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Achterberg M, van Duijvenvoorde ACK, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Crone EA. Control your anger! The neural basis of aggression regulation in response to negative social feedback. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11:712-20. [PMID: 26755768 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2015] [Accepted: 12/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Negative social feedback often generates aggressive feelings and behavior. Prior studies have investigated the neural basis of negative social feedback, but the underlying neural mechanisms of aggression regulation following negative social feedback remain largely undiscovered. In the current study, participants viewed pictures of peers with feedback (positive, neutral or negative) to the participant's personal profile. Next, participants responded to the peer feedback by pressing a button, thereby producing a loud noise toward the peer, as an index of aggression. Behavioral analyses showed that negative feedback led to more aggression (longer noise blasts). Conjunction neuroimaging analyses revealed that both positive and negative feedback were associated with increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and bilateral insula. In addition, more activation in the right dorsal lateral PFC (dlPFC) during negative feedback vs neutral feedback was associated with shorter noise blasts in response to negative social feedback, suggesting a potential role of dlPFC in aggression regulation, or top-down control over affective impulsive actions. This study demonstrates a role of the dlPFC in the regulation of aggressive social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Achterberg
- Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, and
| | - Anna C K van Duijvenvoorde
- Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, and
| | - Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg
- Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, and Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Eveline A Crone
- Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, and
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Hughes BL, Zaki J. The neuroscience of motivated cognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2015; 19:62-4. [PMID: 25640642 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2014] [Revised: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 12/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Goals and needs shape individuals' thinking, a phenomenon known as motivated cognition. We highlight research from social psychology and cognitive neuroscience that provides insight into the structure of motivated cognition. In addition to demonstrating its ubiquity, we suggest that motivated cognition is often effortless and pervades information processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brent L Hughes
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Jamil Zaki
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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Hoefler A, Athenstaedt U, Corcoran K, Ebner F, Ischebeck A. Coping with Self-Threat and the Evaluation of Self-Related Traits: An fMRI Study. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136027. [PMID: 26333130 PMCID: PMC4558049 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A positive view of oneself is important for a healthy lifestyle. Self-protection mechanisms such as suppressing negative self-related information help us to maintain a positive view of ourselves. This is of special relevance when, for instance, a negative test result threatens our positive self-view. To date, it is not clear which brain areas support self-protective mechanisms under self-threat. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study the participants (N = 46) received a (negative vs. positive) performance test feedback before entering the scanner. In the scanner, the participants were instructed to ascribe personality traits either to themselves or to a famous other. Our results showed that participants responded slower to negative self-related traits compared to positive self-related traits. High self-esteem individuals responded slower to negative traits compared to low self-esteem individuals following a self-threat. This indicates that high self-esteem individuals engage more in self-enhancing strategies after a threat by inhibiting negative self-related information more successfully than low self-esteem individuals. This behavioral pattern was mirrored in the fMRI data as dACC correlated positively with trait self-esteem. Generally, ACC activation was attenuated under threat when participants evaluated self-relevant traits and even more for negative self-related traits. We also found that activation in the ACC was negatively correlated with response times, indicating that greater activation of the ACC is linked to better access (faster response) to positive self-related traits and to impaired access (slower response) to negative self-related traits. These results confirm the ACC function as important in managing threatened self-worth but indicate differences in trait self-esteem levels. The fMRI analyses also revealed a decrease in activation within the left Hippocampus and the right thalamus under threat. This indicates that a down-regulation of activation in these regions might also serve as coping mechanism in dealing with self-threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Hoefler
- Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Katja Corcoran
- Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Franz Ebner
- Department of Neuroradiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Anja Ischebeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Neurosciences, BioTechMed Graz, Graz, Austria
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Abstract
Whenever we interact with others, we judge them and whenever we make such judgments, we compare them with ourselves, other people, or internalized standards. Countless social psychological experiments have shown that comparative thinking plays a ubiquitous role in person perception and social cognition as a whole. The topic of social comparison has recently aroused the interest of social neuroscientists, who have begun to investigate its neural underpinnings. The present article provides an overview of these neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies. We discuss recent findings on the consequences of social comparison on the brain processing of outcomes and highlight the role of the brain’s reward system. Moreover, we analyze the relationship between the brain networks involved in social comparisons and those active during other forms of cognitive and perceptual comparison. Finally, we discuss potential future questions that research on the neural correlates of social comparison could address.
