Project acronym EarlyDev
Project Brain networks for processing social signals of emotions: early development and the emergence of individual differences
Researcher (PI) Jukka Matias Leppänen
Host Institution (HI) TAMPEREEN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary Recent research has shown that genetic variations in central serotonin function are associated with biases in emotional information processing (heightened attention to signals of negative emotion) and that these biases contribute significantly to vulnerability to affective disorders. Here, we propose to examine a novel hypothesis that the biases in attention to emotional cues are ontogenetically primary, arise very early in development, and modulate an individual’s interaction with the environment during development. The four specific aims of the project are to 1) test the hypothesis that developmental processes resulting in increased functional connectivity of visual and emotion/attention-related neural systems (i.e., increased phase-synchrony of oscillatory activity) from 5 to 7 months of age are associated with the emergence of an overt attentional bias towards affectively salient facial expressions at 7 months of age, 2) use eye-tracking to ascertain that the attentional bias in 7-month-old infants reflects sensitivity to the emotional signal value of facial expressions instead of correlated non-emotional features, 3) test the hypothesis that increased serotonergic tone early in life (through genetic polymorphisms or exposure to serotonin enhancing drugs) is associated with reduced control of attention to affectively salient facial expressions and reduced temperamental emotion-regulation at 7, 24 and 48 months of age, and 4) examine the plasticity of the attentional bias towards emotional facial expressions in infancy, particularly whether the bias can be overridden by using positive reinforcers. The proposed studies will be the first to explicate the neural bases and nature of early-emerging cognitive deficits and biases that pose a risk for emotional dysfunction. As such, the results will be very important for developing intervention methods that benefit of the plasticity of the developing brain and skill formation to support healthy development.
Summary
Recent research has shown that genetic variations in central serotonin function are associated with biases in emotional information processing (heightened attention to signals of negative emotion) and that these biases contribute significantly to vulnerability to affective disorders. Here, we propose to examine a novel hypothesis that the biases in attention to emotional cues are ontogenetically primary, arise very early in development, and modulate an individual’s interaction with the environment during development. The four specific aims of the project are to 1) test the hypothesis that developmental processes resulting in increased functional connectivity of visual and emotion/attention-related neural systems (i.e., increased phase-synchrony of oscillatory activity) from 5 to 7 months of age are associated with the emergence of an overt attentional bias towards affectively salient facial expressions at 7 months of age, 2) use eye-tracking to ascertain that the attentional bias in 7-month-old infants reflects sensitivity to the emotional signal value of facial expressions instead of correlated non-emotional features, 3) test the hypothesis that increased serotonergic tone early in life (through genetic polymorphisms or exposure to serotonin enhancing drugs) is associated with reduced control of attention to affectively salient facial expressions and reduced temperamental emotion-regulation at 7, 24 and 48 months of age, and 4) examine the plasticity of the attentional bias towards emotional facial expressions in infancy, particularly whether the bias can be overridden by using positive reinforcers. The proposed studies will be the first to explicate the neural bases and nature of early-emerging cognitive deficits and biases that pose a risk for emotional dysfunction. As such, the results will be very important for developing intervention methods that benefit of the plasticity of the developing brain and skill formation to support healthy development.
Max ERC Funding
1 397 351 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31
Project acronym GramAdapt
Project Linguistic Adaptation: Typological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives to Language Variation
Researcher (PI) Kaius Tatu-Kustaa SINNEMÄKI
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2018-STG
Summary The GramAdapt project researches linguistic adaptation by developing a synthesis of typological and sociolinguistic approaches to language variation. This novel framework enables combining typological data with rich sociolinguistic data into the same model and evaluating their relationship statistically. The main research question is: Can I prove with typological data that language structure adapts to sociolinguistic context?
The project has 4 objectives:
- to develop a methodological approach that makes it possible to combine typological and sociolinguistic data into the same model and to statistically research their relationship,
- to understand the degree and nature of linguistic adaptation in the world's languages and whether it is independent of language-internal structural tendencies,
- to analyze 3-4 sociolinguistic factors that are likely to drive changes in linguistic structures (language contact vs. isolation, multilingualism, community size, and prestige) via a sample 150 languages,
- to analyze 3-4 broad linguistic categories that are prone to respond to changes in sociolinguistic environment (case, gender, and number) in the same set of 150 languages to support assessing linguistic adaptations.
Three key methodological innovations will be created: (i) language structures will be analyzed typologically from the perspective of how difficult they are for adult second language learners, (ii) sociolinguistic environments will be analyzed across societies via using the idea of comparative concepts from typology, (iii) a new sampling strategy will be developed to draw conclusions from both large families and language isolates. This framework enables researching linguistic adaptations typologically in a principled way and it has the potential to forge a deeper relationship between typology and sociolinguistics and thus open new domains of inquiry. The results will create a strong argument for treating language as part of the general adaptive human behavior.
