The past, present and future of social neuroscience: A European perspective

Risk factors for internalizing symptoms: The influence of empathy, theory of mind, and negative thinking processes

Internalizing symptoms such as elevated stress and sustained negative affect can be important warning signs for developing mental disorders. A recent theoretical framework suggests a complex interplay of empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and negative thinking processes as a crucial risk combination for internalizing symptoms. To disentangle these relationships, this study utilizes neural, behavioral, and self-report data to examine how the interplay between empathy, ToM, and negative thinking processes relates to stress and negative affect. We reanalyzed the baseline data of N = 302 healthy participants (57% female, Mage  = 40.52, SDage  = 9.30) who participated in a large-scale mental training study, the ReSource project. Empathy and ToM were assessed using a validated fMRI paradigm featuring naturalistic video stimuli and via self-report. Additional self-report scales were employed to measure internalizing symptoms (perceived stress, negative affect) and negative thinking processes (rumination and self-blame). Our results revealed linear associations of self-reported ToM and empathic distress with stress and negative affect. Also, both lower and higher, compared to average, activation in the anterior insula during empathic processing and in the middle temporal gyrus during ToM performance was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms. These associations were dependent on rumination and self-blame. Our findings indicate specific risk constellations for internalizing symptoms. Especially people with lower self-reported ToM and higher empathic distress may be at risk for more internalizing symptoms. Quadratic associations of empathy- and ToM-related brain activation with internalizing symptoms depended on negative thinking processes, suggesting differential effects of cognitive and affective functioning on internalizing symptoms. Using a multi-method approach, these findings advance current research by shedding light on which complex risk combinations of cognitive and affective functioning are relevant for internalizing symptoms.

Boosting Empathy and Compassion Through Mindfulness-Based and Socioemotional Dyadic Practice: Randomized Controlled Trial With App-Delivered Trainings

BACKGROUND

Contemplative trainings have been found to effectively improve social skills such as empathy and compassion. However, there is a lack of research on the efficacy of app-delivered mindfulness-based and dyadic practices in boosting socioaffective capacity.

OBJECTIVE

The first aim of this study was to compare a novel app-delivered, partner-based socioemotional intervention (Affect Dyad) with mindfulness-based training to foster empathy and compassion for the self or others. The second aim of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms of these effects.

METHODS

This randomized controlled trial included socioemotional and mindfulness-based interventions and a waitlist control group, which received socioemotional training after the postintervention assessment. We used linear mixed-effects models to test intervention effects on self-report measures and an ecologically valid computer task of empathy, compassion for the self and others, and theory of mind. Moderated mediation models were used to investigate whether changes in acceptance, empathic distress, empathic listening, interoceptive awareness, and mindfulness served as underlying psychological processes of intervention effects.

RESULTS

In 218 participants (mean age 44.12, SD 11.71 years; 160/218, 73.4% female), we found all interventions to have positive effects on composite scores for compassion toward the self (βsocioemotional=.44, P<.001; βwaitlist socioemotional=.30, P=.002; βmindfulness-based=.35, P<.001) and others (βsocioemotional=.24, P=.003; βwaitlist socioemotional=.35, P<.001; βmindfulness-based=.29, P<.001). Compassion measured with the computer task did not change significantly but showed a trend toward increase only in socioemotional dyadic practice (βsocioemotional=.08, P=.08; βwaitlist socioemotional=.11, P=.06). Similarly, on the empathic concern subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a nonsignificant trend toward increase was found in the socioemotional intervention group (βsocioemotional=.17; P=.08). Empathy significantly increased in both socioemotional groups (βsocioemotional=.16, P=.03; βwaitlist socioemotional=.35, P<.001) and the mindfulness-based group (βmindfulness-based=.15; P=.04). The measures of theory of mind did not change over time. In the mindfulness-based group, the increase in self-compassion was mediated by a decrease in empathic distress (indirect effect abmindfulness-based=0.07, 95% CI 0.02-0.14). In the socioemotional group, an increase in self-compassion could be predicted by an increase in acceptance (βsocioemotional=6.63, 95% CI 0.52-12.38).

CONCLUSIONS

Using a multimethod approach, this study shows that app-delivered socioemotional and mindfulness-based trainings are effective in fostering compassion for the self and others in self-report. Both low-dose trainings could boost behavioral empathy markers; however, the effects on behavioral and dispositional markers of compassion only trended after dyadic practice, yet these effects did not reach statistical significance. Training-related increases in self-compassion rely on differential psychological processes, that is, on improved empathic distress regulation through mindfulness-based training and the activation of a human care- and acceptance-based system through socioemotional dyadic training.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04889508; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04889508.

Bidirectional understanding and cooperation: interbrain neural synchronization during social navigation

The complexity of the environment requires humans to solve problems collaboratively. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural mechanism of social navigation in group problem-solving situations. A novel cooperative task was designed in which dyadic participants assumed the role of an operator or a navigator with different skills and knowledge and worked together to complete the task. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning, we found stronger interbrain neural synchronization of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) between dyads when the operator received instructions from the navigator rather than from a computer. The functional connections between the rTPJ and the other brain areas indicated the involvement of the mirror neural system during the task. Further directional analysis using Granger causality analysis revealed a flow of information from the temporal to the parietal and then to the pre-motor cortex in the operator's brain. These findings provide empirical evidence for the neural mechanism of social navigation and highlight the importance of the rTPJ for communication and joint attention in uncertain group problem-solving situations.

Exogenous oxytocin microinjection into the nucleus accumbens shell attenuates social dominance in group-housed male mice

The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a part of the brain's limbic system, is involved in a variety of brain functions, including reward motivation and social hierarchy. Here, the study investigated the effect of intra-NAc different subregions microinjections of oxytocin on social hierarchy regulation. The hierarchical ranking of group-housed male mice in laboratory settings was determined through the tube test, and a new reliable and robust behavior assay-the mate competition test-was proposed. The mice were randomly divided into two groups, and the bilateral guide cannula was implanted into the shell and core of the NAc, respectively. After social dominance stabilized, changes in social hierarchy were determined through the tube test, warm spot, and mate competition tests. Intra-NAc shell microinjections of oxytocin (0.5 μg/site), but not the core (0.5 μg/site), significantly reduced the social dominance of mice. In addition, oxytocin microinjection into both the shell and core of the NAc significantly increased locomotor ability without affecting anxious behaviors. These findings are tremendously important in understanding the functions of the NAc subregions for social dominance and are more likely to indicate the potential of an oxytocin therapeutic strategy for psychiatric disorders and social impairments.

