Neural correlates of admiration and compassion

Individual Differences in Bodily Self-Consciousness and Its Neural Basis

Bodily self-consciousness (BSC), a subject of interdisciplinary interest, refers to the awareness of one's bodily states. Previous studies have noted the existence of individual differences in BSC, while neglecting the underlying factors and neural basis of such individual differences. Considering that BSC relied on integration from both internal and external self-relevant information, we here review previous findings on individual differences in BSC through a three-level-self model, which includes interoceptive, exteroceptive, and mental self-processing. The data show that cross-level factors influenced individual differences in BSC, involving internal bodily signal perceptibility, multisensory processing principles, personal traits shaped by environment, and interaction modes that integrate multiple levels of self-processing. Furthermore, in interoceptive processing, regions like the anterior cingulate cortex and insula show correlations with different perceptions of internal sensations. For exteroception, the parietal lobe integrates sensory inputs, coordinating various BSC responses. Mental self-processing modulates differences in BSC through areas like the medial prefrontal cortex. For interactions between multiple levels of self-processing, regions like the intraparietal sulcus involve individual differences in BSC. We propose that diverse experiences of BSC can be attributed to different levels of self-processing, which moderates one's perception of their body. Overall, considering individual differences in BSC is worth amalgamating diverse methodologies for the diagnosis and treatment of some diseases.

Social media emotions annotation guide (SMEmo): Development and initial validity

The proper measurement of emotion is vital to understanding the relationship between emotional expression in social media and other factors, such as online information sharing. This work develops a standardized annotation scheme for quantifying emotions in social media using recent emotion theory and research. Human annotators assessed both social media posts and their own reactions to the posts' content on scales of 0 to 100 for each of 20 (Study 1) and 23 (Study 2) emotions. For Study 1, we analyzed English-language posts from Twitter (N = 244) and YouTube (N = 50). Associations between emotion ratings and text-based measures (LIWC, VADER, EmoLex, NRC-EIL, Emotionality) demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 2, we tested an expanded version of the scheme in-country, in-language, on Polish (N = 3648) and Lithuanian (N = 1934) multimedia Facebook posts. While the correlations were lower than with English, patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with EmoLex and NRC-EIL still held. Coder reliability was strong across samples, with intraclass correlations of .80 or higher for 10 different emotions in Study 1 and 16 different emotions in Study 2. This research improves the measurement of emotions in social media to include more dimensions, multimedia, and context compared to prior schemes.

A Hypothalamic Perspective of Human Socioemotional Behavior

Historical evidence from stimulation and lesion studies in animals and humans demonstrated a close association between the hypothalamus and typical and atypical socioemotional behavior. A central hypothalamic contribution to regulation of socioemotional responses was also provided indirectly by studies on oxytocin and arginine vasopressin. However, a limited number of studies have so far directly investigated the contribution of the hypothalamus in human socioemotional behavior. To reconsider the functional role of the evolutionarily conserved hypothalamic region in regulating human social behavior, here I provide a synthesis of neuroimaging investigations showing that the hypothalamus is involved in multiple and diverse facets of human socioemotional behavior through widespread functional interactions with other cortical and subcortical regions. These neuroimaging findings are then integrated with recent optogenetics studies in animals demonstrating that the hypothalamus plays a more active role in eliciting socioemotional responses and is not simply a downstream effector of higher-level brain systems. Building on the aforementioned evidence, the hypothalamus is argued to substantially contribute to a continuum of human socioemotional behaviors promoting survival and preservation of the species that extends from exploratory and approaching responses facilitating social bonding to aggressive and avoidance responses aimed to protect and defend formed relationships.

Transcendent thinking counteracts longitudinal effects of mid-adolescent exposure to community violence in the anterior cingulate cortex

Adolescence involves extensive brain maturation, characterized by social sensitivity and emotional lability, that co-occurs with increased independence. Mid-adolescence is also a hallmark developmental stage when youths become motivated to reflect on the broader personal, ethical, and systems-level implications of happenings, a process we term transcendent thinking. Here, we examine the confluence of these developmental processes to ask, from a transdisciplinary perspective, how might community violence exposure (CVE) impact brain development during mid-adolescence, and how might youths' dispositions for transcendent thinking be protective? Fifty-five low-SES urban youth with no history of delinquency (32 female; 27 Latinx, 28 East Asian) reported their CVE and underwent structural MRI first at age 14-18, and again 2 years later. At the study's start, participants also discussed their feelings about 40 minidocumentaries featuring other teens' compelling situations in a 2-h private interview that was transcribed and coded for transcendent thinking. Controlling for CVE and brain structure at the start: (1) New CVE during the 2-year inter-scan interval was associated with greater gray matter volume (GMV) reduction over that interval in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a central network hub whose reduced volume has been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, and across multiple additional cortical and subcortical regions; (2) participants' transcendent thinking in the interview independently predicted greater GMV increase during the 2-year inter-scan interval in the ACC. Findings highlight the continued vulnerability of mid-adolescents to community violence and the importance of supporting teens' dispositions to reflect on the complex personal and systems-level implications and affordances of their civic landscape.

Unique attributes of official endorsers in destination marketing

Along with the digital transformation of the administrative environment and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, official endorsers have nurtured a new channel for tourism destination marketing, which is of great significance to local economic recovery. However, less attention has been paid to the different effects of endorsement between ordinary endorsers and official endorsers, mainly due to their contrasting social statuses. To bridge the research gap, the source credibility model and social identity theory are integrated to construct the distinctive attributes of officials, as well as structural equation model is utilized to explore the underlying mechanism of official endorsement. Findings indicate that trustworthiness, the sense of authority, expertise, and attractiveness have direct positive effects on official identification, while also indirectly influencing tourists' attitudes toward the destination through official identification. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications for the local government managers involved in tourism destination marketing.

Observing prosociality and talent: the emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of elevation and admiration in 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children

Helping and seeing others being helped elicits positive emotions in young children but little is known about the nature of these emotions, especially in middle childhood. Here we examined the specific emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of two closely related other-praising moral emotions: elevation and admiration. We exposed 182 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children living in New Zealand, to an elevation- and admiration-inducing video clip. Afterwards children's emotion experiences and prosocial behaviour was measured. Findings revealed higher levels of happiness, care, and warmth after seeing prosociality in others (elevation condition) and higher levels of upliftment after seeing talent in others (admiration condition). We found no differences in prosocial behavior between the elevation and admiration conditions. This is the first study to assess elevation in childhood and offers a novel paradigm to investigate the role of moral emotions as potential motivators underlying helping.