Summary
The GramAdapt project researches linguistic adaptation by developing a synthesis of typological and sociolinguistic approaches to language variation. This novel framework enables combining typological data with rich sociolinguistic data into the same model and evaluating their relationship statistically. The main research question is: Can I prove with typological data that language structure adapts to sociolinguistic context?
The project has 4 objectives:
- to develop a methodological approach that makes it possible to combine typological and sociolinguistic data into the same model and to statistically research their relationship,
- to understand the degree and nature of linguistic adaptation in the world's languages and whether it is independent of language-internal structural tendencies,
- to analyze 3-4 sociolinguistic factors that are likely to drive changes in linguistic structures (language contact vs. isolation, multilingualism, community size, and prestige) via a sample 150 languages,
- to analyze 3-4 broad linguistic categories that are prone to respond to changes in sociolinguistic environment (case, gender, and number) in the same set of 150 languages to support assessing linguistic adaptations.
Three key methodological innovations will be created: (i) language structures will be analyzed typologically from the perspective of how difficult they are for adult second language learners, (ii) sociolinguistic environments will be analyzed across societies via using the idea of comparative concepts from typology, (iii) a new sampling strategy will be developed to draw conclusions from both large families and language isolates. This framework enables researching linguistic adaptations typologically in a principled way and it has the potential to forge a deeper relationship between typology and sociolinguistics and thus open new domains of inquiry. The results will create a strong argument for treating language as part of the general adaptive human behavior.
Max ERC Funding
1 491 493 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym PreLog
Project Precursors of logical reasoning in human infants
Researcher (PI) Erno Teglas
Host Institution (HI) KOZEP-EUROPAI EGYETEM
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2014-STG
Summary There is no other field that is more controversial in psychology than that of human reasoning. This project advances a novel theoretical framework focused on the nature and the origins of rationality and could potentially resolve some of these controversies. Theories targeting the mechanisms that allow rational inferences have defined rationality as a function of how much reasoning adheres to formal rules of probability calculus and logic. Classical research with adults and older children collected a large amount of data both in favor and against human rationality, suggesting that reasoning abilities follow a slow maturation. Recent findings on infants’ probabilistic reasoning, including my own earlier research, however, do not support this view. Already preverbal infants seem to form expectations about probabilistic events in accordance with Bayesian rules of inference (Téglás et al, 2011). Here I argue for a similar paradigm change in a related domain, that of deductive reasoning.
In contrast to earlier accounts, I propose that even preverbal infants may possess a core set of logical operations that empower them with sophisticated inferential abilities. First, I focus on the representational precursors of this competence. I argue that infants recruit specific abilities to exploit the conceptual structure of specific event categories that enable them to form logical representations. Thus, information could be stored in a format that can potentially serve as input for subsequent inferences. Further, I will investigate infants’ core logical operations and test how they integrate multiple steps of inferences. This system - indispensable for integrating different bits of knowledge - helps infants to discover information that was not actually present in the input. Such investigations, informed also by adequate neuropsychological evidence would thus contribute to understand the unique nature of human rationality.
Summary
There is no other field that is more controversial in psychology than that of human reasoning. This project advances a novel theoretical framework focused on the nature and the origins of rationality and could potentially resolve some of these controversies. Theories targeting the mechanisms that allow rational inferences have defined rationality as a function of how much reasoning adheres to formal rules of probability calculus and logic. Classical research with adults and older children collected a large amount of data both in favor and against human rationality, suggesting that reasoning abilities follow a slow maturation. Recent findings on infants’ probabilistic reasoning, including my own earlier research, however, do not support this view. Already preverbal infants seem to form expectations about probabilistic events in accordance with Bayesian rules of inference (Téglás et al, 2011). Here I argue for a similar paradigm change in a related domain, that of deductive reasoning.
In contrast to earlier accounts, I propose that even preverbal infants may possess a core set of logical operations that empower them with sophisticated inferential abilities. First, I focus on the representational precursors of this competence. I argue that infants recruit specific abilities to exploit the conceptual structure of specific event categories that enable them to form logical representations. Thus, information could be stored in a format that can potentially serve as input for subsequent inferences. Further, I will investigate infants’ core logical operations and test how they integrate multiple steps of inferences. This system - indispensable for integrating different bits of knowledge - helps infants to discover information that was not actually present in the input. Such investigations, informed also by adequate neuropsychological evidence would thus contribute to understand the unique nature of human rationality.