The interaction between social hierarchy and depression/anxiety: Involvement of glutamatergic pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)

Social hierarchy greatly impacts physical and mental health, but the relationship between social hierarchy and depression/anxiety and the underlying neural mechanism remain unclear. The present study used the tube test to determine the social hierarchy status of mice and then performed several behavioral tests to evaluate depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors. Electrophysiological techniques were used to record the firing activities of glutamatergic pyramidal neurons and local field potentials in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The results suggested that the mice in each cage (4 per cage) established a stable social hierarchy after 2 weeks. Subordinate mice displayed significantly fewer pushing and advancing behaviors, and more retreat behaviors compared with dominant mice. Furthermore, subordinate mice had significantly more immobility durations in the TST, but significantly fewer distances, entries, and time into the center in the OFT, as well as significantly less percent of distances, entries, and time into the open arms in the EPMT, compared with dominant mice, which indicated that subordinate mice displayed depression- and anxiety-like behaviors. In addition, chronic restraint stress (CRS) significantly induced depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in mice and altered social dominance behaviors in the tube test. CRS mice displayed significantly fewer pushing and advancing behaviors, and more retreat behaviors compared with control mice. Furthermore, low social rank and CRS significantly decreased the firing of pyramidal neurons and γ-oscillation activity in the mPFC. Taken together, the present study revealed an inverse relationship between social hierarchy and depression/anxiety, and the neural basis underlying this association might be the excitability of pyramidal neurons and γ oscillation in the mPFC. These findings established an important foundation for a depression/anxiety model based on social hierarchy and provided a new avenue for the development of therapies for stress-related mood disorders.

Personal socio-cultural preferences modulate neural correlates of decisions to socialize with powerful persons

Social power differences fundamentally shape the behavioral interaction dynamics of groups and societies. While it has long been recognized that individual socio‐cultural preferences mitigate social interactions involving persons of power, there is limited empirical data on the underlying neural correlates. To bridge this gap, we asked university student participants to decide whether they were willing to engage in social activities involving their teachers (higher power status), classmates (equal power status), or themselves (control) while functional brain images were acquired. Questionnaires assessed participants' preferences for power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and cultural intelligence. As expected, participants generally accepted more social interactions with classmates than teachers. Also, left inferior frontal activity was higher when accepting than when rejecting social interactions with teachers. Critically, power distance preferences further modulated right lateral frontoparietal activity contrasting approach relative to avoidance decisions towards teachers. In addition, uncertainty avoidance modulated activity in medial frontal, precuneus, and left supramarginal areas distinguishing approach decisions towards teachers relative to classmates. Cultural intelligence modulated neural responses to classmate approach/avoidance decisions in anterior cingulate and left parietal areas. Overall, functional activities in distinct brain networks reflected different personal socio‐cultural preferences despite observed social decisions to interact with others of differential power status. Such findings highlight that social approach or avoidance behaviors towards powerful persons involves differential subjective neural processes possibly involved in computing implicit social utility.

Exploring the Structure and Interrelations of Time-Stable Psychological Resilience, Psychological Vulnerability, and Social Cohesion

The current study explores the relationship between three constructs of high relevance in the context of adversities which have, however, not yet been systematically linked on the level of psychological dispositions: psychological vulnerability, psychological resilience, and social cohesion. Based on previous theoretical and empirical frameworks, a collection of trait questionnaires was assessed in a Berlin sample of 3,522 subjects between 18 and 65 years of age. Using a confirmatory factor analytical approach, we found no support for a simple three-factor structure. Results from exploratory structural analyses suggest that instead of psychological resilience and psychological vulnerability constituting two separate factors, respective indicators load on one bipolar latent factor. Interestingly, some psychological resilience indicators contributed to an additional specific latent factor, which may be interpreted as adaptive capacities, that is, abilities to adapt to changes or adjust to consequences of adversities. Furthermore, instead of evidence for one single social cohesion factor on the psychological level, indicators of perceived social support and loneliness formed another specific factor of social belonging, while indicators of prosocial competencies were found to form yet another distinct factor, which was positively associated to the other social factors, adaptive capacities and social belonging. Our results suggest that social cohesion is composed of different independent psychological components, such as trust, social belonging, and social skills. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance of social capacities and belonging for psychological resilience and suggest that decreasing loneliness and increasing social skills should therefore represent a valuable intervention strategy to foster adaptive capacities.

Contemplative Mental Training Reduces Hair Glucocorticoid Levels in a Randomized Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the effect of regular contemplative mental training on endocrine and psychological indices of long-term stress.

METHODS

An open-label efficacy trial that comprised three distinct 3-month long modules targeting attention and interoception, socioaffective, or sociocognitive abilities through dyadic exercises and secularized meditation practices was conducted with healthy adults. Participants underwent the training for 3 or 9 months, or were assigned to a retest control cohort. Chronic stress indices were assayed at four time points: pretraining and after 3, 6, and 9 months. The main outcome measures were cortisol (HC) and cortisone (HE) concentration in hair and self-reported long-term stress.

RESULTS

Of 362 initially randomized individuals, 30 dropped out before study initiation (n = 332; mean [SD] age = 40.7 [9.2] years; 197 women). Hair-based glucocorticoid assays were available from n = 227, and questionnaire data from n = 326. Results from three separate training cohorts (TC1-3) revealed consistent decreases in HC and HE levels over the first three (TC3) to 6 months (TC1 and TC2) of training, with no further reduction at the final 9-month mark (baseline to end of training differences, HC, TC1: t(355) = 2.59, p = .010, contrast estimate (est.) [SE] = 0.35 [0.14]; HC, TC2: t(363) = 4.06, p < .001, est. = 0.48 [0.12]; HC, TC3: t(368) = 3.18, p = .002, est. = 0.41 [0.13]; HE, TC1: t(435) = 3.23, p = .001, est. = 0.45 [0.14]; HE, TC2: t(442) = 2.60, p = .010, est. = 0.33 [0.13]; HE, TC3: t(446) = 4.18, p < .001, est. = 0.57 [0.14]). Training effects on HC increased with individual compliance (practice frequency), and effects on both HC and HE were independent of training content and unrelated to change in self-reported chronic stress. Self-reported stress, and cortisol-to-dehydroepiandrosterone ratios as an exploratory endpoint, were also reduced, albeit less consistently.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results point to the reduction of long-term cortisol exposure as a mechanism through which meditation-based mental training may exert positive effects on practitioners' health.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01833104.