Association of Screen Time Exposure With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Four to Six-Year-Old Children in Arar City, Saudi Arabia

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a psychopathologic disorder caused by several factors. The early signs include poor interaction and communication, delayed milestones, and repeated behavior patterns. This study aimed to assess the relationship between screen time and ASD severity and investigate the types of electronic devices associated with ASD in children aged four to six years in Arar City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted in primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Arar City, KSA. The study enrolled all parents with children aged four to six years attending the PHCs in Arar City, KSA. Results The total sample size was 199 participants. Regarding the relationship between screen time exposure and ASD, there were variable screen time exposure durations, with 22.6% of children exposed for less than an hour, 30.7% for one to two hours, and 46.7% for more than two hours. Moreover, the type of electronic devices to which children were exposed varied, with smartphones being the most prevalent (68.3%). In terms of the age of children since exposure to electronic devices, the data indicated that 30.2% were exposed before the age of two, 35.2% between two and three years, and 34.7% after three years of age. Regarding the relationship with sociodemographic characteristics, there was a statistically significant relationship with the mother's age at birth (p = 0.050), mother's education level (p = 0.009), father's education level (p = 0.049), whether the child was suffering from any chronic or neurological disease (p = 0.008), age since the child was exposed to electronic devices (p = 0.049), and screen time exposure duration (p = 0.040). Conclusions The study highlights the significant association between screen time exposure and the development of ASD in children. Public awareness of this associated risk among caregivers is recommended to follow the protective guidelines. Further research and interventions are needed to better understand and address the impact of screen media use on children's neurodevelopment and overall well-being.

Social intelligence mediates the protective role of resting-state brain activity in the social cognition network against social anxiety

Background

Social intelligence refers to an important psychosocial skill set encompassing an array of abilities, including effective self-expression, understanding of social contexts, and acting wisely in social interactions. While there is ample evidence of its importance in various mental health outcomes, particularly social anxiety, little is known on the brain correlates underlying social intelligence and how it can mitigate social anxiety.

Objective

This research aims to investigate the functional neural markers of social intelligence and their relations to social anxiety.

Methods

Data of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral measures were collected from 231 normal students aged 16 to 20 years (48% male). Whole-brain voxel-wise correlation analysis was conducted to detect the functional brain clusters related to social intelligence. Correlation and mediation analyses explored the potential role of social intelligence in the linkage of resting-state brain activities to social anxiety.

Results

Social intelligence was correlated with neural activities (assessed as the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, fALFF) among two key brain clusters in the social cognition networks: negatively correlated in left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and positively correlated in right middle temporal gyrus. Further, the left SFG fALFF was positively correlated with social anxiety; brain-personality-symptom analysis revealed that this relationship was mediated by social intelligence.

Conclusion

These results indicate that resting-state activities in the social cognition networks might influence a person's social anxiety via social intelligence: lower left SFG activity → higher social intelligence → lower social anxiety. These may have implication for developing neurobehavioral interventions to mitigate social anxiety.

Diverse adolescents' transcendent thinking predicts young adult psychosocial outcomes via brain network development

Developmental scientists have long described mid-adolescents' emerging capacities to make deep meaning about the social world and self, here called transcendent thinking, as a hallmark developmental stage. In this 5-years longitudinal study, sixty-five 14-18 years-old youths' proclivities to grapple psychologically with the ethical, systems-level and personal implications of social stories, predicted future increases in the coordination of two key brain networks: the default-mode network, involved in reflective, autobiographical and free-form thinking, and the executive control network, involved in effortful, focused thinking; findings were independent of IQ, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. This neural development predicted late-adolescent identity development, which predicted young-adult self-liking and relationship satisfaction, in a developmental cascade. The findings reveal a novel predictor of mid-adolescents' neural development, and suggest the importance of attending to adolescents' proclivities to engage agentically with complex perspectives and emotions on the social and personal relevance of issues, such as through civically minded educational approaches.

The neuroscience of respect: insights from cross-cultural perspectives

Cultural values such as respect influence cognition, emotion, and behavior by modulating brain functioning. This mini-review discusses the cultural differences of respect as an essential human value, and the neural underpinnings accompanying them. Although neuroscientific studies are limited, we outline potential brain structures and networks that contribute to respect and use clinical examples to illustrate how behavior changes when these neural systems fail. A better understanding of the neuroanatomical basis of respect and its neural manifestations across cultures will help to advance current conceptualizations of the biology of human values.

Online Moral Disengagement: An Examination of the Relationships Between Electronic Communication, Cognitive Empathy, and Antisocial Behavior on the Internet

A consequence of the proliferation of online communication is the concerning presence of antisocial behavior observed in virtual spaces. Research suggests the cognitive component of empathy is hindered by features of electronic communication which facilitates antisocial behaviors online. Investigations into how features of online communication inhibit cognitive empathy are lacking, and findings on moral disengagement and antisocial behavior have yet to be integrated with studies on cognitive empathy and electronic communication. The current study explores these relationships. One hundred and three undergraduate students completed several measures including the Online Moral Disengagement Scale, Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, and Online Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior Scale. Results showed a positive correlation between compulsive internet use and online moral disengagement, as well as a negative correlation between cognitive empathy and moral disengagement online. It was hypothesized that online moral disengagement would mediate the relation between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior online but this mediation was not supported. However, a moderated relationship was revealed between cognitive empathy and moral justification, by liberalism. This moderation can be explored further and built upon by future research to deepen our understanding of how political ideology relates to virtual behavior. Furthermore, the findings concerning components of empathy and moral disengagement, and their role within the perpetration of antisocial conduct online, can inform future research as well as interventions focused on fostering prosocial behavior online and curbing cyberaggression.

Similarities and Distinctions between Cortical Neural Substrates That Underlie Generation of Malevolent Creative Ideas

Creativity can be driven by negative intentions, and this is called malevolent creativity (MC). It is a type of creativity that serves antisocial purposes and deliberately leads to harmful or immoral results. A possible classification indicates that there are three kinds of MC in daily life: hurting people, lying, and playing tricks. This study aimed to explore similar and distinct neural substrates underlying these different kinds of MC idea generation. The participants were asked to perform different MC tasks, and their neural responses were recorded using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy device. The findings revealed that most regions within the prefrontal and temporal lobes [e.g., the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC), and right angular gyrus] were involved in the three MC tasks. However, the right frontopolar cortex (rFPC) was more activated and less coupled with the rDLPFC and right precuneus during the lying task than during the other tasks. Thus, rFPC may play an important role in constructing novel lies. In the lying task, individuals were more selfish and less compassionate. In the playing tricks and hurting people tasks, there was less neural coupling between the rDLPFC and the left inferior frontal gyrus/right inferior parietal lobule than that in the lying task. This may imply that selfish motivation is released when individuals try to ignore victims' distress or generate aggressive tricks in hurting people or playing tricks tasks. These findings indicate that the three kinds of MC idea generation involve common cortical regions related to creative idea generation and moral judgment, whereas differences in cortical responses exist because of their unique features.