Max ERC Funding
1 498 137 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-08-31
Project acronym PREMUS
Project Preservation and Efficacy of Music and Singing in Ageing, Aphasia, and Alzheimer’s Disease
Researcher (PI) Teppo SÄRKÄMÖ
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2018-STG
Summary For the human brain, music is a highly complex and versatile stimulus that is closely linked to speech, executive-motor, emotion, and memory networks. In severe ageing-related neurological disorders, such as post-stroke aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, music and singing may provide a valuable alternative route to verbal and emotional expression and to memory and self-awareness. However, the neural processes underlying this are still poorly understood. Moreover, although there is increasing evidence for the efficacy of musical activities in supporting normal neurocognitive ageing and enhancing neurological recovery, the focus has been on individual-level musical activities, overlooking the enormous social potential of music.
PREMUS will combine modern behavioural and neuroimaging methods in the unique context of cross-sectional and cohort studies and clinical trials to achieve both fundamental and applied research goals. The fundamental goal of PREMUS is to determine the neural basis of singing, music-evoked emotions and memories, and explicit and implicit musical learning (i) across normal ageing, (ii) in aphasia, and (iii) in different stages of AD. The applied goal of PREMUS is to uncover the rehabilitative potential of social musical activities by (iv) exploring the long-term efficacy of choir singing on neurocognitive, emotional, and social functioning in normal ageing and mild cognitive impairment and (v) determining the rehabilitative efficacy of a novel intervention that utilizes adapted choir singing, melodic intonation therapy, and computer-based singing training on verbal, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning in aphasia, together with uncovering the structural and functional neuroplasticity changes underlying the effects of the singing interventions. The outcome of PREMUS will have major scientific, clinical, and societal value as well as enormous practical impact on promoting healthy ageing, aphasia rehabilitation, and dementia care
Summary
For the human brain, music is a highly complex and versatile stimulus that is closely linked to speech, executive-motor, emotion, and memory networks. In severe ageing-related neurological disorders, such as post-stroke aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, music and singing may provide a valuable alternative route to verbal and emotional expression and to memory and self-awareness. However, the neural processes underlying this are still poorly understood. Moreover, although there is increasing evidence for the efficacy of musical activities in supporting normal neurocognitive ageing and enhancing neurological recovery, the focus has been on individual-level musical activities, overlooking the enormous social potential of music.
PREMUS will combine modern behavioural and neuroimaging methods in the unique context of cross-sectional and cohort studies and clinical trials to achieve both fundamental and applied research goals. The fundamental goal of PREMUS is to determine the neural basis of singing, music-evoked emotions and memories, and explicit and implicit musical learning (i) across normal ageing, (ii) in aphasia, and (iii) in different stages of AD. The applied goal of PREMUS is to uncover the rehabilitative potential of social musical activities by (iv) exploring the long-term efficacy of choir singing on neurocognitive, emotional, and social functioning in normal ageing and mild cognitive impairment and (v) determining the rehabilitative efficacy of a novel intervention that utilizes adapted choir singing, melodic intonation therapy, and computer-based singing training on verbal, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning in aphasia, together with uncovering the structural and functional neuroplasticity changes underlying the effects of the singing interventions. The outcome of PREMUS will have major scientific, clinical, and societal value as well as enormous practical impact on promoting healthy ageing, aphasia rehabilitation, and dementia care
Max ERC Funding
1 499 967 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym REPCOLLAB
Project Representational preconditions for understanding other minds in the service of human collaboration and social learning
Researcher (PI) Agnes Melinda Kovacs
Host Institution (HI) KOZEP-EUROPAI EGYETEM
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary The central aim of the proposed research project is to systematically explore the empirical implications of a novel theoretical approach to the early representational preconditions and the functional structure of the mechanisms dedicated for understanding other minds. We aim to explore and shed new theoretical light on the basic cognitive and brain mechanisms of the human social mind. One of these mechanisms that has received much attention by earlier approaches to ‘theory-of-mind’ research concerns the ability to infer and represent the mental states of others. Standard theories and research in the last twenty five years have suggested that representing other’s beliefs is an effortful and late developing capacity (Wellman et al., 2001) whose main function is to explain others’ behavior. Here we advance and propose to explore a new theoretical perspective according to which the mechanisms of mental state monitoring and representation involve primarily automatic and effortless processes grounded in on-line cooperative social interactions. Our approach is part of an on-going paradigm change in the field of theory-of-mind research motivated by the recent evidence showing that infants in their second year understand mental states (Onishi & Baillargeon, 2005). Our own research has gone a significant step further by demonstrating that these mechanisms are present as early as 7 month of age, and by showing that both young infants and adults seem to automatically compute others’ beliefs even in situations where they are not required to do so (Kovács et al., 2010). The present project explores the functional sub-components and triggering conditions of young infants’ powerful belief computation abilities and to chart their developmental unfolding. Furthermore, we shall explore the implications of the new theoretical proposal that this dedicated system presupposes as its proper domain the on-going collaborative and communicative interactions.