Decreased emotional reactivity after 3-month socio-affective but not attention- or meta-cognitive-based mental training: A randomized, controlled, longitudinal fMRI study

Meditation-based mental training interventions show physical and mental health benefits. However, it remains unclear how different types of mental practice affect emotion processing at both the neuronal and the behavioural level. In the context of the ReSource project, 332 participants underwent an fMRI scan while performing an emotion anticipation task before and after three 3-month training modules cultivating 1) attention and interoceptive awareness (Presence); 2) socio-affective skills, such as compassion (Affect); 3) socio-cognitive skills, such as theory of mind (Perspective). Only the Affect module led to a significant reduction of experienced negative affect when processing images depicting human suffering. In addition, after the Affect module, participants showed significant increased activation in the right supramarginal gyrus when confronted with negative stimuli. We conclude that socio-affective, but not attention- or meta-cognitive based mental training is specifically effective to improve emotion regulation capabilities when facing adversity.

Social and affective neuroscience: an Australian perspective

While research in social and affective neuroscience has a long history, it is only in the last few decades that it has been truly established as an independent field of investigation. In the Australian region, despite having an even shorter history, this field of research is experiencing a dramatic rise. In this review, we present recent findings from a survey conducted on behalf of the Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience (AS4SAN) and from an analysis of the field to highlight contributions and strengths from our region (with a focus on Australia). Our results demonstrate that researchers in this field draw on a broad range of techniques, with the most common being behavioural experiments and neuropsychological assessment, as well as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging. The Australian region has a particular strength in clinically driven research, evidenced by the types of populations under investigation, top cited papers from the region, and funding sources. We propose that the Australian region has potential to contribute to cross-cultural research and facilitating data sharing, and that improved links with international leaders will continue to strengthen this burgeoning field.

Compassionate Care: Making It a Priority and the Science Behind It

BACKGROUND

Compassion is the deep feeling that arises when confronted with another's suffering coupled with a strong desire to alleviate that suffering. Until recently, evidence was lacking as to whether compassion was innate, acquired, or modifiable. Because patients who experience compassionate health care report better clinical outcomes, an understanding of the science behind it may give rise to methods of incorporating compassion into clinical care delivery.

METHODS

A high-level summary of the social and neuroscience research was constructed.

RESULTS

Functional neuroimaging of empathy and compassion demonstrates neural networks involving the insula, cingulate, and prefrontal cortices suggesting neurological hard wiring for these emotional and cognitive experiences. Neuroscience and social science research evidence supports the presence of cognitive and/or emotional empathy in all individuals studied; that empathy and compassion can be taught; and that both internal and external factors influence their expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Burnout may result when clinicians know what their patients need (thereby activating the empathy/pain neural pathways) but are unable to deliver that care (therefore inactivation of the compassion/reward neural pathways). Understanding the neuroscience underlying empathy and compassion informs practical programs that mitigate burnout and creates a more compassionate workplace.

A novel pathway regulates social hierarchy via lncRNA AtLAS and postsynaptic synapsin IIb

Dominance hierarchy is a fundamental phenomenon in grouped animals and human beings, however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report that an antisense long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) of synapsin II, named as AtLAS, plays a crucial role in the regulation of social hierarchy. AtLAS is decreased in the prefrontal cortical excitatory pyramidal neurons of dominant mice; consistently, silencing or overexpression of AtLAS increases or decreases the social rank, respectively. Mechanistically, we show that AtLAS regulates alternative polyadenylation of synapsin II gene and increases synapsin 2b (syn2b) expression. Syn2b reduces AMPA receptor (AMPAR)-mediated excitatory synaptic transmission through a direct binding with AMPAR at the postsynaptic site via its unique C-terminal sequence. Moreover, a peptide disrupting the binding of syn2b with AMPARs enhances the synaptic strength and social ranks. These findings reveal a novel role for lncRNA AtLAS and its target syn2b in the regulation of social behaviors by controlling postsynaptic AMPAR trafficking.

One cranium, two brains not yet introduced: Distinct but complementary views of the social brain

Social behavior is pervasive across the animal kingdom, and elucidating how the brain enables animals to respond to social contexts is of great interest and profound importance. Our understanding of 'the social brain' has been fractured as it has matured. Two drastically different conceptualizations of the social brain have emerged with relatively little awareness of each other. In this review, we briefly recount the history behind the two dominant definitions of a social brain. The divide that has emerged between these visions can, in part, be attributed to differential attention to cortical or sub-cortical regions in the brain, and differences in methodology, comparative perspectives, and emphasis on functional specificity or generality. We discuss how these factors contribute to a lack of communication between research efforts, and propose ways in which each version of the social brain can benefit from the perspectives, tools, and approaches of the other. Interface between the two characterizations of social brain networks is sure to provide essential insight into what the social brain encompasses.

Reconocimiento de Expresiones Faciales Emocionales. Diferencias en el Desarrollo

RESUMEN El trabajo se propuso caracterizar el reconocimiento facial de emociones en población infanto-juvenil. Se administró una adaptación digital del Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes de entre 9 y 18 años. Los resultados evidenciaron una asociación negativa entre la edad y la tasa de aciertos para alegría y positiva para asco y miedo. Además, se evidenció un efecto significativo de la edad en los tiempos de respuesta de todas las emociones a excepción del miedo. Los resultados sugieren que a medida que aumenta la edad el reconocimiento emocional es más veloz, sin embargo, esto se refleja en una mejoría en el reconocimiento emocional sólo en asco y miedo. Se discuten la importancia de estas emociones para la adolescencia.

Differential benefits of mental training types for attention, compassion, and theory of mind

Mindfulness- and, more generally, meditation-based interventions increasingly gain popularity, effectively promoting cognitive, affective, and social capacities. It is unclear, however, if different types of practice have the same or specific effects on mental functioning. Here we tested three consecutive three-month training modules aimed at cultivating either attention, socio-affective qualities (such as compassion), or socio-cognitive skills (such as theory of mind), in three training cohorts and a retest control cohort (N = 332). While attentional performance improved most consistently after attention training, compassion increased most after socio-affective training and theory of mind partially improved after socio-cognitive training. These results show that specific mental training practices are needed to induce plasticity in different domains of mental functioning, providing a foundation for evidence-based development of more targeted interventions adapted to the needs of different education, labor, and health settings.

