Neural basis of interindividual variability in social perception in typically developing children and adolescents...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Human social behavior exhibits significant interindividual variability.
• The neural underpinnings of social interaction variability, especially in children, remain largely unexplored.
• Understanding social perception is crucial for grasping broader social expertise development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural basis of individual differences in social perception among typically developing children.
• To examine eye-gaze patterns during social scene visualization and their neural correlates.
• To explore the relationship between white matter microstructure and social perception variability.

Main Methods:

• Utilized eye-tracking to quantify gaze behavior during social movie clip viewing in 24 children and adolescents.
• Employed diffusion tensor imaging Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to assess white matter microstructure via fractional anisotropy (FA).
• Correlated eye-tracking metrics with FA measures across the whole brain.

Main Results:

• Observed substantial interindividual differences in fixations directed towards characters' eyes during social scene viewing.
• Identified a significant positive correlation between FA and eye-fixation counts, primarily in the temporal regions of the superior longitudinal fasciculi.
• These correlated regions were adjacent to the posterior superior temporal cortex.

Conclusions:

• A distinct neural signature associated with individual variability in children's social perception has been identified.
• This finding contributes to a deeper understanding of the neural basis for typical and atypical social development.
• The study highlights the role of white matter integrity in early social information processing.