%0 Journal Article %1 doi:10.1073/pnas.1612903113 %A Levy, Jonathan %A Goldstein, Abraham %A Influs, Moran %A Masalha, Shafiq %A Zagoory-Sharon, Orna %A Feldman, Ruth %D 2016 %J Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences %K apathy arab conflict discrimination empathy israel jewish neuroscience race %N 48 %P 13696-13701 %R 10.1073/pnas.1612903113 %T Adolescents growing up amidst intractable conflict attenuate brain response to pain of outgroup %U https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1612903113 %V 113 %X Intergroup conflicts are among the world’s most imminent problems, particularly with the shift of battlefields into the heart of civilian locations and the participation of increasingly younger adolescents in intergroup conflict. We found that Israeli and Palestinian adolescents reared in a climate of long-standing strife shut down the brain’s automatic response to outgroup pain. This neural modulation characterized a top-down process superimposed upon an automatic response to the pain of all and was sensitive to hostile behavior toward outgroup, uncompromising worldviews, and brain-to-brain synchrony among group members. Findings pinpoint adolescents’ sociocognitive top-down processes as targets for intervention. Adolescents’ participation in intergroup conflicts comprises an imminent global risk, and understanding its neural underpinnings may open new perspectives. We assessed Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Palestinian adolescents for brain response to the pain of ingroup/outgroup protagonists using magnetoencephalography (MEG), one-on-one positive and conflictual interactions with an outgroup member, attitudes toward the regional conflict, and oxytocin levels. A neural marker of ingroup bias emerged, expressed via alpha modulations in the somatosensory cortex (S1) that characterized an automatic response to the pain of all protagonists followed by rebound/enhancement to ingroup pain only. Adolescents’ hostile social interactions with outgroup members and uncompromising attitudes toward the conflict influenced this neural marker. Furthermore, higher oxytocin levels in the Jewish-Israeli majority and tighter brain-to-brain synchrony among group members in the Arab-Palestinian minority enhanced the neural ingroup bias. Findings suggest that in cases of intractable intergroup conflict, top-down control mechanisms may block the brain’s evolutionary-ancient resonance to outgroup pain, pinpointing adolescents’ interpersonal and sociocognitive processes as potential targets for intervention.

@article{doi:10.1073/pnas.1612903113, abstract = { Intergroup conflicts are among the world’s most imminent problems, particularly with the shift of battlefields into the heart of civilian locations and the participation of increasingly younger adolescents in intergroup conflict. We found that Israeli and Palestinian adolescents reared in a climate of long-standing strife shut down the brain’s automatic response to outgroup pain. This neural modulation characterized a top-down process superimposed upon an automatic response to the pain of all and was sensitive to hostile behavior toward outgroup, uncompromising worldviews, and brain-to-brain synchrony among group members. Findings pinpoint adolescents’ sociocognitive top-down processes as targets for intervention. Adolescents’ participation in intergroup conflicts comprises an imminent global risk, and understanding its neural underpinnings may open new perspectives. We assessed Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Palestinian adolescents for brain response to the pain of ingroup/outgroup protagonists using magnetoencephalography (MEG), one-on-one positive and conflictual interactions with an outgroup member, attitudes toward the regional conflict, and oxytocin levels. A neural marker of ingroup bias emerged, expressed via alpha modulations in the somatosensory cortex (S1) that characterized an automatic response to the pain of all protagonists followed by rebound/enhancement to ingroup pain only. Adolescents’ hostile social interactions with outgroup members and uncompromising attitudes toward the conflict influenced this neural marker. Furthermore, higher oxytocin levels in the Jewish-Israeli majority and tighter brain-to-brain synchrony among group members in the Arab-Palestinian minority enhanced the neural ingroup bias. Findings suggest that in cases of intractable intergroup conflict, top-down control mechanisms may block the brain’s evolutionary-ancient resonance to outgroup pain, pinpointing adolescents’ interpersonal and sociocognitive processes as potential targets for intervention. }, added-at = {2022-03-09T13:27:58.000+0100}, author = {Levy, Jonathan and Goldstein, Abraham and Influs, Moran and Masalha, Shafiq and Zagoory-Sharon, Orna and Feldman, Ruth}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/28173ee89f0a64614d47a005af56806d0/yish}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1612903113}, eprint = {https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1612903113}, interhash = {1bda6f4bee822fce35edd37780afc9e4}, intrahash = {8173ee89f0a64614d47a005af56806d0}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, keywords = {apathy arab conflict discrimination empathy israel jewish neuroscience race}, number = 48, pages = {13696-13701}, timestamp = {2022-03-09T13:27:58.000+0100}, title = {Adolescents growing up amidst intractable conflict attenuate brain response to pain of outgroup}, url = {https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1612903113}, volume = 113, year = 2016 }