Insula-cingulate structural and functional connectivity: an ultra-high field MRI study

The insula and the cingulate are key brain regions with many heterogenous functions. Both regions are consistently shown to play integral roles in the processing of affective, cognitive, and interoceptive stimuli. The anterior insula (aINS) and the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) are two key hubs of the salience network (SN). Beyond the aINS and aMCC, previous 3 Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested both structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC) between other insular and cingulate subregions. Here, we investigate the SC and FC between insula and cingulate subregions using ultra-high field 7T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). DTI revealed strong SC between posterior INS (pINS) and posterior MCC (pMCC), and rs-fMRI revealed strong FC between the aINS and aMCC that was not supported by SC, indicating the likelihood of a mediating structure. Finally, the insular pole had the strongest SC to all cingulate subregions, with a slight preference for the pMCC, indicative of a potential relay node of the insula. Together these finding shed new light on the understanding of insula-cingulate functioning, both within the SN and other cortical processes, through a lens of its SC and FC.

From Coaching to Neurocoaching: A Neuroscientific Approach during a Coaching Session to Assess the Relational Dynamics between Coach and Coachee-A Pilot Study

Life transitions represent moments characterized by changes that can profoundly influence individual life trajectories and subjective well-being. Recently, career coaching has become an important method of helping people expand their self-awareness, facilitate personal development, and increase their performance in the school-to-work transition. Although previous studies have confirmed that one of the most important keys to the success of a coaching program is the quality of the relationship between coach and coachee, there is a lack of knowledge regarding how to objectively measure it. In this pilot study, we adopted a neuroscientific approach to introduce objective measures of the relationship between coach and coachee through the phases of a coaching session. A sample of 14 university students and a professional coach participated in career-coaching sessions while their affective states were measured by recording brain (EEG) and physiological (Skin conductance) activity. Electroencephalographic indicators of valence, arousal, and engagement showed differences between session phases, highlighting the possibility of a neurophysiological measurement of relational dynamics. Our results provide initial evidence that neurophysiological activity can be considered a way to understand differences in the coach-coachee relationship, thereby providing information on the effectiveness of coaching interventions and facilitating a better life transition from school to work.

Affective and cognitive brain-networks are differently integrated in women and men while experiencing compassion

Different theoretical models have proposed cognitive and affective components in empathy and moral judgments encompassing compassion. Furthermore, gender differences in psychological and neural functions involving empathic and moral processing, as well as compassionate experiences, have been reported. However, the neurobiological function regarding affective and cognitive integration underlying compassion and gender-associated differences has not been investigated. In this study, we aimed to examine the interaction between cognitive and emotional components through functional connectivity analyzes and to explore gender differences for the recruitment and interaction of these components. Thirty-six healthy participants (21–56 years; 21 women) were exposed to social images in an fMRI session to judge whether the stimuli elicited compassion. The results showed a different connectivity pattern for women and men of the insular cortex, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the cingulate cortex. The integration of affective and cognitive components follows a complex functional connectivity pattern that is different for both genders. These differences may indicate that men largely make compassionate judgments based on contextual information, while women tend to notably take internal and introspective processes into account. Women and men can use different affective and cognitive routes that could converge in similar learning of moral values, empathic experiences and compassionate acts.

The neurophysiology of the intervention strategies of Awareness Training Program on emotion regulation

Emotion regulation is essential for healthy living. Previous studies have found that mental training such as compassion meditation could help with emotion regulation. However, the underlying neural mechanism and possible intervention strategies of group-based Mahayana Buddhist intervention involved in emotion regulation are still unclear. This event-related potential (ERP) study investigated how compassion and wisdom meditations, two key components of the Awareness Training Program (ATP), may regulate emotion during different mental processing stages, namely attention deployment, cognitive change, and response modification. Eighty-five middle-aged working adults with moderate stress were voluntarily recruited for this study, using a 128-channel electroencephalogram system. After 7 weeks of training, participants (ATP attendance, n = 42; waitlist control, n = 43) were instructed to view negative pictures while practicing compassion or wisdom meditation, with corresponding priming words. Another normal priming condition and a neutral picture condition were set as control conditions. ERP results in the ATP group showed that negative pictures induced greater prefrontal activity (N400 component) in both compassion and wisdom meditation conditions compared with the normal condition, while the control group showed little difference between the conditions. Significantly higher heart rate variability was found in the compassion but not wisdom meditation when compared with the neutral priming condition. Correspondent changes in behavioural data were also found. Converging evidence showed that compassion meditation training could modulate negative emotion processing in stages of attention deployment, cognitive change, and behavioural responses. The prefrontal lobe could play an important role in the process of emotion regulation by compassion meditation, possibly due to the emphasis of the ATP on contemplative practices.

Subgenual activation and the finger of blame: individual differences and depression vulnerability

BACKGROUND

Subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC) responses to self-blaming emotion-evoking stimuli were previously found in individuals prone to self-blame with and without a history of major depressive disorder (MDD). This suggested SCC activation reflects self-blaming emotions such as guilt, which are central to models of MDD vulnerability.

METHOD

Here, we re-examined these hypotheses in an independent larger sample. A total of 109 medication-free participants (70 with remitted MDD and 39 healthy controls) underwent fMRI whilst judging self- and other-blaming emotion-evoking statements. They also completed validated questionnaires of proneness to self-blaming emotions including those related to internal (autonomy) and external (sociotropy) evaluation, which were subjected to factor analysis.

RESULTS

An interaction between group (remitted MDD v. Control) and condition (self- v. other-blame) was observed in the right SCC (BA24). This was due to higher SCC signal for self-blame in remitted MDD and higher other-blame-selective activation in Control participants. Across the whole sample, extracted SCC activation cluster averages for self- v. other-blame were predicted by a regression model which included the reliable components derived from our factor analysis of measures of proneness to self-blaming emotions. Interestingly, this prediction was solely driven by autonomy/self-criticism, and adaptive guilt factors, with no effect of sociotropy/dependency.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite confirming the prediction of SCC activation in self-blame-prone individuals and those vulnerable to MDD, our results suggest that SCC activation reflects blame irrespective of where it is directed rather than selective for self. We speculate that self-critical individuals have more extended SCC representations for blame in the context of self-agency.

