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Röhr AK, Kohn N, Bergs R, Clemens B, Lampert A, Spehr M, Habel U, Wagels L. Increased anger and stress and heightened connectivity between IFG and vmPFC in victims during social interaction. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8471. [PMID: 38605132 PMCID: PMC11009292 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57585-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Self-identification as a victim of violence may lead to increased negative emotions and stress and thus, may change both structure and function of the underlying neural network(s). In a trans-diagnostic sample of individuals who identified themselves as victims of violence and a matched control group with no prior exposure to violence, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, the Cyberball task, to stimulate the re-experience of stress. Participants were partially excluded in the ball-tossing game without prior knowledge. We analyzed group differences in brain activity and functional connectivity during exclusion versus inclusion in exclusion-related regions. The victim group showed increased anger and stress levels during all conditions. Activation patterns during the task did not differ between groups but an enhanced functional connectivity between the IFG and the right vmPFC distinguished victims from controls during exclusion. This effect was driven by aberrant connectivity in victims during inclusion rather than exclusion, indicating that victimization affects emotional responses and inclusion-related brain connectivity rather than exclusion-related brain activity or connectivity. Victims may respond differently to the social context itself. Enhanced negative emotions and connectivity deviations during social inclusion may depict altered social processing and may thus affect social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Kristin Röhr
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Nils Kohn
- Donders Institute, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Rene Bergs
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Clemens
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany
| | - Angelika Lampert
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Uniklinik RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen - SCN Aachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Marc Spehr
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany
| | - Lisa Wagels
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany.
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A cross-modal component of alexithymia and its relationship with performance in a social cognition task battery. J Affect Disord 2022; 298:625-633. [PMID: 34763032 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The personality trait alexithymia describes an altered emotional awareness that is associated with a range of social impairments and constitutes a transdiagnostic risk factor for various psychopathologies. Despite the characteristic interoceptive deficits in alexithymia, it is predominantly assessed via self-reports. This can result in unreliable measurements and arguably contributes to the prevailing uncertainty regarding its components, including constricted imaginal processes and emotional reactivity. METHODS The current study employed an interview and two validated questionnaires to derive a shared component of multi-modally assessed alexithymia in a German non-clinical sample (n = 78) via prinicipal component analysis. This component was used as a predictor for performance in four behavioural social cognition tasks. The relative importance of this predictor against related variables was assessed via dominance analysis. RESULTS The identified component reflected cognitive alexithymia. Higher cognitive alexithymia scores were associated with less affective distress in an ostracizing task. Dominance analysis revealed the dominance of competing autism traits relative to cognitive alexithymia and competing predictors empathy, depression, and anxiety, in predicting affective distress. LIMITATIONS Emotional reactivity was only assessed via self-report and no implicit measures of alexithymia were employed. Due to the low reliability of the self-report measure, no measure of emotional reactivity could be included in the principal component analysis. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide compelling evidence that cognitive interoceptive deficits are at the core of alexithymia across assessment modalities. Behavioural data suggest that these deficits result in diminished emotional sensitivity to high-pressure social situations, which may cause a lack of behavioural adaptation.
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Radke S, Jankowiak K, Tops S, Abel T, Habel U, Derntl B. Neurobiobehavioral responses to virtual social rejection in females-exploring the influence of oxytocin. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:326-333. [PMID: 33326562 PMCID: PMC7943366 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Revised: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, especially adolescents and young adults interact frequently via social media and digital communication. Mimicking an online communication platform where participants could initiate short conversations with two computerized interlocutors, the Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task (VISTTA) was used to induce feelings of social rejection. Motivational and physiological reactions were investigated in 43 healthy young women undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), of which 22 received 24 international units (IU) intranasal oxytocin and 21 received placebo. Replicating previous findings, social rejection entailed a lower willingness to cooperate with the two peers. Increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral insula/inferior frontal gyrus was observed when receiving negative feedback from others, and in the precuneus when subsequently rating one's willingness to cooperate with them in the future. Oxytocin did not seem to alter responses to social rejection. The current findings provide validation of the VISTTA for examining consequences of rejection in a virtual social interaction that bears a strong resemblance to online communication platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina Radke
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH, Aachen 52074, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) – BRAIN Institute I: Brain Structure-Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Research Center Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Kathrin Jankowiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH, Aachen 52074, Germany
- Research Center for Bioelectromagnetic Interaction (femu) – Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Sanne Tops
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Ted Abel
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH, Aachen 52074, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) – BRAIN Institute I: Brain Structure-Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Research Center Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany
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Baqapuri HI, Roes LD, Zvyagintsev M, Ramadan S, Keller M, Roecher E, Zweerings J, Klasen M, Gur RC, Mathiak K. A Novel Brain-Computer Interface Virtual Environment for Neurofeedback During Functional MRI. Front Neurosci 2021; 14:593854. [PMID: 33505237 PMCID: PMC7830095 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.593854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Virtual environments (VEs), in the recent years, have become more prevalent in neuroscience. These VEs can offer great flexibility, replicability, and control over the presented stimuli in an immersive setting. With recent developments, it has become feasible to achieve higher-quality visuals and VEs at a reasonable investment. Our aim in this project was to develop and implement a novel real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI)-based neurofeedback (NF) training paradigm, taking into account new technological advances that allow us to integrate complex stimuli into a visually updated and engaging VE. We built upon and developed a first-person shooter in which the dynamic change of the VE was the feedback variable in the brain-computer interface (BCI). We designed a study to assess the feasibility of the BCI in creating an immersive VE for NF training. In a randomized single-blinded fMRI-based NF-training session, 24 participants were randomly allocated into one of two groups: active and reduced contingency NF. All participants completed three runs of the shooter-game VE lasting 10 min each. Brain activity in a supplementary motor area region of interest regulated the possible movement speed of the player's avatar and thus increased the reward probability. The gaming performance revealed that the participants were able to actively engage in game tasks and improve across sessions. All 24 participants reported being able to successfully employ NF strategies during the training while performing in-game tasks with significantly higher perceived NF control ratings in the NF group. Spectral analysis showed significant differential effects on brain activity between the groups. Connectivity analysis revealed significant differences, showing a lowered connectivity in the NF group compared to the reduced contingency-NF group. The self-assessment manikin ratings showed an increase in arousal in both groups but failed significance. Arousal has been linked to presence, or feelings of immersion, supporting the VE's objective. Long paradigms, such as NF in MRI settings, can lead to mental fatigue; therefore, VEs can help overcome such limitations. The rewarding achievements from gaming targets can lead to implicit learning of self-regulation and may broaden the scope of NF applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Halim I. Baqapuri
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Linda D. Roes
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Mikhail Zvyagintsev
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Souad Ramadan
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Micha Keller
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Erik Roecher
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Jana Zweerings
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Martin Klasen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ruben C. Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Klaus Mathiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
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Mwilambwe-Tshilobo L, Spreng RN. Social exclusion reliably engages the default network: A meta-analysis of Cyberball. Neuroimage 2020; 227:117666. [PMID: 33359341 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2020] [Revised: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Social exclusion refers to the experience of being disregarded or rejected by others and has wide-ranging negative consequences for well-being and cognition. Cyberball, a game where a ball is virtually tossed between players, then leads to the exclusion of the research participant, is a common method used to examine the experience of social exclusion. The neural correlates of social exclusion remain a topic of debate, particularly with regards to the role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the concept of social pain. Here we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) to identify brain activity reliably engaged by social exclusion during Cyberball task performance (Studies = 53; total N = 1,817 participants). Results revealed consistent recruitment in ventral anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate cortex, inferior and superior frontal gyri, posterior insula, and occipital pole. No reliable activity was observed in dACC. Using a probabilistic atlas to define dACC, fewer than 15% of studies reported peak coordinates in dACC. Meta-analytic connectivity mapping suggests patterns of co-activation are consistent with the topography of the default network. Reverse inference for cognition associated with reliable Cyberball activity computed in Neurosynth revealed social exclusion to be associated with cognitive terms Social, Autobiographical, Mental States, and Theory of Mind. Taken together, these findings highlight the role of the default network in social exclusion and warns against interpretations of the dACC as a key region involved in the experience of social exclusion in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - R Nathan Spreng
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada; McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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Arioli M, Basso G, Poggi P, Canessa N. Fronto-temporal brain activity and connectivity track implicit attention to positive and negative social words in a novel socio-emotional Stroop task. Neuroimage 2020; 226:117580. [PMID: 33221447 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous inconsistencies on the effects of implicitly processing positively - vs. negatively - connotated emotional words might reflect the influence of uncontrolled psycholinguistic dimensions, and/or social facets inherent in putative "emotional" stimuli. Based on the relevance of social features in semantic cognition, we developed a socio-emotional Stroop task to assess the influence of social vs. individual (non-social) emotional content, besides negative vs. positive valence, on implicit word processing. The effect of these variables was evaluated in terms of performance and RTs, alongside associated brain activity/connectivity. We matched conditions for several psycholinguistic variables, and assessed a modulation of brain activity/connectivity by trial-wise RT, to characterize the maximum of condition- and subject-specific variability. RTs were tracked by insular and anterior cingulate activations likely reflecting implicit attention to stimuli, interfering with task-performance based on condition-specific processing of their subjective salience. Slower performance for negative than neutral/positive words was tracked by left-hemispheric structures processing negative stimuli and emotions, such as fronto-insular cortex, while the lack of specific activations for positively-connotated words supported their marginal facilitatory effect. The speeding/slowing effects of processing positive/negative individual emotional stimuli were enhanced by social words, reflecting in specific activations of the right anterior temporal and orbitofrontal cortex, respectively. RTs to social positive and negative words modulated connectivity from these regions to fronto-striatal and sensorimotor structures, respectively, likely promoting approach vs. avoidance dispositions shaping their facilitatory vs. inhibitory effect. These results might help assessing the neural correlates of impaired social cognition and emotional regulation, and the effects of rehabilitative interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Arioli
- NEtS center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia 27100, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Gianpaolo Basso
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia 27100, Italy; University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italy
| | - Paolo Poggi
- Radiology Unit, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Nicola Canessa
- NEtS center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia 27100, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia 27100, Italy.
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Meneguzzo P, Collantoni E, Bonello E, Busetto P, Tenconi E, Favaro A. The predictive value of the early maladaptive schemas in social situations in anorexia nervosa. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2020; 28:318-331. [PMID: 31999048 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) show an impairment in the recognition and expression of emotions, as well as an increased sensitivity to being socially excluded, and rigid maladaptive schemas. The Cyberball paradigm is a virtual ball-toss game that can simulate social exclusion and inclusion. Our aim is to evaluate how cognitive schemas can influence the perception and the evaluation of the experiences of social inclusion/exclusion. METHODS Thirty-two AN patients and 34 healthy controls completed a psychological evaluation and were randomly assigned to exclusion or overinclusion paradigm of the Cyberball task. RESULTS Patients with AN showed a significantly higher level of maladaptive schemas as well as higher sensitivity to being ostracized by peers in comparison with healthy controls. Regression analyses identified specific significant relation between being ostracized and dependence/incompetence, negativity/pessimism, and self-sacrifice. DISCUSSION Our findings provide evidence that patients with AN may be ineffective in expressing their mood in exclusive and overinclusive social situations. Specific cognitive/temperamental schemas might play a role in the way people communicate their feelings, and they could be considered targets for psychotherapy interventions to improve social interpretation and emotional recognition/communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Meneguzzo
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Elisa Bonello
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Busetto
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Tenconi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Angela Favaro
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Tops S, Habel U, Abel T, Derntl B, Radke S. The Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task: A New Paradigm Investigating the Effects of Social Rejection in Men and Women. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:830. [PMID: 31440131 PMCID: PMC6692967 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, digital communication and social media have taken an indispensable role in human society. Social interactions are no longer bound to real-life encounters, but more often happen from behind a screen. Mimicking an online communication platform, we developed a new, fMRI compatible, social threat paradigm to investigate sex differences in reactions to social rejection. During the Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task (VISTTA), participants initiate 30 short conversations by selecting one of four predefined opening sentences. Two computerized interlocutors respond to the opening sentence mostly with negative comments and rejections toward the participant, which should induce social-evaluative threat. Physiological and subjective responses were measured, before, during, and after the VISTTA in 61 (29 male and 32 female) first year students who received either mostly negative (n = 31; threat group) or neutral comments (n = 30; control group). Two-level behavioral validation included social threat-induced mood changes in participants, and interlocutor evaluation. The latter consisted of multiple variables such as "willingness to cooperate" after every conversation, an overall fairness evaluation of interlocutors, and evaluations per reaction indicating how positive or negative it was received. We acquired additional physiological measures including cortisol assays via saliva samples, heart rate, and blood pressure. Confirming our hypotheses, peer rejection and exclusion during the VISTTA led to less willingness to cooperate and lower fairness evaluation of interlocutors. It also induced feelings of anger and surprise and lower happiness in the social-threat group. Women showed overall higher emotion ratings compared to men. Contrary to our a priori hypothesis, the VISTTA did not induce cortisol and heart rate increases. However, the stable cortisol response in women in the threat group does not follow the circadian decline and might reflect an endocrinological response. The decline in cortisol response in men in both the threat and control group could indicate faster habituation to the VISTTA. Taken together, these findings indicate effects of social-evaluative threat on a behavioral level, and more moderate effects on the emotional and physiological level. Sex differences in affective and cortisol responses may indicate that women are more susceptible for the social-evaluative threat than men. With a realistic implementation of verbal, interactive, and social components, the VISTTA is designed as an fMRI paradigm that can be applied to elucidate the neural representation of social-evaluative threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne Tops
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance – BRAIN Institute I: Brain Structure–Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Research Center Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ted Abel
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sina Radke
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance – BRAIN Institute I: Brain Structure–Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Research Center Jülich GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
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Radke S, Seidel EM, Boubela RN, Thaler H, Metzler H, Kryspin-Exner I, Moser E, Habel U, Derntl B. Immediate and delayed neuroendocrine responses to social exclusion in males and females. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; 93:56-64. [PMID: 29702443 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Social exclusion is a complex phenomenon, with wide-ranging immediate and delayed effects on well-being, hormone levels, brain activation and motivational behavior. Building upon previous work, the current fMRI study investigated affective, endocrine and neural responses to social exclusion in a more naturalistic Cyberball task in 40 males and 40 females. As expected, social exclusion elicited well-documented affective and neural responses, i.e., increased anger and distress, as well as increased exclusion-related activation of the anterior insula, the posterior-medial frontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cortisol and testosterone decreased over the course of the experiment, whereas progesterone showed no changes. Hormone levels were not correlated with subjective affect, but they were related to exclusion-induced neural responses. Exclusion-related activation in frontal areas was associated with decreases in cortisol and increases in testosterone until recovery. Given that results were largely independent of sex, the current findings have important implications regarding between-sex vs. within-sex variations and the conceptualization of state vs. trait neuroendocrine functions in social neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Radke
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - BRAIN Institute 1, Brain Structure-Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
| | - E M Seidel
- Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - R N Boubela
- MR Centre of Excellence, Medical University of Vienna, Lazarettgasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - H Thaler
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstraße 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany
| | - H Metzler
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Laboratoire de neurosciences cognitives, Département d'études cognitives, École normale supérieure, INSERM, PSL Research University, 29 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - I Kryspin-Exner
- Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - E Moser
- MR Centre of Excellence, Medical University of Vienna, Lazarettgasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - U Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - BRAIN Institute 1, Brain Structure-Function Relationships: Decoding the Human Brain at Systemic Levels, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - B Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; LEAD Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Gartenstr. 29, 72074 Tübingen,Germany
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10
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Malejko K, Neff D, Brown R, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Abler B, Graf H. Neural Correlates of Social Inclusion in Borderline Personality Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2018; 9:653. [PMID: 30559687 PMCID: PMC6287007 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans engage in social interactions and have a fundamental need and motivation to establish and maintain social connections. Neuroimaging studies particularly focused on the neural substrates of social exclusion in healthy subjects (HC), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and major depression (MD). However, there is evidence regarding neural alterations also during social inclusion in BPD that we intended to elucidate in our study. Considering that patients with BPD often have comorbid MD, we investigated patients with BPD, and comorbid MD, patients with MD without BPD, and a sample of HC. By investigating these two clinical samples within one study design, we attempted to disentangle potential confounds arising by psychiatric disorder or medication and to relate neural alterations under social inclusion specifically to BPD. We investigated 48 females (15 BPD and MD, 16 MD, and 17 HC) aged between 18 and 40 years by fMRI (3T), using the established cyberball paradigm with social exclusion, inclusion, and passive watching conditions. Significant group-by-condition interaction effects (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected on cluster level) were observed within the dorsolateral (dlPFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and the precuneus. Comparisons of estimated neural activations revealed that significant interaction effects were related to a relative increase in neural activations during social inclusion in BPD. In detail, we observed a significant increase in differential (social inclusion vs. passive watching) neural activation within the dmPFC and the PCC in BPD compared to both, MD and HC. However, significant interaction effects within the dlPFC and the TPJ could not specifically be linked to BPD considering that they did not differ significantly between the two clinical groups in post-hoc comparisons. Our study supports previous results on effects of social and inclusion in BPD, and provides further evidence regarding disorder specific neural alterations in BPD for brain regions associated with self-referential and mentalizing processes during social inclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathrin Malejko
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Dominik Neff
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Rebecca Brown
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Paul L Plener
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Martina Bonenberger
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Birgit Abler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Heiko Graf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
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11
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Kiat JE, Cheadle JE, Goosby BJ. The impact of social exclusion on anticipatory attentional processing. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 123:48-57. [PMID: 29154954 PMCID: PMC10859167 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2017] [Revised: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The importance of understanding how we anticipate and prepare for social rejection is underscored by the mental and physical toll of continual social vigilance. In this study, we investigate the impact of social rejection on anticipatory attentional processes using the well-known Cyberball task, a paradigm in which participants engage in a game of catch with virtual avatars who after an initial period of fair-play (inclusion condition) then exclude the participant from the game (exclusion condition). The degree of anticipatory attention allocated by subjects towards the avatars was assessed by measuring P3b responses towards the avatars' preparatory actions (i.e. the phase preceding their exclusionary actions) using high density EEG. The results of the study show that relative to the inclusion, participants exhibit elevated levels of anticipatory attentional allocation towards the avatars during the exclusion block. This shift was however significantly moderated by participants' self-reported cognitive regulation tendencies. Participants with higher levels of self-reported cognitive reappraisal tendencies showed larger anticipatory P3b increases from the inclusion to exclusion block relative to participants with reduced levels of reappraisal tendencies. These results highlight the impact of social exclusion on anticipatory neural processing and the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal on these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- John E Kiat
- 238 Burnett Hall, Department of Psychology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, USA.
| | - Jacob E Cheadle
- 737 Oldfather Hall, Department of Sociology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
| | - Bridget J Goosby
- 741 Oldfather Hall, Department of Sociology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
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12
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Murray-Close D, Holterman LA, Breslend NL, Sullivan A. Psychophysiology of proactive and reactive relational aggression. Biol Psychol 2017; 130:77-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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13
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Vasavada MM, Martinez B, Wang J, Eslinger PJ, Gill DJ, Sun X, Karunanayaka P, Yang QX. Central Olfactory Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Functional MRI Study. J Alzheimers Dis 2017; 59:359-368. [DOI: 10.3233/jad-170310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Megha M. Vasavada
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Brittany Martinez
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Jianli Wang
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Paul J. Eslinger
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
- Departments of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
- Departments of Neural & Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - David J. Gill
- Unity Rehabilitation and Neurology at Ridgeway, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Xiaoyu Sun
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Prasanna Karunanayaka
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Qing X. Yang
- Departments of Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
- Departments of Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
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14
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Clemens B, Wagels L, Bauchmüller M, Bergs R, Habel U, Kohn N. Alerted default mode: functional connectivity changes in the aftermath of social stress. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40180. [PMID: 28054651 PMCID: PMC5215522 DOI: 10.1038/srep40180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress affects the brain at a network level: the salience network is supposedly upregulated, while at the same time the executive control network is downregulated. While theoretically described, the effects in the aftermath of stress have thus far not been tested empirically. Here, we compared for the first time resting-state functional connectivity in a large sample of healthy volunteers before and after a mild social stressor. Following the theoretical prediction, we focused on connectivity of the salience network (SN), the executive control network (ECN) and the default mode network (DMN). The DMN exhibited increased resting-state functional connectivity following the cyberball task to the key nodes of the SN, namely the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula, as well as sensorimotor regions and higher-order visual areas. We conclude that this increased connectivity of the DMN with key nodes of the SN and regions responsible for preparatory motor activity and visual motion processing indicates a shift towards an ‘alerted default mode’ in the aftermath of stress. This brain response may be triggered or aggravated by (social) stress induced by the cyberball task, enabling individuals to better reorient attention, detect salient external stimuli, and deal with the emotional and affective consequences of stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Clemens
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Lisa Wagels
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Magdalena Bauchmüller
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Rene Bergs
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany.,Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Computational and Systems Neuroscience (INM-6), Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Nils Kohn
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,Radboudumc, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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