Social Support as a Mediator Between Insomnia and Depression in Female Undergraduate Students

Objectives/Background: Despite findings that insomnia and depression have a bidirectional relationship, the exact psychological mechanisms that link these disorders are largely unknown. The goal of this study was to identify whether social support mediates the relationship between insomnia and depression. Methods: The study sample (N = 115) consisted of females only, and all participants (mean age 21.77 ± 1.80) completed self-report measures of insomnia severity, depression, and social support. Results: Insomnia severity was significantly associated with low levels of social support (B = -1.04, SE = .27, p < .001) and high levels of depression (B = .18, SE = 0.05, p < .001). Social support mediated the effects of insomnia on depression (95% CI [.03, .15]). However, social support did not mediate the effects of depression on insomnia (95% CI [-.01, .32]). Conclusions: These findings suggest that interpersonal factors such as social support may be an important factor to consider in female insomnia patients in the context of preventing depression in this population.

It matters what you practice: differential training effects on subjective experience, behavior, brain and body in the ReSource Project

Mindfulness interventions have gained much attraction, also due to their promise to improve health and wellbeing. However, not enough attention is devoted to the differentiation between various mental practice types. Here, we summarize findings from the ReSource Project, a 9-month longitudinal mental training study comparing practices focusing on (a) present-moment attention and interoception, (b) socio-emotional processes such as compassion and loving kindness and (c) meta-cognitive processes and perspective-taking on self and others. We find evidence for differential training effects of these practice types on all levels of observation, ranging from distinct phenomenological fingerprints and structural brain plasticity to selective improvements in social cognition, altruism and peripheral physiology, including the cortisol response to psychosocial stress. We argue for a more differentiated view on the concept of mindfulness and meditation.

Interacting and dissociable effects of alexithymia and depression on empathy

Major-depressive-disorder (MDD) and alexithymia have both been associated with empathy deficits. We examined whether depression and alexithymia show dissociable or interacting effects on cognitive and emotional trait and state empathy. Healthy controls with high and low alexithymia and MDD-patients with high and low alexithymia were assessed. We used the Interpersonal-Reactivity-Index-questionnaire (IRI) for trait cognitive and emotional empathy and the Multifaceted-Empathy-Test (MET) for state cognitive and emotional empathy. Firstly, we found a main effect of alexithymia, irrespective of depression, on trait and state cognitive empathy: High alexithymia subjects showed lower scores in perspective taking (IRI) and in the cognitive-empathy-component of the MET. Secondly, we found main effects of alexithymia and depression on trait emotional empathy (IRI-subscale personal distress). Moreover, we found a significant depression-by-alexithymia-interaction on trait emotional empathy: MDD-patients showed particularly high personal distress when affected by alexithymia (IRI). Thirdly, alexithymia and depression had no impact on state emotional empathy (MET). However, analyzing positive and negative trials separately, we found more emotional empathy in MDD-patients concerning negatively valenced stimuli. Our data suggest dissociable and interacting effects of MDD and alexithymia on empathy. Importantly, except for heightened personal distress, empathy deficits in MDD-patients were entirely due to concurrent alexithymia.

Stress-induced changes in social dominance are scaled by AMPA-type glutamate receptor phosphorylation in the medial prefrontal cortex

The establishment and maintenance of social dominance are critical for social stability and the survival and health of individual animals. Stress lead to depression and a decrease in the social status of depressed persons is a risk factor for suicide. Therefore, we explored the mechanistic and behavioral links among stress, depression, and social dominance and found that mice subjected to chronic restraint stress (CRS), an animal model of stress-induced depression, showed decreased social dominance as measured by a dominance tube test. Importantly, this submissive behavior was occluded by the antidepressant, fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It is known that social dominance is controlled by synaptic efficacy in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and that AMPA-type glutamate receptor (AMPA-R) is a key molecule for synaptic efficacy. We found that the phosphorylation on AMPA-R was bidirectionally changed by CRS and fluoxetine in the mPFC of mice with CRS. Moreover, we found a strong correlation between social dominance and AMPA-R phosphorylation that regulates synaptic efficacy by modulating the synaptic targeting of AMPA-R. Our correlational analysis of the behavior and biochemistry of the CRS model suggests that AMPA-R phosphorylation in the mPFC may serve as a biomarker of social dominance related to stress.

Experiencing meditation - Evidence for differential effects of three contemplative mental practices in micro-phenomenological interviews

Despite increasing interest in effects of meditation, systematic in-depth research on how it qualitatively feels to engage in different kinds of contemplative practices is still missing. To fill this gap, we explore the validity of Micro-phenomenological Interviews (MpI) to assess experiences during breathing meditation (BM), observing-thought meditation (OTM), and loving-kindness meditation (LKM). We performed psycholinguistic analyses, quantitative ratings and qualitative explorations of 104 MpI (N = 57). All results reveal differential affective, bodily and sensorial fingerprints: BM-transcripts contain the most body-related vocabulary, specifically sensations in nose and abdomen. OTM-transcripts contain the most cognition-related vocabulary. OTM is experienced in head and face. LKM-transcripts contain the most vocabulary related to socio-affective processes. LKM is associated to love, sensations around the heart, and warmth. The LKM-outcomes were replicated with another independent set of MpI. These findings verify the merit of MpI as a scientific tool to gain reliable first-person data beyond questionnaires or rating scales.

Shared states: using MVPA to test neural overlap between self-focused emotion imagery and other-focused emotion understanding

The present study tested whether the neural patterns that support imagining ‘performing an action’, ‘feeling a bodily sensation’ or ‘being in a situation’ are directly involved in understanding other people’s actions, bodily sensations and situations. Subjects imagined the content of short sentences describing emotional actions, interoceptive sensations and situations (self-focused task), and processed scenes and focused on how the target person was expressing an emotion, what this person was feeling, and why this person was feeling an emotion (other-focused task). Using a linear support vector machine classifier on brain-wide multi-voxel patterns, we accurately decoded each individual class in the self-focused task. When generalizing the classifier from the self-focused task to the other-focused task, we also accurately decoded whether subjects focused on the emotional actions, interoceptive sensations and situations of others. These results show that the neural patterns that underlie self-imagined experience are involved in understanding the experience of other people. This supports the theoretical assumption that the basic components of emotion experience and understanding share resources in the brain.