Functional Neuroimaging of Human Hypothalamus in Socioemotional Behavior: A Systematic Review

There exist extensive animal research and lesion studies in humans demonstrating a tight association between the hypothalamus and socioemotional behavior. However, human neuroimaging literature in this direction is still rather limited. In order to reexamine the functional role of this region in regulating human social behavior, we here provided a synthesis of neuroimaging studies showing hypothalamic activation during affiliative, cooperative interactions, and in relation to ticklish laughter and humor. In addition, studies reporting involvement of the hypothalamus during aggressive and antisocial interactions were also considered. Our systematic review revealed a growing number of investigations demonstrating that the evolutionary conserved hypothalamic neural circuity is involved in multiple and diverse aspects of human socioemotional behavior. On the basis of the observed heterogeneity of hypothalamus-mediated socioemotional responses, we concluded that the hypothalamus might play an extended functional role for species survival and preservation, ranging from exploratory and approaching behaviors promoting social interactions to aggressive and avoidance responses protecting and defending the established social bonds.

Concrete and Abstract Dimensions of Diverse Adolescents’ Social-Emotional Meaning-Making, and Associations With Broader Functioning

Adolescence is a sensitive period of social-emotional growth, when new abilities for abstract thinking also emerge. Especially among youth from under-resourced communities, how do adolescents’ proclivities to engage in abstract meaning-making about the social world manifest, alongside more concrete interpretations? How is meaning-making associated with other aspects of social and cognitive functioning? We interviewed 65 adolescents (aged 14–18) from low-SES urban neighborhoods about compelling mini-documentaries depicting teenagers. We also measured real-world social-emotional functioning and a range of cognitive capacities. Qualitative analyses, followed by exploratory factor analysis, revealed that, when reacting to the stories, every participant invoked: (1) concrete meaning-making, involving context-dependent reactive, or contagious feelings and advice giving; and (2) abstract meaning-making, involving perspectives, values, reflections, and curiosities that transcend the story context. Quantified concrete and abstract meaning-making scores were normally distributed, uncorrelated and unrelated to SES. Even controlling for IQ and demographic variables, concrete meaning-making predicted youths’ reporting more satisfying relationships and desired daily affective experiences, while abstract meaning-making was associated with greater working memory, executive functioning, long-term memory, social reasoning, and creativity. Findings tie theoretical dimensions of adolescent development to modern youth’s concrete and abstract construals and demonstrate that these construals may be associated with different developmental affordances.

Patients' perceptions on non-specific effects of acupuncture: Qualitative comparison between responders and non-responders

BACKGROUND

Non-specific effect of acupuncture constitutes part of the overall effect generated via clinical encounter beyond needle insertion and stimulation. It is unclear how responders and non-responders of acupuncture experience non-specific effects differently. We aimed to compare their experiences in a nested qualitative study embedded in an acupuncture randomized trial on functional dyspepsia.

METHODS

Purposive sampling was used to capture experience of responders (n=15) and non-responders (n=15) to acupuncture via individual in-depth interviews. Design and analysis followed a framework analysis approach, with reference to an existing model on acupuncture non-specific effects. Themes emerging outside of this model were purposefully explored.

RESULTS

Responders had a more trusting relationship with acupuncturist in response to their expression of empathy. In turn they were more actively engaged in lifestyle modifications and dietary advice offered by acupuncturists. Non-responders were not satisfied with the level of reassurance regarding acupuncture safety. They were also expecting more peer support from fellow participants, regarded that as an empowerment process for initiating and sustaining lifestyle changes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results highlighted key differences in acupuncture non-specific effect components experienced by responders and non-responders. Positive non-specific effects contributing to overall benefits could be enhanced by emphasizing on empathy expression from acupuncturists, trust-building, offering appropriate explanations on safety, and organizing patient support groups. Further research on the relative importance of each component is warranted.

Neural correlates of compassion - An integrative systematic review

Compassion is a psychological construct that has received increasing attention in recent years. Even though a lot of work has been done to identify neural correlates of empathy across studies, such work has not been properly done on neural correlates of compassion. Therefore, the aim was to systematically review the literature on neural correlates of compassion. We have searched through PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science for relevant articles published between 1985 and 2020. We included the studies (n = 35) examining the relationship between brain structure or function and compassion. Screening was performed by two authors, between whom a level of agreement was calculated. The quality of the studies was assessed by measures used in other studies as well by measures specific for our study aims. This study was conducted under PRISMA guidelines. Our analysis revealed that the most frequent neural associations with compassion across all analysed studies can be found in the orbital part of the left inferior frontal gyrus, in the right cerebellum, the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, in the bilateral insula and the right caudate nucleus. Our findings suggest that people displaying a lower compassion tend to have either lower neural activity or a grey matter volume in neural areas associated with reward.

Default and Executive Networks' Roles in Diverse Adolescents' Emotionally Engaged Construals of Complex Social Issues

Across adolescence, individuals enrich their concrete, empathic, context-specific interpretations of social-world happenings with abstract, situation-transcending, system-level considerations—invoking values, bigger implications and broader emotional perspectives. To investigate neural mechanisms involved in abstract construals vs concrete construals and the effects of emotional engagement on these mechanisms, 65 mid-adolescents aged 14–18 years reacted to compelling video mini-documentaries during private, open-ended interviews and again during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Following calls to diversify samples, participants were ethnically diverse low-socioeconomic status (SES) urban adolescents performing well in school. Participants spontaneously produced both concrete and abstract construals in the interview, and tendencies to produce each varied independently. As hypothesized, participants who made more abstract construals showed a greater subsequent default mode network (DMN) activity; those who made more concrete construals showed greater executive control network (ECN) activity. Findings were independent of IQ, SES, age and gender. Within individuals, DMN activation, especially when individuals were reporting strong emotional engagement, and ECN deactivation together predicted an abstract construal to a trial. Additionally, brief ECN activation early in the trial strengthened the DMN–abstraction relationship. Findings suggest a neural mechanism for abstract social thought in adolescence. They also link adolescents’ natural construals of social situations to distinct networks’ activity and suggest separable sociocognitive traits that may vary across youths.

