title: Brain signatures of moral sensitivity in adolescents with early social deprivation.
abstract: The present study examined neural responses associated with moral sensitivity in adolescents with a background of early social deprivation. Using high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG), brain activity was measured during an intentional inference task, which assesses rapid moral decision-making regarding intentional or unintentional harm to people and objects. We compared the responses to this task in a socially deprived group (DG) with that of a control group (CG). The event-related potentials (ERPs) results showed atypical early and late frontal cortical markers associated with attribution of intentionality during moral decision-making in DG (especially regarding intentional harm to people). The source space of the hdEEG showed reduced activity for DG compared with CG in the right prefrontal cortex, bilaterally in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and right insula. Moreover, the reduced response in vmPFC for DG was predicted by higher rates of externalizing problems. These findings demonstrate the importance of the social environment in early moral development, supporting a prefrontal maturation model of social deprivation.
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2] Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Escuela de Psicología [3].
authors.forename: María Josefina
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2].
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huepe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Decety
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO) & Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sedeño
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Marie Kristin
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Messow
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO) & Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina [3] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baez
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Rivera-Rei
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canales-Johnson
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Juan Pablo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: CIAE, University of Chile, Chile.
authors.forename: David Maximiliano
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Universitäts Klinikum, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schröeder
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO) & Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina [3] Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Facundo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manes
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Escuela de Psicología.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile [2] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO) & Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina [3] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina [4] Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia [5] Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ibánez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors