents and adults.
• The findings highlight age-related maturation in integrating social cues for action planning.