Neural underpinnings of morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment

Morality judgment usually refers to the evaluation of moral behavior`s ability to affect others` interests and welfare, while moral aesthetic judgment often implies the appraisal of moral behavior's capability to provide aesthetic pleasure. Both are based on the behavioral understanding. To our knowledge, no study has directly compared the brain activity of these two types of judgments. The present study recorded and analyzed brain activity involved in the morality and moral aesthetic judgments to reveal whether these two types of judgments differ in their neural underpinnings. Results reveled that morality judgment activated the frontal, parietal and occipital cortex previously reported for motor representations of behavior. Evaluation of goodness and badness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. In contrast, moral aesthetic judgment elicited specific activations in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex proved to be involved in the behavioral intentions and emotions. Evaluation of beauty and ugliness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. Our findings indicate that morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment recruit different cortical networks that might decode others' behaviors at different levels. These results contribute to further understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality judgment and aesthetic judgment.

The neuroscience of social feelings: mechanisms of adaptive social functioning

Social feelings have conceptual and empirical connections with affect and emotion. In this review, we discuss how they relate to cognition, emotion, behavior and well-being. We examine the functional neuroanatomy and neurobiology of social feelings and their role in adaptive social functioning. Existing neuroscience literature is reviewed to identify concepts, methods and challenges that might be addressed by social feelings research. Specific topic areas highlight the influence and modulation of social feelings on interpersonal affiliation, parent-child attachments, moral sentiments, interpersonal stressors, and emotional communication. Brain regions involved in social feelings were confirmed by meta-analysis using the Neurosynth platform for large-scale, automated synthesis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Words that relate specifically to social feelings were identfied as potential research variables. Topical inquiries into social media behaviors, loneliness, trauma, and social sensitivity, especially with recent physical distancing for guarding public and personal health, underscored the increasing importance of social feelings for affective and second person neuroscience research with implications for brain development, physical and mental health, and lifelong adaptive functioning.

Functional Brain Connectivity During Narrative Processing Relates to Transportation and Story Influence

Engaging with narratives involves a complex array of cognitive and affective processes. These processes make stories persuasive in ways that standard arguments are not, though the underlying reasons for this remain unclear. Transportation theory proposes a potential explanation for this: narratives are processed in a way which makes individuals feel immersed in the world of a story, which in turn leads people to resonate emotionally with the events of the story. Recent fMRI studies have shown that the posterior medial cortex (PMC) and anterior insula (AI) play important roles in understanding the meaning of stories and experiencing the feelings they produce. In this study, we aimed to explore the AI’s and PMC’s role in narrative processing by measuring their functional connectivity with the rest of the brain during story listening, and how connectivity changes as a function of narrative transportation and the persuasiveness of the story. We analyzed data from 36 right-handed subjects who listened to two stories, obtained from podcasts, inside the fMRI scanner. After the scan, subjects were asked a series of questions, including a measure of how transported into the story they felt, how likely they would be to donate to causes related to the messages of the stories. We used searchlight multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to classify functional connectivity maps using seeds in both the AI and PMC and to compare these maps between participants who differed in transportation and prosocial intention. We found that connectivity to various regions successfully distinguished between high and low ratings on each of these behavioral measures with accuracies over 75%. However, only one pattern of connectivity was consistent across both stories: PMC-inferior frontal gyrus connectivity successfully distinguished high and low ratings of narrative transportation in both stories. All other findings were not consistent across stories. Instead, we found that patterns of connectivity may relate more to the specific content of the story rather than to a universal way in which narratives are processed.

A Feature-Based Network Analysis and fMRI Meta-Analysis Reveal Three Distinct Types of Prosocial Decisions

Tasks that measure correlates of prosocial decision-making share one common feature: agents can make choices that increase the welfare of a beneficiary. However, prosocial decisions vary widely as a function of other task features. The diverse ways that prosociality is defined and the heterogeneity of prosocial decisions have created challenges for interpreting findings across studies and identifying their neural correlates. To overcome these challenges, we aimed to organize the prosocial decision-making task space of neuroimaging studies. We conducted a systematic search for studies in which participants made decisions to increase the welfare of others during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We identified shared and distinct features of these tasks and employed an unsupervised graph-based approach to assess how various forms of prosocial decision-making are related in terms of their low-level components (e.g. task features like potential cost to the agent or potential for reciprocity). Analyses uncovered three clusters of prosocial decisions, which we labeled as cooperation, equity and altruism. This feature-based representation of the task structure was supported by results of a neuroimaging meta-analysis that each type of prosocial decisions recruited diverging neural systems. Results clarify some of the existing heterogeneity in how prosociality is conceptualized and generate insight for future research and task paradigm development.

[Art, empathy and suicide prevention]

Empathy for patients is not only learned through reasoning, but also through sensitivity. Art, reflecting the human emotional dimension, has its place as an educational resource in the training of health professionals. Caregivers must be competent to collect the psychological pain associated with suicidal risk, which is a prerequisite for any preventive action. Since facilitating empathy also protects against burn-out, there is much to be gained by promoting educational programs of artistic observation.

Intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride induces lateralized activation of the insular cortex in adult mice

Insular cortex is a critical brain region that participates in the interoceptive sensations. Here, we combined the iDISCO + method and Fos immunostaining to confirm that the middle part of the right-side, but not the left-side, insular cortex in adult male mice is activated by intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride. Lateralized activation of the insular cortex is also observed in adult female mice, but not in young or aged male mice. Furthermore, asymmetrical activation of the insular cortex was completely blocked when both sides of the vagal nerve are transected, whereas intravenous injection of lithium chloride has no effect on the insular activation. Combined together, these results indicate that the insular cortex unilaterally responds to aversive visceral stimuli in an age-dependent way and this process depends on the vagal afferent pathways.

Functional Polymorphisms in Oxytocin and Dopamine Pathway Genes and the Development of Dispositional Compassion Over Time: The Young Finns Study

Background: We define compassion as an enduring disposition that centers upon empathetic concern for another person's suffering and the motivation to act to alleviate it. The contribution of specific candidate genes to the development of dispositional compassion for others is currently unknown. We examine candidate genes in the oxytocin and dopamine signaling pathways.

Methods: In a 32-year follow-up of the Young Finns Study (N = 2,130, 44.0% men), we examined with multiple indicators latent growth curve modeling the molecular genetic underpinnings of dispositional compassion for others across the life span. We selected five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) whose functions are known in humans: rs2268498 (OXTR), rs3796863 (CD38) (related to lower oxytocin levels), rs1800497 (ANKK1/DRD2), rs4680 (COMT), and rs1611115 (DBH) (related to higher dopamine levels). Compassion was measured with Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory on three repeated observations spanning 15 years (1997–2012). Differences between gender were tested.