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Jarcho JM, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Nelson EE, Engel SG, Vannucci A, Field SE, Romer AL, Hannallah L, Brady SM, Demidowich AP, Shomaker LB, Courville AB, Pine DS, Yanovski JA. Neural activation during anticipated peer evaluation and laboratory meal intake in overweight girls with and without loss of control eating. Neuroimage 2015; 108:343-53. [PMID: 25550068 PMCID: PMC4323624 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.12.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2014] [Revised: 12/15/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The interpersonal model of loss of control (LOC) eating proposes that socially distressing situations lead to anxious states that trigger excessive food consumption. Self-reports support these links, but the neurobiological underpinnings of these relationships remain unclear. We therefore examined brain regions associated with anxiety in relation to LOC eating and energy intake in the laboratory. Twenty-two overweight and obese (BMIz: 1.9±0.4) adolescent (15.8±1.6y) girls with LOC eating (LOC+, n=10) and without LOC eating (LOC-, n=12) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a simulated peer interaction chatroom paradigm. Immediately after the fMRI scan, girls consumed lunch ad libitum from a 10,934-kcal laboratory buffet meal with the instruction to "let yourself go and eat as much as you want." Pre-specified hypotheses regarding activation of five regions of interest were tested. Analysis of fMRI data revealed a significant group by peer feedback interaction in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), such that LOC+ had less activity following peer rejection (vs. acceptance), while LOC- had increased activity (p<.005). Moreover, functional coupling between vmPFC and striatum for peer rejection (vs. acceptance) interacted with LOC status: coupling was positive for LOC+, but negative in LOC- (p<.005). Activity of fusiform face area (FFA) during negative peer feedback from high-value peers also interacted with LOC status (p<.005). A positive association between FFA activation and intake during the meal was observed among only those with LOC eating. In conclusion, overweight and obese girls with LOC eating may be distinguished by a failure to engage regions of prefrontal cortex implicated in emotion regulation in response to social distress. The relationship between FFA activation and food intake supports the notion that heightened sensitivity to incoming interpersonal cues and perturbations in socio-emotional neural circuits may lead to overeating in order to cope with negative affect elicited by social discomfort in susceptible youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna M Jarcho
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 15K, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Marian Tanofsky-Kraff
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Eric E Nelson
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 15K, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Scott G Engel
- Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 700 1st Ave S, Fargo, ND 58103, USA
| | - Anna Vannucci
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Sara E Field
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Adrienne L Romer
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 15K, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Louise Hannallah
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Sheila M Brady
- Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Andrew P Demidowich
- Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Lauren B Shomaker
- Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Amber B Courville
- Nutrition Department, Clinical Center, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 15K, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jack A Yanovski
- Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Kim K, Johnson MK. Distinct neural networks support the mere ownership effect under different motivational contexts. Soc Neurosci 2015; 10:376-90. [PMID: 25575018 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2014.999870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The "mere ownership effect" refers to individuals' tendency to evaluate objects they own more favorably than comparable objects they do not own. There are numerous behavioral demonstrations of the mere ownership effect, but the neural mechanisms underlying the expression of this self-positivity bias during the evaluation of self-associated objects have not been identified. The present study aimed to identify the neurobiological expression of the mere ownership effect and to assess the potential influence of motivational context. During fMRI scanning, participants made evaluations of objects after ownership had been assigned under the presence or absence of self-esteem threat. In the absence of threat, the mere ownership effect was associated with brain regions implicated in processing personal/affective significance and valence (ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vMPFC], ventral anterior cingulate cortex [vACC], and medial orbitofrontal cortex [mOFC]). In contrast, in the presence of threat, the mere ownership effect was associated with brain regions implicated in selective/inhibitory cognitive control processes (inferior frontal gyrus [IFG], middle frontal gyrus [MFG], and lateral orbitofrontal cortex [lOFC]). These findings indicate that depending on motivational context, different neural mechanisms (and thus likely different psychological processes) support the behavioral expression of self-positivity bias directed toward objects that are associated with the self.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyungmi Kim
- a Department of Psychology , Yale University , New Haven , CT 06520-8205 , USA
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57