Change in emotional self-concept following socio-cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex

INTRODUCTION

Self-referential processing is a key component of the emotional self-concept. Previous studies have shown that emotional self-referential processing is related to structure and function of cortical midline areas such as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and that it can be altered on a behavioral level by specific mental training practices. However, it remains unknown how behavioral training-related change in emotional self-concept content relates to structural plasticity.

METHODS

To address this issue, we examined the relationship between training-induced change in participant's emotional self-concept measured through emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test and change in cortical thickness in the context of a large-scale longitudinal mental training study called the ReSource Project.

RESULTS

Based on prior behavioral findings showing increased emotional word use particularly after socio-cognitive training targeting perspective-taking capacities, this study extended these results by revealing that individual differences in the degree to which participants changed their emotional self-concept after training was positively related to cortical thickness change in right mPFC extending to dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). Furthermore, increased self-related negative emotional word use after training was positively associated with cortical thickness change in left pars orbitalis and bilateral dlPFC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings reveal training-related structural brain change in regions known to be involved in self-referential processing and cognitive control, and could indicate a relationship between restructuring of the emotional self-concept content as well as reappraisal of negative aspects and cortical thickness change. As such, our findings can guide the development of psychological interventions targeted to alter specific facets of the self-concept.

How Visual Body Perception Influences Somatosensory Plasticity

The study of somatosensory plasticity offers unique insights into the neuronal mechanisms that underlie human adaptive and maladaptive plasticity. So far, little attention has been paid on the specific influence of visual body perception on somatosensory plasticity and learning in humans. Here, we review evidence on how visual body perception induces changes in the functional architecture of the somatosensory system and discuss the specific influence the social environment has on tactile plasticity and learning. We focus on studies that have been published in the areas of human cognitive and clinical neuroscience and refer to animal studies when appropriate. We discuss the therapeutic potential of socially mediated modulations of somatosensory plasticity and introduce specific paradigms to induce plastic changes under controlled conditions. This review offers a contribution to understanding the complex interactions between social perception and somatosensory learning by focusing on a novel research field: socially mediated sensory plasticity.

Cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory is associated with inter-couple diurnal cortisol covariation in daily life

In laboratory environments individuals may display empathic cortisol stress responses merely from observing another experience psychosocial stress. Moreover, within couples, women synchronize their own to their partners' stress-induced cortisol release. We investigated whether a woman's tendency to experience such cortisol stress resonance in a controlled laboratory task is associated with the degree to which her and her partner's diurnal cortisol levels covary in a naturalistic environment. Such habitual cortisol covariation may be a pathway via which close relationships influence health outcomes. Forty-four men completed the Trier Social Stress Test while their female partners observed the situation, either via "real-life" (one-way mirror) or "virtual" (video) observation modality. Later, the couples collected diurnal cortisol samples over two weekdays. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that the degree to which couples covaried in their daily cortisol secretion was associated with the female partner's cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory, and that this association was stronger if stress resonance was assessed in the "real-life" observation condition. Specifically, women with higher cortisol stress resonance were more closely linked to their partner's diurnal cortisol secretion. Neither momentary partner presence during sampling nor relationship duration or quality accounted for the association. By showing that covariation in the laboratory has ecological validity in naturalistic conditions, these results make an important methodological contribution to the study of dyadic processes. Given that close relationships exert immense influence over individual health outcomes, understanding the association between acute and chronic physiological linkage may provide important insight into the mechanisms by which close relationships impact well-being.

Neuropolitics: Twenty years later

Neuropolitics is the intersection of neuroscience and political science, and it has the interdisciplinary goal of transforming both disciplines. This article reviews the past 20 years of work in the field, identifying its roots, some overarching themes-reactions to political attitudinal questions and candidates faces, identification of political ideology based on brain structure or reactivity to nonpolitical stimuli, and racial attitudes-and obstacles to its progress. I then explore the methodological and analytical advances that point the way forward for the future of neuropolitics. Although the field has been slow to develop compared with neurolaw and neuroeconomics, innovations look ripe for dramatically improving our ability to model political behaviors and attitudes in individuals and predict political choices in mass publics. The coming advancements, however, pose risks to our current norms of democratic deliberation, and academics need to anticipate and mitigate these risks.

Specific reduction in cortisol stress reactivity after social but not attention-based mental training

Psychosocial stress is a public health burden in modern societies. Chronic stress-induced disease processes are, in large part, mediated via the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary system. We asked whether the contemplative mental training of different practice types targeting attentional, socio-affective (for example, compassion), or socio-cognitive abilities (for example, perspective-taking) in the context of a 9-month longitudinal training study offers an effective means for psychosocial stress reduction. Using a multimethod approach including subjective, endocrine, autonomic, and immune markers and testing 313 participants in a standardized psychosocial laboratory stressor, we show that all three practice types markedly reduced self-reported stress reactivity in healthy participants. However, only the training of intersubjective skills via socio-affective and socio-cognitive routes attenuated the physiological stress response, specifically the secretion of the HPA axis end-product cortisol, by up to 51%. The assessed autonomic and innate immune markers were not influenced by any practice type. Mental training focused on present-moment attention and interoceptive awareness as implemented in many mindfulness-based intervention programs was thus limited to stress reduction on the level of self-report. However, its effectiveness was equal to that of intersubjective practice types in boosting the association between subjective and endocrine stress markers. Our results reveal a broadly accessible low-cost approach to acquiring psychosocial stress resilience. Short daily intersubjective practice may be a promising method for minimizing the incidence of chronic social stress-related disease, thereby reducing individual suffering and relieving a substantial financial burden on society.

Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training

Although neuroscientific research has revealed experience-dependent brain changes across the life span in sensory, motor, and cognitive domains, plasticity relating to social capacities remains largely unknown. To investigate whether the targeted mental training of different cognitive and social skills can induce specific changes in brain morphology, we collected longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data throughout a 9-month mental training intervention from a large sample of adults between 20 and 55 years of age. By means of various daily mental exercises and weekly instructed group sessions, training protocols specifically addressed three functional domains: (i) mindfulness-based attention and interoception, (ii) socio-affective skills (compassion, dealing with difficult emotions, and prosocial motivation), and (iii) socio-cognitive skills (cognitive perspective-taking on self and others and metacognition). MRI-based cortical thickness analyses, contrasting the different training modules against each other, indicated spatially diverging changes in cortical morphology. Training of present-moment focused attention mostly led to increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions, socio-affective training induced plasticity in frontoinsular regions, and socio-cognitive training included change in inferior frontal and lateral temporal cortices. Module-specific structural brain changes correlated with training-induced behavioral improvements in the same individuals in domain-specific measures of attention, compassion, and cognitive perspective-taking, respectively, and overlapped with task-relevant functional networks. Our longitudinal findings indicate structural plasticity in well-known socio-affective and socio-cognitive brain networks in healthy adults based on targeted short daily mental practices. These findings could promote the development of evidence-based mental training interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aimed at cultivating social intelligence, prosocial motivation, and cooperation.