Results: We did not find an effect of the five SNPs in oxytocin and dopamine pathway genes on the initial levels of dispositional compassion for others. Individuals who carry one or two copies of the T-allele of DBH rs1611115, however, tend to increase faster in compassion over time than those homozygotes for the C-allele, b = 0.063 (SE = 0.027; p = 0.018). This effect was largely driven by male participants, 0.206 (SE = 0.046; p < 0.001), and was not significant in female participants when analyzed separately.

Conclusions: Men who are known to have, on average, lower compassion than women seem to reduce this difference over time if they carry the T-allele of DBH rs1611115. The direction of the association indicates that dopamine signaling activity rather than overall dopamine levels might drive the development of compassion.

High-dose electronic media use in five-year-olds and its association with their psychosocial symptoms: a cohort study

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the frequency of electronic media (e-media) usage by preschool children and the risks of high-dose e-media use on young children's psychosocial well-being.

DESIGN

Longitudinal associations between e-media use at 18 months and psychosocial symptoms at 5 years of age were studied, as well as cross-sectional associations between e-media use and psychosocial symptoms at 5 years.

SETTING

Between 2011 and 2017 in Finland.

PARTICIPANTS

Children aged 5 years (n=699).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Children's psychosocial symptoms were determined at the age of 5 years using the parent-reported questionnaires Five-to-Fifteen (FTF) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

RESULTS

Based on our results, 95% of the preschool children exceeded the daily recommended use of e-media set by health professionals. Our results indicate that increased screen time at 5 years of age is associated with a risk of multiple psychosocial symptoms (OR 1.53-2.18, 95% CI 1.05 to 3.34, p<0.05), while increased levels of e-media use at 18 months was only associated with FTF peer problems (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.41, p=0.03). Moreover, high-dose use of electronic games at the age of 5 years seems to be associated with fewer risks for psychosocial well-being than programme viewing, as it was only associated with SDQ hyperactivity (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.51, p=0.02).

CONCLUSION

Increased screen time has multiple risks for children's psychosocial well-being. These risk factors seem to be significant in the long term, and are related to problems in children's socio-emotional development later on. Health professionals and paediatricians have an important role as communicators of the current research results on the safe usage time of e-media for families, and enhancing parents' skills as regulators of children's safe e-media use. More research is needed on the family conditions of high-dose e-media users.

MEASURING HUMAN RESOURCE ATTITUDE USING ORGANISATIONAL THEORY OF RELATIONSHIP: THE WAY FORWARD

This paper argues that classical socialisation theories generally discuss the organisational structures rather than the newcomer’s psychology of relationships in any organisation and contributes to the socialisation stage model. In doing so, this research proposes an Organisational Theory of Relationship (OTR) for understanding the relationships of human resources in any organisation in four stages, namely fascination, contention, adaptation and adoration. The four stages have been examined in an empirical setting based on the data collected from 270 participants. Using the structural equation modelling, the measurement model validity was ascertained and several hypotheses were tested. The findings reveal that all employees in any organisation, intentionally or unintentionally, undergo some or all of the four stages. This model can provide a better insight into the organisational socialisation and individualism of its human resource. It also recommends the organisations to adopt the best possible strategies for uplifting employees’ psychological engagement to utilise their full potentials. The findings of the study can help to understand socialisation in relation to interpersonal relationships and provide a foundation for making   socialisation in the organisation better.  

Risky emotional family environment in childhood and depression-related cytokines in adulthood: The protective role of compassion

BACKGROUND

Previously, compassion has been found to protect against depressive symptoms, while emotional adversities in childhood are suggested to increase inflammatory responses. The current study investigated (a) whether emotional family environment in childhood predicts levels of such cytokines in adulthood that are previously found to be elevated in depression (interleukin [IL]-2, IL-6, IL-1b, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interferon-gamma [IFN-γ], and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]) and (b) whether these associations are modified by compassion in adulthood.

METHODS

The participants (N = 1,198-1,523) came from the prospective population-based Young Finns data. Emotional family environment and parental socioeconomic factors were evaluated in 1980; participants' compassion in 2001; and participants' cytokine levels and adulthood covariates in 2007.

RESULTS

Risky emotional family environment in childhood predicted higher levels of IL-2, IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α in adulthood. Additionally, there were significant interaction effects between compassion and emotional risk in childhood, when predicting IL-2, IL-6, and TNF-α. Specifically, individuals who grew up in a risky emotional family environment had on average higher levels of IL-2, IL-6, and TNF-α in adulthood when combined with low compassion.

CONCLUSIONS

In individuals coming from risky emotional family environments, high compassion for others may protect against elevated levels of cytokines previously linked with depression.

A Review on Research and Evaluation Methods for Investigating Self-Transcendence

Self-transcendence has been characterized as a decrease in self-saliency (ego disillusionment) and increased connection, and has been growing in research interest in the past decade. Several measures have been developed and published with some degree of psychometric validity and reliability. However, to date, there has been no review systematically describing, contrasting, and evaluating the different methodological approaches toward measuring self-transcendence including questionnaires, neurological and physiological measures, and qualitative methods. To address this gap, we conducted a review to describe existing methods of measuring self-transcendence, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these methods, and discuss research avenues to advance assessment of self-transcendence, including recommendations for suitability of methods given research contexts.

Intrinsic Connectivity Networks in the Self- and Other-Referential Processing

Neuroimaging studies have revealed a multitude of brain regions associated with self- and other-referential processing, but the question how the distinction between self, close other, and distant other is processed in the brain still remains unanswered. The default mode network (DMN) is the primary network associated with the processing of self, whereas task-positive networks (TPN) are indispensable for the processing of external objects. We hypothesize that self- and close-other-processing would engage DMN more than TPN, whereas distant-other-processing would engage TPN to a greater extent. To test this hypothesis, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) functional connectivity data obtained in the course of a trait adjective judgment task while subjects evaluated themselves, the best friend, a neutral stranger, and an unpleasant person. A positive association between the degree of self-relatedness and the degree of DMN dominance was revealed in cortical midline structures (CMS) and the left lateral prefrontal cortex. Relative to TPN, DMN showed greater connectivity in me than in friend, in friend than in stranger, and in stranger than in unpleasant conditions. These results show that the less the evaluated person is perceived as self-related, the more the balance of activity in the brain shifts from the DMN to the TPN.

Taking care of the researcher -a nature and art-related activity retreat: Sharing natural space puts humanity into perspective

BACKGROUND

There has been an insufficient amount of studies that examine how academic working life of researchers can be supported.

