Lecture 12: Developmental Social Neuroscience (NSBED, UU)

Why are hormones important in understanding the relationship between the brain and social behavior?

1. Hormones play an important role in social behavior in pregnancy and after the child is born.
2. Hormones have activational and organizational properties on the brain’s architecture.

Milestones in social development in infants:

Imitation in babies is important in learning to communicate.

In the first two months, the baby will typically not show any imitating behavior.

The newborn starts forming a mental model of the world that relies on social interactions.

Complex social behavior comes from the limbic system (why, because animals that have a less developed neocortex also show complex interactions).

Play is an important aspect of social behavior.

Cortical maturation can be seen in electrocortical brain activity.

Under the first 10 years, the brain is developing mostly on environmental factors.

After the age of 12, the brain starts to reorganize itself to become efficient. The amount of grey matter is reduced. White matter is increased: improving the connections between the relevant brain areas.

The brain also tends to organize itself: a form of division of labor causing modules that are connected to other modules.

There are 2 hormonal peaks during development: during puberty and during being a fetus (because of hormones in the mother; e.g. stress).

High levels of testosterone in the womb: bad in emotion recognition in faces.

There is an inbalance in the brain during puberty. Testosterone manages the connections between these modules. It has organizational effects.

Testosterone can play different roles:

• Negative effect: reduced connectivity can make you more impulsive.
• Positive effect: when facing stressful situations, it can protect you.

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