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On the Panculturality of Self-enhancement and Self-protection Motivation. ADVANCES IN MOTIVATION SCIENCE 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.adms.2015.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Beer JS. Exaggerated Positivity in Self-Evaluation: A Social Neuroscience Approach to Reconciling the Role of Self-esteem Protection and Cognitive Bias. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Lindner M, Rudorf S, Birg R, Falk A, Weber B, Fliessbach K. Neural patterns underlying social comparisons of personal performance. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 10:569-76. [PMID: 24948156 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2013] [Accepted: 06/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans often evaluate their abilities by comparing their personal performance with that of others. For this process, it is critical whether the comparison turns out in one's favor or against it. Here, we investigate how social comparisons of performance are encoded and integrated on the neural level. We collected functional magnetic resonance images while subjects answered questions in a knowledge quiz that was related to their profession. After each question, subjects received a feedback about their personal performance, followed by a feedback about the performance of a reference group who had been quizzed beforehand. Based on the subjects' personal performance, we divided trials in downward and upward comparisons. We found that upward comparisons correlated with activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula. Downward comparisons were associated with increased activation in the ventral striatum (VS), the medial orbitofrontal cortex and the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The extent to which subjects outperformed the reference group modulated the activity in the VS and in the dorsal ACC. We suggest that the co-activation of the VS and the dorsal ACC contributes to the integration of downward comparisons into the evaluation of personal performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Lindner
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Sarah Rudorf
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Robert Birg
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Armin Falk
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Bernd Weber
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Klaus Fliessbach
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Nachtigallenweg 86, 53127 Bonn, Germany, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, United Kingdom, Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Life&Brain Center, Department of NeuroCognition, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany
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Eryilmaz H, Van De Ville D, Schwartz S, Vuilleumier P. Lasting impact of regret and gratification on resting brain activity and its relation to depressive traits. J Neurosci 2014; 34:7825-35. [PMID: 24899706 PMCID: PMC6608263 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0065-14.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2014] [Revised: 04/07/2014] [Accepted: 04/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Obtaining lower gains than rejected alternatives during decision making evokes feelings of regret, whereas higher gains elicit gratification. Although decision-related emotions produce lingering effects on mental state, neuroscience research has generally focused on transient brain responses to positive or negative events, but ignored more sustained consequences of emotional episodes on subsequent brain states. We investigated how spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity at rest are modulated by postdecision regret and gratification in 18 healthy human subjects using a gambling task in fMRI. Differences between obtained and unobtained outcomes were manipulated parametrically to evoke different levels of regret or gratification. We investigated how individual personality traits related to depression and rumination affected these responses. Medial and ventral prefrontal areas differentially responded to favorable and unfavorable outcomes during the gambling period. More critically, during subsequent rest, rostral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and insula showed parametric response to the gratification level of preceding outcomes. Functional coupling of posterior cingulate with striatum and amygdala was also enhanced during rest after high gratification. Regret produced distinct changes in connectivity of subgenual cingulate with orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. Interestingly, individual differences in depressive traits and ruminations correlated with activity of the striatum after gratification and orbitofrontal cortex after regret, respectively. By revealing lingering effects of decision-related emotions on key nodes of resting state networks, our findings illuminate how such emotions may influence self-reflective processing and subsequent behavioral adjustment, but also highlight the malleability of resting networks in emotional contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamdi Eryilmaz
- Laboratory of Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School of Geneva, and Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland,
| | - Dimitri Van De Ville
- Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, and
| | - Sophie Schwartz
- Laboratory of Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School of Geneva, and Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Laboratory of Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School of Geneva, and Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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61
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Chavez RS, Heatherton TF. Multimodal frontostriatal connectivity underlies individual differences in self-esteem. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 10:364-70. [PMID: 24795440 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A heightened sense of self-esteem is associated with a reduced risk for several types of affective and psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and eating disorders. However, little is known about how brain systems integrate self-referential processing and positive evaluation to give rise to these feelings. To address this, we combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test how frontostriatal connectivity reflects long-term trait and short-term state aspects of self-esteem. Using DTI, we found individual variability in white matter structural integrity between the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum was related to trait measures of self-esteem, reflecting long-term stability of self-esteem maintenance. Using fMRI, we found that functional connectivity of these regions during positive self-evaluation was related to current feelings of self-esteem, reflecting short-term state self-esteem. These results provide convergent anatomical and functional evidence that self-esteem is related to the connectivity of frontostriatal circuits and suggest that feelings of self-worth may emerge from neural systems integrating information about the self with positive affect and reward. This information could potentially inform the etiology of diminished self-esteem underlying multiple psychiatric conditions and inform future studies of evaluative self-referential processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert S Chavez