OBJECTIVE

We examine the use of a nature and art-related activity retreat designed for researchers. The purpose was to evaluate if and how researchers perceived different workshop experiences set in nature as meaningful and important with regards to their self-care.

METHODS

A mixed group of six researchers from Sweden, Finland, and the United States met for a three-day retreat consisting of self-selected nature and art-related activities. From data constituted from participant reflections, a focus group interview, a three months follow-up questionnaire, and an analysis of the workshops undertaken, three major themes were identified: "Sharing and connection", "Embodiment" and "Nature".

RESULTS

Analysis of the workshop-style exercises did not show significant variance in reported meaningfulness and usefulness related to the activity itself. However, there was a strong correlation between perceived value and shared experience where the sharing of the natural space was felt to put humanity into perspective.

CONCLUSION

Organizing and systematizing health preventive retreats for researchers in academia may be an important part of the sustainabile academic community in which the researcher needs to be better taken care of in a more embodied way. Although this study was conducted prior to COVID-19, such retreats and potentially also online versions, could be useful for managing the pandemic and afterwards, in our new "normal".

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescent Cyberaggressors and Cybervictims

The main objective of the present research was to examine the role played by emotional intelligence in its three dimensions—emotional attention, emotional clarity, and emotion regulation—and by empathy in its four dimensions—perspective-taking, empathic understanding, empathic stress, and empathic joy—in cyber violence, both in aggressors and victims. A total sample of 1318 adolescents (47% boys; aged between 11 and 17 years), enrolled in four secondary compulsory education schools in Spain, participated in the study. The results indicated that, regarding emotional intelligence, cyberaggressors showed statistically significant differences in the dimension of emotion regulation. Participation in violent online behaviors is associated with a lower capacity to regulate emotions; cybervictims showed statistically significant differences in the three dimensions of emotional intelligence. Regarding empathy, cyberaggressors obtained statistically significant group differences in three of these dimensions: perspective-taking, empathetic joy, and empathic stress. Finally, the empathy dimensions for the cybervictimization groups did not show significant mean differences, indicating that there was no statistical relationship between the degree of cybervictimization and the individual’s empathy. These findings stress the relevance of emotion regulation in cyberviolence in students in adolescence and allow us to understand the different roles it plays for offenders and victims.

Does Compassion Predict Blood Pressure and Hypertension? The Modifying Role of Familial Risk for Hypertension

Background

This study investigated (i) whether compassion is associated with blood pressure or hypertension in adulthood and (ii) whether familial risk for hypertension modifies these associations.

Method

The participants (N = 1112–1293) came from the prospective Young Finns Study. Parental hypertension was assessed in 1983–2007; participants’ blood pressure in 2001, 2007, and 2011; hypertension in 2007 and 2011 (participants were aged 30–49 years in 2007–2011); and compassion in 2001.

Results

High compassion predicted lower levels of diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Additionally, high compassion was related to lower risk for hypertension in adulthood among individuals with no familial risk for hypertension (independently of age, sex, participants’ and their parents’ socioeconomic factors, and participants’ health behaviors). Compassion was not related to hypertension in adulthood among individuals with familial risk for hypertension.

Conclusion

High compassion predicts lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Moreover, high compassion may protect against hypertension among individuals without familial risk for hypertension. As our sample consisted of comparatively young participants, our findings provide novel implications for especially early-onset hypertension.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s12529-020-09886-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

When gratitude and cooperation between friends affect inter-brain connectivity for EEG

Background

Recently several studies in the psychological and social field have investigated the social function of gift exchange as a useful way for the consolidation of interpersonal and social relationships and the implementation of prosocial behaviors. Specifically, the present research wanted to explore if gift exchange, increased emotional sharing, gratitude and interpersonal cooperation, leading to an improvement in cognitive and behavioral performance. In this regard, neural connectivity and cognitive performance of 14 pairs of friends were recorded during the development of a joint attention task that involved a gift exchange at the beginning or halfway through the task. The moment of gift exchange was randomized within the pairs: for seven couples, it happened at task beginning, for the remaining seven later. Individuals’ simultaneous brain activity was recorded through the use of two electroencephalograms (EEG) systems that were used in hyperscanning.

Results

The results showed that after gift exchange there was an improvement in behavioral performance in terms of accuracy. For what concerns EEG, instead, an increase of delta and theta activation was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when gift exchange occurred at the beginning of the task. Furthermore, an increase in neural connectivity for delta and theta bands was observed.

Conclusion

The present research provides a significant contribution to the exploration of the factors contributing to the strengthening of social bonds, increasing cooperation, gratitude and prosocial behavior.

Guilty by association: How group-based (collective) guilt arises in the brain

People do not only feel guilty for transgressions that they are causally responsible for (i.e., personal guilt); they also feel guilty for transgressions committed by those they identify as in-group members (i.e., collective or group-based guilt). Decades of research using scenario-based imagination tasks and self-reported measures has shown that when reminded of transgressions committed by in-group members, people express guilt and are willing to make amends, even when they are not causally responsible for the transgressions. However, it remains elusive whether people genuinely experience guilt or simply display remorseful gestures deemed appropriate in those contexts. To resolve this puzzle, it is critical to closely examine the neurocognitive basis of group-based guilt and its relationship with personal guilt, a goal that self-reported measures alone cannot satisfactorily achieve. Here, we combined functional MRI with an interaction-based minimal group paradigm in which participants either directly caused harm to a group of victims (i.e., personal guilt), or observed in-group members cause harm to the victims (i.e., group-based guilt). In three experiments (N ​= ​90), we demonstrated and replicated that the perceived responsibility one shared with in-group members in transgression predicted both behavioral and neural manifestations of group-based guilt. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of the functional MRI data showed that group-based guilt recruited patterns of neural responses in anterior middle cingulate cortex that resembled personal guilt. These results have broadened our understanding of how group membership is integrated into the neurocognitive processes underlying social emotions.

Linking Pain Sensation to the Autonomic Nervous System: The Role of the Anterior Cingulate and Periaqueductal Gray Resting-State Networks

There are bi-directional interactions between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and pain. This is likely underpinned by a substantial overlap between brain areas of the central autonomic network and areas involved in pain processing and modulation. To date, however, relatively little is known about the neuronal substrates of the ANS-pain association. Here, we acquired resting state fMRI scans in 21 healthy subjects at rest and during tonic noxious cold stimulation. As indicators of autonomic function, we examined how heart rate variability (HRV) frequency measures were influenced by tonic noxious stimulation and how these variables related to participants’ pain perception and to brain functional connectivity in regions known to play a role in both ANS regulation and pain perception, namely the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and periaqueductal gray (PAG). Our findings support a role of the cardiac ANS in brain connectivity during pain, linking functional connections of the dACC and PAG with measurements of low frequency (LF)-HRV. In particular, we identified a three-way relationship between the ANS, cortical brain networks known to underpin pain processing, and participants’ subjectively reported pain experiences. LF-HRV both at rest and during pain correlated with functional connectivity between the seed regions and other cortical areas including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), left anterior insula (AI), and the precuneus. Our findings link cardiovascular autonomic parameters to brain activity changes involved in the elaboration of nociceptive information, thus beginning to elucidate underlying brain mechanisms associated with the reciprocal relationship between autonomic and pain-related systems.