How spontaneous brain activity and narcissistic features shape social interaction

There is an increasing interest in how ongoing spontaneous brain activity and personality provide a predisposition for the processing of environmental demands. It further has been suggested that the brain has an inherent sensitivity to the social environment. Here we tested in healthy volunteers if spontaneous brain activity contributes to a predisposition for social behavior and how this is modulated by narcissistic personality features associated with poor interpersonal functioning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging included a resting state and an experimental paradigm focusing on the anticipation of actively touching an animate (human hand) versus an inanimate target (mannequin hand). The experimental task induced a significant modulation of neural activity in left postcentral gyrus (PostCG), right culmen and, co-varying with narcissistic features, in right anterior insula (AI). Neural activity in anticipation of the animate target significantly correlated with spontaneous activity during the resting state indexed by the Power Law Exponent (PLE) in PostCG and AI. Finally, the correlation between spontaneous and task-induced activity in AI was mediated by narcissistic features. These findings provide novel evidence for a relationship between intrinsic brain activity and social behavior and show how personality could contribute to individual differences in our predisposition to approach the animate world.

Inter-brain network underlying turn-based cooperation and competition: A hyperscanning study using near-infrared spectroscopy

The present study examined neural substrates underlying turn-based cooperation and competition in a real two-person situation. We simultaneously measured pairs of participants’ activations in their bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal regions using a 96-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system, when participants played a turn-taking disk-game on a computer. NIRS data demonstrated significant inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) across participant pairs’ right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in both the cooperation and competition conditions, and the competition condition also involved significant INS in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL). In addition, competitive dyads’ INS in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) may play as a role of mediation in relationship between their empathy score and disk-manipulation latency, but cooperative dyads’ INS did not. These results suggest that first the right pSTS may be commonly involved in both cooperation and competition due to task demands of joint attention and intention understanding, while the right IPL may be more important for competition due to additional requirements of mentalizing resources in competing contexts. Second, participants’ empathy may promote INS in the bilateral IFG across competitors, and in turn affect their competitive performance.

Know Thy Selves: Learning to Understand Oneself Increases the Ability to Understand Others

Understanding others' feelings, intentions, and beliefs is a crucial social skill both for our personal lives and for meeting the challenges of a globalized world. Recent evidence suggests that the ability to represent and infer others' mental states (Theory of Mind, ToM) can be enhanced by mental training in healthy adults. The present study investigated the role of training-induced understanding of oneself for the enhanced understanding of others. In a large-scale longitudinal study, two independent participant samples (N = 80 and N = 81) received a 3-month contemplative training. This training focused on perspective taking and was inspired by the Internal Family Systems model that conceives the self as being composed of a complex system of inner personality aspects. Specifically, participants practiced perspective taking on their own inner states by learning to identify and classify different inner personality parts. Results revealed that the degree to which participants improved their understanding of themselves-reflected in the number of different inner parts they could identify-predicted their improvements in high-level ToM performance over training. Especially the number of identified parts that were negatively valenced showed a strong relation with enhanced ToM capacities. This finding suggests a close link between getting better in understanding oneself and improvement in social intelligence.

Differential Effects of Attention-, Compassion-, and Socio-Cognitively Based Mental Practices on Self-Reports of Mindfulness and Compassion

Research on the effects of mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions is flourishing along with self-report scales to assess facets of these broad concepts. However, debates remain as to which mental practices are most appropriate to develop the attentional, cognitive, and socio-affective facets of mindfulness and compassion. One crucial question is whether present-moment, attention-focused mindfulness practices are sufficient to induce a cascade of changes across the different proposed facets of mindfulness, including nonjudgmental acceptance, as well as compassion or whether explicit socio-affective training is required. Here, we address these questions in the context of a 9-month longitudinal study (the ReSource Project) by examining the differential effects of three different 3-month mental training modules on subscales of mindfulness and compassion questionnaires. The “Presence” module, which aimed at cultivating present-moment-focused attention and body awareness, led to increases in the observing, nonreacting, and presence subscales, but not to increases in acceptance or nonjudging. These latter facets benefitted from specific cultivation through the socio-cognitive “Perspective” module and socio-affective, compassion-based “Affect” module, respectively. These modules also led to further increases in scores on the subscales affected by the Presence module. Moreover, scores on the compassion scales were uniquely influenced by the Affect module. Thus, whereas a present-moment attention-focused training, as implemented in many mindfulness-based programs, was indeed able to increase attentional facets of mindfulness, only socio-cognitive and compassion-based practices led to broad changes in ethical-motivational qualities like a nonjudgmental attitude, compassion, and self-compassion.

The mirror neuron system also rests

The mirror neuron system (MNS) is a brain network that has been associated with the understanding of the actions performed by others. The main areas of the brain that are considered as belonging to the MNS are the rostral part of the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Many studies have tried to focus on the relationship between the regions belonging to the MNS, but a little consideration has been given to the study of the MNS in resting conditions. In the present experiment, the MNS has been studied by two fMRI modalities (task-based fMRI and resting-fMRI) and three analytical procedures [task-block comparison, functional connectivity (FC), and independent component analysis (ICA)]. The task-fMRI with block design showed a mirror activity located in the rostral IPL. The coordinates of this local maximum voxel were defined as a region of interest (ROI) for an FC analysis of the resting-fMRI. This analysis revealed the existence of a functional connectivity within regions forming the core of MNS network and also with other regions with mirror properties. Finally, resting-state fMRI ICA showed the same functional network, although it was more restricted to the core MNS regions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that approaches the MNS using the resting-state fMRI analysis using independent component analysis and functional connectivity at the same time.

