Table 1.
Development differences in fMRI studies of social cognition
| Study | Participants | Paradigm | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic face processing | |||
| Golarai et al. (2007) | 23 (13F) children aged 7–11; 10 (5F) adolescents aged 12–16; 17 (8F) adults aged 18–35 | Passive viewing of photographs of faces vs. places, objects and abstract patterns | Age-related increase in size of FFA: significant difference between child and adult groups; adolescents showed an intermediate size. |
| Scherf et al. (2007) | 10 (4F) children aged 5–8; 10 (4F) adolescents aged 11–14; 10 (4F) adults aged 20–23 | Passive viewing of dynamic displays of faces vs. places and objects | Age-related increase in size of FFA and face-selective STS between childhood and adolescence. Increased bilaterality between adolescence and adulthood. |
| Cohen Kadosh et al. (2010) | 16 (8F) children aged 7–8; 8 (4F) pre-adolescents aged 10–11; 13 (7F) adults aged 19–37 | Match to sample task with face photographs: matching based on identity, expression or gaze | Connectivity analysis: Basic network comprising FFA, STS and inferior occipital face area present in all age groups. Age-associated increase top-down modulation of intra-network connections depending on task context. |
| Peelen et al. (2009) | 22 (12F) children/adolescents aged 7–17; 22 (13F) adults aged 20–32 | 1-Back task with photographs of faces, headless bodies, tools, and scenes | Age-related increase in FFA selectivity for faces; no age-related increase in fusiform body area for bodies. |
| Facial emotion processing | |||
| Monk et al. (2003) | 17 (8F) children/adolescents aged 9–17; 17 (8F) adults aged 25–36 | Photographs of angry and neutral faces: passive viewing vs. emotional response rating vs. nose width rating | Adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in right amygdala, ACC and OFC bilaterally during passive viewing of fear vs. neutral faces. |
| Guyer et al. (2008) | 31 (15F) children/adolescents aged 9–17; 30 (13F) adults aged 21–40 | As above | Adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in amygdala bilaterally and right FFA during passive viewing of fear vs. neutral faces. |
| Mentalising | |||
| Wang et al. (2006) | 12 (6F) children and adolescents aged 9–14; 12 (6F) adults aged 23–33 | Judging sincerity vs. irony (sarcasm) of social exchanges depicted in cartoons | Children/adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in MPFC, left IFG and right pSTS during irony vs. no irony. |
| Blakemore et al. (2007) | 19 (19F) adolescents aged 12–18; 11 (11F) adults aged 22–38 | Judging likelihood of physical causality vs. intentional causality scenarios | Adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in MPFC during intentional vs. physical causality. Adults vs. adolescents showed greater activity in right STS for this contrast. |
| Pfeifer et al. (2007) | 12 (6F) children aged 9–11; 12(6F) adults aged 23–32 | Judging whether phrases about academic and social skills accurately described self vs. Harry Potter | Children vs. adults showed greater activity in MPFC and ACC during self- vs. other-knowledge retrieval. |
| Pfeifer et al. (2009) | 12 (7F) adolescents aged 11–14; 12 (6F) adults aged 23–30 | Judging whether phrases about academic and social skills described perceptions of self from different perspectives: self, mother, best friend, classmates | Adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in MPFC and ACC during self- vs. other-appraisal. |
| Burnett et al. (2009) | 19 (19F) adolescents aged 10–18; 10 (10F) adults aged 22–32 | Judging emotional response during social (embarrassment, guilt) vs. basic (disgust, fear) emotion scenarios | Adolescents vs. adults showed greater activity in MPFC for social vs. basic emotions. Adults vs. adolescents showed greater activity in left ATC during this contrast. |
| Burnett and Blakemore (2009) | 18 (18F) adolescents aged 11–18; 10 (10F) adults aged 22–32 | As above | Functional connectivity analysis: Adolescents vs. adults showed stronger task-dependent connectivity between MPFC and pSTS/TPJ. |
| Social evaluation | |||
| Sebastian et al. (2010b) | 19 (19F) adolescents aged 14–16; 16 (16F) adults aged 23–28 | Rejection-themed emotional Stroop task | Adults showed greater right ventrolateral PFC response to rejection vs. neutral/acceptance words; adolescents showed a greater response in this region to acceptance vs. rejection and no difference to rejection vs. neutral. |
| Sebastian et al. (in press) | 19 (19F) adolescents aged 14–16; 16 (16F) adults aged 23–28 | Modified ‘Cyberball’ online ball-throwing game | Greater response to rejection than acceptance condition in right ventrolateral PFC in adults, but the reverse pattern in adolescence. |
| Gunther Moor et al. (2010) | 12 (7F) children aged 8–10; 14 (8F) young adolescents aged 12–14; 15 (7F) mid adolescents aged 16–17 years; 16 (8F) adults aged 19–25 years | Acceptance or rejection feedback from fictitious peers based on participant’s photo | Age-related increase during expected social feedback in activity within ventral MPFC, ACC and striatum; age-related increase during social feedback in OFC and lateral PFC. |
Gender composition indicated in brackets. Studies which include both child/adolescent and adult comparison groups only are included.