Pathologic tearfulness after limbic encephalitis: A novel disorder and its neural basis

Objective

We investigated the nature and neural foundations of pathologic tearfulness in a uniquely large cohort of patients who had presented with autoimmune limbic encephalitis (aLE).

Methods

We recruited 38 patients (26 men, 12 women; median age 63.06 years; interquartile range [IQR] 16.06 years) in the postacute phase of aLE who completed questionnaires probing emotion regulation. All patients underwent structural/functional MRI postacutely, along with 67 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (40 men, 27 women; median age 64.70 years; IQR 19.87 years). We investigated correlations of questionnaire scores with demographic, clinical, neuropsychological, and brain imaging data across patients. We also compared patients diagnosed with pathologic tearfulness and those without, along with healthy controls, on gray matter volume, resting-state functional connectivity, and activity.

Results

Pathologic tearfulness was reported by 50% of the patients, while no patient reported pathologic laughing. It was not associated with depression, impulsiveness, memory impairment, executive dysfunction in the postacute phase, or amygdalar abnormalities in the acute phase. It correlated with changes in specific emotional brain networks: volume reduction in the right anterior hippocampus, left fusiform gyrus, and cerebellum, abnormal hippocampal resting-state functional connectivity with the posteromedial cortex and right middle frontal gyrus, and abnormal hemodynamic activity in the left fusiform gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, and ventral pons.

Conclusions

Pathologic tearfulness is common following aLE, is not a manifestation of other neuropsychiatric features, and reflects abnormalities in networks of emotion regulation beyond the acute hippocampal focus. The condition, which may also be present in other neurologic disorders, provides novel insights into the neural basis of affective control and its dysfunction in disease.

Neural correlates of moral goodness and moral beauty judgments

The objects of moral goodness and moral beauty judgments both generally refer to the positive moral acts or virtues of humans, and goodness must precede moral beauty. The main difference is that moral beauty, but not moral goodness, triggers emotional elevation. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms involved in both judgments. In the current study, 28 healthy female participants were scanned when they rated the good and beautiful extent of positive moral acts in daily life depicted in scene drawings to investigate the neural systems supporting moral goodness and moral beauty, specifically to test whether neural activity associated with moral beauty is same or different than moral goodness. The conjunction analysis of the contrasts between moral goodness judgment and moral beauty judgment identified the involvement of the left inferior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), suggesting that the two judgments recruited the activity of a common brain region. Importantly, compared with the moral goodness judgment, the moral beauty judgment induced greater activity in more advanced cortical regions implicated in elevated emotions, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and the left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). These regions have been strongly correlated with the cognitive aspects of moral cognition, including theory of mind (ToM). In addition, moral beauty judgment also activated brain regions implicated in empathy including the midline structures and the anterior insula. Based on these results, the brain harbors neural systems for common and for domain-specific evaluations of moral goodness and moral beauty judgments. Our study thus provides novel and compelling neural evidence for the essence of moral beauty and advances the current knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying the beauty-is-good stereotype.

An innate brainstem self-other system involving orienting, affective responding, and polyvalent relational seeking: Some clinical implications for a "Deep Brain Reorienting" trauma psychotherapy approach

Underlying any complex relational intersubjectivity there is an inherent urge to connect, to have proximity, to engage in an experience of interpersonal contact. The hypothesis set out here is that this most basic urge to connect is dependent on circuits based in three main components: the midbrain superior colliculi (SC), the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), and the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems originating in the midbrain ventral tegmental area. Firstly, there is orienting towards or away from interpersonal contact, dependent on approach and/or defensive/withdrawal areas of the SC. Secondly, there is an affective response to the contact, mediated by the PAG. Thirdly, there is an associated, affectively-loaded, seeking drive based in the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems. The neurochemical milieu of these dopaminergic systems is responsive to environmental factors, creating the possibility of multiple states of functioning with different affective valences, a polyvalent range of subjectively positive and negative experiences. The recognition of subtle tension changes in skeletal muscles when orienting to an affectively significant experience or event has clinical implications for processing of traumatic memories, including those of a relational/interpersonal nature. Sequences established at the brainstem level can underlie patterns of attachment responding that repeat over many years in different contexts. The interaction of the innate system for connection with that for alarm, through circuits based in the locus coeruleus, and that for defence, based in circuits through the PAG, can lay down deep patterns of emotional and energetic responses to relational stimuli. There may be simultaneous sequences for attachment approach and defensive aggression underlying relational styles that are so deep as to be seen as personality characteristics, for example, of borderline type. A clinical approach derived from these hypotheses, Deep Brain Reorienting, is briefly outlined as it provides a way to address the somatic residues of adverse interpersonal interactions underlying relational patterns and also the residual shock and horror of traumatic experiences. We suggest that the innate alarm system involving the SC and the locus coeruleus can generate a pre-affective shock while an affective shock can arise from excessive stimulation of the PAG. Clinically significant residues can be accessed through careful, mindful, attention to orienting-tension-affect-seeking sequences when the therapist and the client collaborate on eliciting and describing them.

Are Celebrities Really Admired for Their Morality?

This study examines whether the admiration of celebrities is the same or different from admiration of other persons. The Multidimensional Admiration Scale, Rubin's Liking Scale, and the Celebrity Attitude Scale were administered to 190 participants from four American universities. Participants were randomly assigned to fill out either the "most admired person" version or the "favorite celebrity" version (n = 96) of the three scales. We hypothesized that the Multidimensional Admiration Scale is a valid measure of admiration for individuals who are familiar with the morality of the target person, but is invalid for measuring admiration for celebrities. Arguably, this is partly because celebrities are admired mostly for their ability to entertain, and not their morality, which is often unknown or little is known to their fans. The results generally confirmed our hypotheses. The Multidimensional Admiration Scale was not intended as a measure of admiration for celebrities and is not recommended to be used for that purpose.