Preserved Self-other Distinction During Empathy in Autism is Linked to Network Integrity of Right Supramarginal Gyrus

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows deficits in self-other distinction during theory of mind (ToM). Here we investigated whether ASD patients also show difficulties in self-other distinction during empathy and if potential deficits are linked to dysfunctional resting-state connectivity patterns. In a first study, ASD patients and controls performed an emotional egocentricity paradigm and a ToMtask. In the second study, resting-state connectivity of right temporo-parietal junction and right supramarginal gyrus(rSMG) were analysed using a large-scale fMRI data set. ASD patients exhibited deficient ToM but normal emotional egocentricity, which was paralleled by reduced connectivity of regions of the ToM network and unimpaired rSMG network connectivity. These results suggest spared self-other distinction during empathy and an intact rSMG network in ASD.

Are strong empathizers better mentalizers? Evidence for independence and interaction between the routes of social cognition

Although the processes that underlie sharing others' emotions (empathy) and understanding others' mental states (mentalizing, Theory of Mind) have received increasing attention, it is yet unclear how they relate to each other. For instance, are people who strongly empathize with others also more proficient in mentalizing? And (how) do the neural networks supporting empathy and mentalizing interact? Assessing both functions simultaneously in a large sample (N = 178), we show that people's capacities to empathize and mentalize are independent, both on a behavioral and neural level. Thus, strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers, arguing against a general capacity of social understanding. Second, we applied dynamic causal modeling to investigate how the neural networks underlying empathy and mentalizing are orchestrated in naturalistic social settings. Results reveal that in highly emotional situations, empathic sharing can inhibit mentalizing-related activity and thereby harm mentalizing performance. Taken together, our findings speak against a unitary construct of social understanding and suggest flexible interplay of distinct social functions.

Decoding the Charitable Brain: Empathy, Perspective Taking, and Attention Shifts Differentially Predict Altruistic Giving

Altruistic behavior varies considerably across people and decision contexts. The relevant computational and motivational mechanisms that underlie its heterogeneity, however, are poorly understood. Using a charitable giving task together with multivariate decoding techniques, we identified three distinct psychological mechanisms underlying altruistic decision-making (empathy, perspective taking, and attentional reorienting) and linked them to dissociable neural computations. Neural responses in the anterior insula (AI) (but not temporoparietal junction [TPJ]) encoded trial-wise empathy for beneficiaries, whereas the TPJ (but not AI) predicted the degree of perspective taking. Importantly, the relative influence of both socio-cognitive processes differed across individuals: participants whose donation behavior was heavily influenced by affective empathy exhibited higher predictive accuracies for generosity in AI, whereas those who strongly relied on cognitive perspective taking showed improved predictions of generous donations in TPJ. Furthermore, subject-specific contributions of both processes for donations were reflected in participants' empathy and perspective taking responses in a separate fMRI task (EmpaToM), suggesting that process-specific inputs into altruistic choices may reflect participants' general propensity to either empathize or mentalize. Finally, using independent attention task data, we identified shared neural codes for attentional reorienting and generous donations in the posterior superior temporal sulcus, suggesting that domain-general attention shifts also contribute to generous behavior (but not in TPJ or AI). Overall, our findings demonstrate highly specific roles of AI for affective empathy and TPJ for cognitive perspective taking as precursors of prosocial behavior and suggest that these discrete routes of social cognition differentially drive intraindividual and interindividual differences in altruistic behavior.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Human societies depend on the altruistic behavior of their members, but teasing apart its underlying motivations and neural mechanisms poses a serious challenge. Using multivariate decoding techniques, we delineated three distinct processes for altruistic decision-making (affective empathy, cognitive perspective taking, and domain-general attention shifts), linked them to dissociable neural computations, and identified their relative influence across individuals. Distinguishing process-specific computations both behaviorally and neurally is crucial for developing complete theoretical and neuroscientific accounts of altruistic behavior and more effective means of increasing it. Moreover, information on the relative influence of subprocesses across individuals and its link to people's more general propensity to engage empathy or perspective taking can inform training programs to increase prosociality, considering their "fit" with different individuals.

Cross-modal representations of first-hand and vicarious pain, disgust and fairness in insular and cingulate cortex

The anterior insula (AI) and mid-anterior cingulate cortex (mACC) have repeatedly been implicated in first-hand and vicarious experiences of pain, disgust and unfairness. However, it is debated whether these regions process different aversive events through a common modality-independent code, reflecting the shared unpleasantness of the experiences or through independent modality-specific representations. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we subjected 19 participants (and 19 confederates) to equally unpleasant painful and disgusting stimulations, as well as unfair monetary treatments. Multivoxel pattern analysis identified modality-independent activation maps in the left AI and mACC, pointing to common coding of affective unpleasantness, but also response patterns specific for the events' sensory properties and the person to whom it was addressed, particularly in the right AI. Our results provide evidence of both functional specialization and integration within AI and mACC, and support a comprehensive role of this network in processing aversive experiences for self and others.

NIRS-Based Hyperscanning Reveals Inter-brain Neural Synchronization during Cooperative Jenga Game with Face-to-Face Communication

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an increasingly popular technology for studying social cognition. In particular, fNIRS permits simultaneous measurement of hemodynamic activity in two or more individuals interacting in a naturalistic setting. Here, we used fNIRS hyperscanning to study social cognition and communication in human dyads engaged in cooperative and obstructive interaction while they played the game of Jenga™. Novel methods were developed to identify synchronized channels for each dyad and a structural node-based spatial registration approach was utilized for inter-dyad analyses. Strong inter-brain neural synchrony (INS) was observed in the posterior region of the right middle and superior frontal gyrus, in particular Brodmann area 8 (BA8), during cooperative and obstructive interaction. This synchrony was not observed during the parallel game play condition and the dialog section, suggesting that BA8 was involved in goal-oriented social interaction such as complex interactive movements and social decision-making. INS was also observed in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), in particular Brodmann 9, during cooperative interaction only. These additional findings suggest that BA9 may be particularly engaged when theory-of-mind (ToM) is required for cooperative social interaction. The new methods described here have the potential to significantly extend fNIRS applications to social cognitive research.

