Nouvelles normalités Nouvelles pathologies Nouvelles ... - Psynem

6° 6éme Congresso Congrès Européen Europeo de di Psicopatologia Psychopathologie dell’Infanzia de l’Enfance e et dell’Adolescenza
de l’Adolescence
Nuove Nouvelles normalità normalités Nuove Nouvelles patologie pathologies Nuove pratiche Nouvelles pratiques
THURSDAY, May 5 WORKSHOPS
Workshop 3 Neurosciences and psychopatology
EARLY SOCIAL EXPERIENCES IN HUMAN AND NON HUMAN PRIMATES: EFFECTS ON
NEUROBEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENTIONS
Nathan A. Fox (1) , Pier F. Ferrari (2)
(1) Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, (Maryland - US).
(2) Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, and Dipartimento di Biologia Evolutiva e Funzionale, Università di Parma, (Parma - IT)
Early seminal studies in human and nonhuman
primates reported that lack of adequate care in
the first years of life might lead to several social
and cognitive impairments, and disorganized
behaviors.
However, what still remains to be clarified are
which neural substrates are more sensitive to
these experiences and how early interventions
could mitigate these effects. Recently, we designed
a study to examine early signs of infant
social-cognitive competence in rhesus macaques
and to investigate the effects of early
social experiences on behavioural-cognitive and
brain development.
We were interested in detecting early markers
of the mirror neurons system (MNs) by means of
electroencephalography. The MN system is
suggested to be involved in the recognition of
others actions, empathy and imitation. Although
still debated, it is known that the impairment of
this system is linked with neurodevelopmental
impairments, especially in the social domain. In
a series of studies in newborn macaques we
were able to detect with the EEG a brain rhythm
(i. e. mu-rhythm a desynchronization within the
alpha frequency band) when infants observed
and imitated facial gestures. This desynchronization
likely reflects the activation of the sensorimotor
cortex, an indirect signature of the MNS.
Thus, this finding suggests that a MNS operates
at birth and could be at the basis of neonatal
imitative phenomena. We also compared EEG
signals in mother-reared versus nursery-reared
infant macaques and then we followed their
developmental trajectories in terms of imitation
and other social-cognitive skills.
Results showed that nursery-reared imitate
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several facial gestures, while mother-reared infants
imitate only the facial gestures more familiar
to them (i. e. lipsmacking, a typical macaque
affiliative gesture) and to which they were very
likely exposed. EEG data are still in a preliminary
phase of analysis.
We also found high interindividual variability
between nursery-reared macaques. In fact those
individuals that are better imitators display more
developed skills in the motor control of the hand
and the arm in the first month of life. Important
differences also emerged later on in infancy
when social behaviors are considered within
their group. Thus, EEG data and behavioural
studies in nonhuman primates might represent
an important model to investigate early neurobehavioral
markers to predict possible social
impairment later in life.
In the second part of the talk we present data
from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project,
which is the first randomized clinical trial of a
family type intervention for human infants and
young children who have been abandoned at
birth and who are institutionalized.
The study assessed 136 children while they
were living in six institutions in Bucharest Romania
and selected half to be taken out of the
institution and placed into a family situation/
foster care. The other half remained in the institution.
Both groups of children and a group of
community typically developing age matched
children from Bucharest were followed up when
they were 30,43, 54 and 96 months of age.
At onset of the study the brain electrical activity
(EEG) of institutionalized children was significantly
lower in amplitude in the alpha and beta
frequencies and higher in theta compared to