The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy.
Altruistic behavior is considered a key feature of the human cooperative makeup, with deep ontogenetic roots. The tendency to engage in altruistic behavior varies between individuals and has been linked to differences in responding to fearful faces. The current study tests the hypothesis that this l...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2018-09-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005281 |
| _version_ | 1823945394594250752 |
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| author | Tobias Grossmann Manuela Missana Kathleen M Krol |
| author_facet | Tobias Grossmann Manuela Missana Kathleen M Krol |
| author_sort | Tobias Grossmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Altruistic behavior is considered a key feature of the human cooperative makeup, with deep ontogenetic roots. The tendency to engage in altruistic behavior varies between individuals and has been linked to differences in responding to fearful faces. The current study tests the hypothesis that this link exists from early in human ontogeny. Using eye tracking, we examined whether attentional responses to fear in others at 7 months of age predict altruistic behavior at 14 months of age. Our analysis revealed that altruistic behavior in toddlerhood was predicted by infants' attention to fearful faces but not happy or angry faces. Specifically, infants who showed heightened initial attention to (i.e., prolonged first look) followed by greater disengagement (i.e., reduced attentional bias over 15 seconds) from fearful faces at 7 months displayed greater prosocial behavior at 14 months of age. Our data further show that infants' attentional bias to fearful faces and their altruistic behavior was predicted by brain responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), measured through functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This suggests that, from early in ontogeny, variability in altruistic helping behavior is linked to our responsiveness to seeing others in distress and brain processes implicated in attentional control. These findings critically advance our understanding of the emergence of altruism in humans by identifying responsiveness to fear in others as an early precursor contributing to variability in prosocial behavior. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:22:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-39c96027f1c94d72b02f67b50a66de24 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:22:02Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-39c96027f1c94d72b02f67b50a66de242022-12-21T21:56:52ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852018-09-01169e200528110.1371/journal.pbio.2005281The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy.Tobias GrossmannManuela MissanaKathleen M KrolAltruistic behavior is considered a key feature of the human cooperative makeup, with deep ontogenetic roots. The tendency to engage in altruistic behavior varies between individuals and has been linked to differences in responding to fearful faces. The current study tests the hypothesis that this link exists from early in human ontogeny. Using eye tracking, we examined whether attentional responses to fear in others at 7 months of age predict altruistic behavior at 14 months of age. Our analysis revealed that altruistic behavior in toddlerhood was predicted by infants' attention to fearful faces but not happy or angry faces. Specifically, infants who showed heightened initial attention to (i.e., prolonged first look) followed by greater disengagement (i.e., reduced attentional bias over 15 seconds) from fearful faces at 7 months displayed greater prosocial behavior at 14 months of age. Our data further show that infants' attentional bias to fearful faces and their altruistic behavior was predicted by brain responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), measured through functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This suggests that, from early in ontogeny, variability in altruistic helping behavior is linked to our responsiveness to seeing others in distress and brain processes implicated in attentional control. These findings critically advance our understanding of the emergence of altruism in humans by identifying responsiveness to fear in others as an early precursor contributing to variability in prosocial behavior.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005281 |
| spellingShingle | Tobias Grossmann Manuela Missana Kathleen M Krol The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. PLoS Biology |
| title | The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. |
| title_full | The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. |
| title_fullStr | The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. |
| title_short | The neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy. |
| title_sort | neurodevelopmental precursors of altruistic behavior in infancy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005281 |
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