Why I tense up when you watch me: Inferior parietal cortex mediates an audience's influence on motor performance

The presence of an evaluative audience can alter skilled motor performance through changes in force output. To investigate how this is mediated within the brain, we emulated real-time social monitoring of participants' performance of a fine grip task during functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging. We observed an increase in force output during social evaluation that was accompanied by focal reductions in activity within bilateral inferior parietal cortex. Moreover, deactivation of the left inferior parietal cortex predicted both inter- and intra-individual differences in socially-induced change in grip force. Social evaluation also enhanced activation within the posterior superior temporal sulcus, which conveys visual information about others' actions to the inferior parietal cortex. Interestingly, functional connectivity between these two regions was attenuated by social evaluation. Our data suggest that social evaluation can vary force output through the altered engagement of inferior parietal cortex; a region implicated in sensorimotor integration necessary for object manipulation, and a component of the action-observation network which integrates and facilitates performance of observed actions. Social-evaluative situations may induce high-level representational incoherence between one's own intentioned action and the perceived intention of others which, by uncoupling the dynamics of sensorimotor facilitation, could ultimately perturbe motor output.

Mutual influences between child emotion regulation and parent–child reciprocity support development across the first 10 years of life: Implications for developmental psychopathology

Elucidating the mechanisms by which infant birth conditions shape development across lengthy periods is critical for understanding typical and pathological development and for targeted early interventions. This study examined how newborns' regulatory capacities impact 10-year outcomes via the bidirectional influences of child emotion regulation (ER) and reciprocal parenting across early development. Guided by dynamic systems theory, 125 infants were tested at seven time points: birth, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months and 5 and 10 years. Initial regulatory conditions were measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; vagal tone) and neurobehavioral regulation (Brazelton, 1973) at birth. At each assessment between 3 months and 5 years, infant ER was microcoded from age-appropriate paradigms and mother–child reciprocity observed during social interactions. Four regulation-related outcomes were measured at 10 years: child RSA, empathy measured by mother–child conflict discussion and a lab paradigm, accident proneness, and behavior problems. An autoregressive cross-lagged structural model indicated that infant birth conditions impacted 10-year outcomes via three mechanisms. First, child ER and reciprocal parenting were individually stable across development and were each predicted by regulatory birth conditions, describing gradual maturation of ER and reciprocity over time. Second, better ER skills at one time point were related to greater reciprocity at the next time point and vice versa, and these cross-time effects defined a field of individual-context mutual influences that mediated the links between neonatal RSA and 10-year outcomes. Third, direct associations emerged between neonatal regulation and outcome, suggesting that birth conditions may establish a neurobiological milieu that promotes a more mature and resilient system. These mechanisms describe distinct “attractor” states that constrain the system's future options, emphasize the importance of defining behavior-based phenotypes of heterotypic continuity, and suggest that infants may shape their development by initiating unique cascades of individual-context bidirectional effects.

Obstruction increases activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus

The right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is involved in intention understanding during interpersonal interactions. To examine how prior experience of cooperation and competition affects one's right IFG activation in the subsequent interaction, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) we simultaneously measured paired participants' bilateral IFG activations during a turn-taking game. Participant pairs were assigned to either one of two roles: a Builder taking the initial move to copy a target disk-pattern on monitor and the Partner taking the second move to aid in (cooperation) or to obstruct (competition) the Builder. The experiment consisted of two sessions. One participant (B-P) played as a Builder (B-) in session 1 and changed the role to the Partner (-P) in session 2, and vice versa for the paired participant (P-B). NIRS data in competition demonstrated that the Builder (B-) being obstructed in session 1 showed higher right IFG activation when (s)he took a role of obstructor (-P) in session 2 (the obstructed effect), whereas "the cooperated effect" was not revealed in cooperation. These results suggest that prior experience of being obstructed may facilitate understanding of the Builder and/or the obstructor's tactical move, thereby increasing his/her right IFG activation when one is meant to obstruct in subsequent competitions.

Neural mechanisms of social dominance

In a group setting, individuals' perceptions of their own level of dominance or of the dominance level of others, and the ability to adequately control their behavior based on these perceptions are crucial for living within a social environment. Recent advances in neural imaging and molecular technology have enabled researchers to investigate the neural substrates that support the perception of social dominance and the formation of a social hierarchy in humans. At the systems' level, recent studies showed that dominance perception is represented in broad brain regions which include the amygdala, hippocampus, striatum, and various cortical networks such as the prefrontal, and parietal cortices. Additionally, neurotransmitter systems such as the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, modulate and are modulated by the formation of the social hierarchy in a group. While these monoamine systems have a wide distribution and multiple functions, it was recently found that the Neuropeptide B/W contributes to the perception of dominance and is present in neurons that have a limited projection primarily to the amygdala. The present review discusses the specific roles of these neural regions and neurotransmitter systems in the perception of dominance and in hierarchy formation.

Empathy and compassion

As humans we are a highly social species: in order to coordinate our joint actions and assure successful communication, we use language skills to explicitly convey information to each other, and social abilities such as empathy or perspective taking to infer another person's emotions and mental state. The human cognitive capacity to draw inferences about other peoples' beliefs, intentions and thoughts has been termed mentalizing, theory of mind or cognitive perspective taking. This capacity makes it possible, for instance, to understand that people may have views that differ from our own. Conversely, the capacity to share the feelings of others is called empathy. Empathy makes it possible to resonate with others' positive and negative feelings alike--we can thus feel happy when we vicariously share the joy of others and we can share the experience of suffering when we empathize with someone in pain. Importantly, in empathy one feels with someone, but one does not confuse oneself with the other; that is, one still knows that the emotion one resonates with is the emotion of another. If this self-other distinction is not present, we speak of emotion contagion, a precursor of empathy that is already present in babies.

A proof-of-principle study of multi-site real-time functional imaging at 3T and 7T: Implementation and validation

Real-time functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rtfMRI) is used mainly for neurofeedback or for brain-computer interfaces (BCI). But multi-site rtfMRI could in fact help in the application of new interactive paradigms such as the monitoring of mutual information flow or the controlling of objects in shared virtual environments. For that reason, a previously developed framework that provided an integrated control and data analysis of rtfMRI experiments was extended to enable multi-site rtfMRI. Important new components included a data exchange platform for analyzing the data of both MR scanners independently and/or jointly. Information related to brain activation can be displayed separately or in a shared view. However, a signal calibration procedure had to be developed and integrated in order to permit the connecting of sites that had different hardware and to account for different inter-individual brain activation levels. The framework was successfully validated in a proof-of-principle study with twelve volunteers. Thus the overall concept, the calibration of grossly differing signals, and BCI functionality on each site proved to work as required. To model interactions between brains in real-time, more complex rules utilizing mutual activation patterns could easily be implemented to allow for new kinds of social fMRI experiments.