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Free keywords:
Social interaction, development, joint attention, familiarity, temporoparietal junction
Abstract:
Joint attention, the shared attentional focus of at least two people on
a third significant object, is one of the earliest steps in social
development and an essential aspect of reciprocal interaction. However,
the neural basis of joint attention (JA) in the course of development is
completely unknown. The present study made use of an interactive
eye-tracking paradigm in order to examine the developmental trajectories
of JA and the influence of a familiar interaction partner during the
social encounter. Our results show that across children and adolescents
JA elicits a similar network of "social brain" areas as well as
attention and motor control associated areas as in adults. While
other-initiated JA particularly recruited visual, attention and social
processing areas, self-initiated JA specifically activated areas related
to social cognition, decision-making, emotions and motivational/reward
processes highlighting the rewarding character of self-initiated JA.
Activation was further enhanced during self-initiated JA with a familiar
interaction partner. With respect to developmental effects, activation
of the precuneus declined from childhood to adolescence and additionally
shifted from a general involvement in JA towards a more specific
involvement for self-initiated JA. Similarly, the temporoparietal
junction (TPJ) was broadly involved in JA in children and more
specialized for self-initiated JA in adolescents. Taken together, this
study provides first-time data on the developmental trajectories of JA
and the effect of a familiar interaction partner incorporating the
interactive character of JA, its reciprocity and motivational aspects.
(C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