Summary
The central aim of the proposed research project is to systematically explore the empirical implications of a novel theoretical approach to the early representational preconditions and the functional structure of the mechanisms dedicated for understanding other minds. We aim to explore and shed new theoretical light on the basic cognitive and brain mechanisms of the human social mind. One of these mechanisms that has received much attention by earlier approaches to ‘theory-of-mind’ research concerns the ability to infer and represent the mental states of others. Standard theories and research in the last twenty five years have suggested that representing other’s beliefs is an effortful and late developing capacity (Wellman et al., 2001) whose main function is to explain others’ behavior. Here we advance and propose to explore a new theoretical perspective according to which the mechanisms of mental state monitoring and representation involve primarily automatic and effortless processes grounded in on-line cooperative social interactions. Our approach is part of an on-going paradigm change in the field of theory-of-mind research motivated by the recent evidence showing that infants in their second year understand mental states (Onishi & Baillargeon, 2005). Our own research has gone a significant step further by demonstrating that these mechanisms are present as early as 7 month of age, and by showing that both young infants and adults seem to automatically compute others’ beliefs even in situations where they are not required to do so (Kovács et al., 2010). The present project explores the functional sub-components and triggering conditions of young infants’ powerful belief computation abilities and to chart their developmental unfolding. Furthermore, we shall explore the implications of the new theoretical proposal that this dedicated system presupposes as its proper domain the on-going collaborative and communicative interactions.
Max ERC Funding
1 449 836 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-03-01, End date: 2018-08-31
Project acronym SOCIAL BRAIN
Project Fitting The World to Minds: Brain Basis of Sharing and Transmitting Representations of the Social World
Researcher (PI) Lauri Tapio Nummenmaa
Host Institution (HI) TURUN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2012-StG_20111124
Summary Understanding other peoples’ minds is one of the most fundamental human skills but also the most demanding challenge our brains pose every day: To understand each other, we need to share neural representations of the external world across brains. Studying how social information is represented similarly across individual brains and how it flows from brain to brain poses huge conceptual and technical challenges for neuroscientists, who have consequently resorted to experiments using simplistic and impoverished social stimuli. However, recent advances in brain signal analysis enable us to study the brain basis of social interaction under naturalistic settings with unparalleled accuracy. This neuroimaging project aims to bridge the gap between social psychology and cognitive neuroscience by building a comprehensive neurocognitive model of how individuals maintain and communicate shared neural representations of the dynamic social world. The framework relies on testing the assumption that similarities in sensory and higher-order processing across individuals can be quantified by measuring temporal synchronization of their brain activity. We use novel signal analysis methods, experimental techniques and rapid magnetic resonance image acquisition for testing i) whether selective synchronization of brain circuits during social interaction supports interpersonal understanding, ii) whether similarities in cognitive task sets across individuals are associated with increasingly synchronous brain activity, and iii) whether intense emotional experiences enhance synchronization of brain responses and flow of information from brain to brain. The results will significantly improve our understanding of the brain dynamics of social interaction, and the proposed naturalistic neuroscience approach and will potentially contribute to a significant paradigm shift in social and cognitive neuroscience.
Summary
Understanding other peoples’ minds is one of the most fundamental human skills but also the most demanding challenge our brains pose every day: To understand each other, we need to share neural representations of the external world across brains. Studying how social information is represented similarly across individual brains and how it flows from brain to brain poses huge conceptual and technical challenges for neuroscientists, who have consequently resorted to experiments using simplistic and impoverished social stimuli. However, recent advances in brain signal analysis enable us to study the brain basis of social interaction under naturalistic settings with unparalleled accuracy. This neuroimaging project aims to bridge the gap between social psychology and cognitive neuroscience by building a comprehensive neurocognitive model of how individuals maintain and communicate shared neural representations of the dynamic social world. The framework relies on testing the assumption that similarities in sensory and higher-order processing across individuals can be quantified by measuring temporal synchronization of their brain activity. We use novel signal analysis methods, experimental techniques and rapid magnetic resonance image acquisition for testing i) whether selective synchronization of brain circuits during social interaction supports interpersonal understanding, ii) whether similarities in cognitive task sets across individuals are associated with increasingly synchronous brain activity, and iii) whether intense emotional experiences enhance synchronization of brain responses and flow of information from brain to brain. The results will significantly improve our understanding of the brain dynamics of social interaction, and the proposed naturalistic neuroscience approach and will potentially contribute to a significant paradigm shift in social and cognitive neuroscience.
Max ERC Funding
1 280 479 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-04-01, End date: 2018-12-31