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Todd F Heatherton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
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62
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Leitner JB, Hehman E, Jones JM, Forbes CE. Self-enhancement influences medial frontal cortex alpha power to social rejection feedback. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 26:2330-41. [PMID: 24738770 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Although previous research has demonstrated that individuals are motivated to self-enhance, the neurocognitive mechanisms and temporal dynamics of self-enhancement are poorly understood. The current research examined whether self-enhancing motivations affect the perceptual processing of social feedback. Participants who varied in self-enhancement motivations received accept and reject feedback while EEG was recorded. Following this task, we measured perceptions of feedback by asking participants to estimate the number of times they were rejected. Source localization and time-frequency analyses revealed that alpha power in the medial frontal cortex (MFC) completely mediated the relationship between self-enhancement motivations and rejection estimates. Specifically, greater self-enhancement motivations predicted decreased MFC alpha power to reject compared to accept feedback, which predicted decreased rejection estimates. These findings suggest that self-enhancement motivations decrease perception of social rejection by influencing how the MFC processes social feedback.
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Luo YLL, Cai H, Song H. A behavioral genetic study of intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of narcissism. PLoS One 2014; 9:e93403. [PMID: 24695616 PMCID: PMC3973692 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Accepted: 03/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Narcissism, characterized by grandiose self-image and entitled feelings to others, has been increasingly prevalent in the past decades. This study examined genetic and environmental bases of two dimensions of narcissism: intrapersonal grandiosity and interpersonal entitlement. A total of 304 pairs of twins from Beijing, China completed the Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale and the Psychological Entitlement Scale. Both grandiosity (23%) and entitlement (35%) were found to be moderately heritable, while simultaneously showing considerable non-shared environmental influences. Moreover, the genetic and environmental influences on the two dimensions were mostly unique (92–93%), with few genetic and environmental effects in common (7–8%). The two dimensions of narcissism, intrapersonal grandiosity and interpersonal entitlement, are heritable and largely independent of each other in terms of their genetic and environmental sources. These findings extend our understanding of the heritability of narcissism on the one hand. On the other hand, the study demonstrates the rationale for distinguishing between intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of narcissism, and possibly personality in general as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu L. L. Luo
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huajian Cai
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Hairong Song
- Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
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Flagan T, Beer JS. Three ways in which midline regions contribute to self-evaluation. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:450. [PMID: 23935580 PMCID: PMC3731671 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2013] [Accepted: 07/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An integration of existing research and newly conducted psychophysiological interaction (PPI) connectivity analyses suggest a new framework for understanding the contribution of midline regions to social cognition. Recent meta-analyses suggest that there are no midline regions that are exclusively associated with self-processing. Whereas medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is broadly modulated by self-processing, subdivisions within MPFC are differentially modulated by the evaluation of close others (ventral MPFC: BA 10/32) and the evaluation of other social targets (dorsal MPFC: BA 9/32). The role of DMPFC in social cognition may also be less uniquely social than previously thought; it may be better characterized as a region that indexes certainty about evaluation rather than previously considered social mechanisms (i.e., correction of self-projection). VMPFC, a region often described as an important mediator of socioemotional significance, may instead perform a more cognitive role by reflecting the type of information brought to bear on evaluations of people we know well. Furthermore, the new framework moves beyond MPFC and hypothesizes that two other midline regions, ventral anterior cingulate cortex (VACC: BA 25) and medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC: BA 11), aid motivational influences on social cognition. Despite the central role of motivation in psychological models of self-perception, neural models have largely ignored the topic. Positive connectivity between VACC and MOFC may mediate bottom-up sensitivity to information based on its potential for helping us evaluate ourselves or others the way we want. As connectivity becomes more positive with striatum and less positive with middle frontal gyrus (BA 9/44), MOFC mediates top-down motivational influences by adjusting the standards we bring to bear on evaluations of ourselves and other people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taru Flagan
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX , USA
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