1
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Sarasso P, Tschacher W, Schoeller F, Francesetti G, Roubal J, Gecele M, Sacco K, Ronga I. Nature heals: An informational entropy account of self-organization and change in field psychotherapy. Phys Life Rev 2024; 51:64-84. [PMID: 39299158 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2024] [Accepted: 09/04/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
This paper reviews biophysical models of psychotherapeutic change based on synergetics and the free energy principle. These models suggest that introducing sensory surprise into the patient-therapist system can lead to self-organization and the formation of new attractor states, disrupting entrenched patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. We propose that the therapist can facilitate this process by cultivating epistemic trust and modulating embodied attention to allow surprising affective states to enter shared awareness. Transient increases in free energy enable the update of generative models, expanding the range of experiences available within the patient-therapist phenomenal field. We hypothesize that patterns of disorganization at behavioural and physiological levels, indexed by increased entropy, complexity, and lower determinism, are key markers and predictors of psychotherapeutic gains. Future research should investigate how the therapist's openness to novelty shapes therapeutic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro Sarasso
- Brain Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
| | - Wolfgang Tschacher
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Felix Schoeller
- Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, Santa Monica, CA, United States; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Gianni Francesetti
- International Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology, Turin, Italy
| | - Jan Roubal
- Gestalt Studia, Training in Psychotherapy Integration, Center for Psychotherapy Research in Brno, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
| | - Michela Gecele
- International Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology, Turin, Italy
| | - Katiuscia Sacco
- Brain Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Irene Ronga
- Brain Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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2
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Boukarras S, Ferri D, Borgogni L, Aglioti SM. Neurophysiological markers of asymmetric emotional contagion: implications for organizational contexts. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 18:1321130. [PMID: 38357225 PMCID: PMC10861795 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1321130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Emotions play a vital role within organizations, impacting various crucial aspects of work such as job satisfaction, performance, and employee well-being. Understanding how emotional states spread in organizational settings is therefore essential. Recent studies have highlighted that a leader's emotional state can influence their followers, with significant consequences on job performance. Leaders thus possess the ability to influence their employees' psychological state and, consequently, their well-being. However, the biological underpinnings of emotional contagion from leaders to followers remain unexplored. The field of interpersonal (neuro)physiology, which involves recording brain and peripheral activity of multiple individuals during interactions, holds great potential for investigating this phenomenon. Analyzing the time-lagged synchronization of neurophysiological activity during interactions may serve as a measure of the leader's influence on their followers in organizational contexts. In this "mini review," we examine empirical studies that have employed interpersonal (neuro)physiology to quantify the asymmetrical contagion of emotions in different contexts. Asymmetrical contagion was operationalized as the unidirectional influence exerted by one individual (i.e., the "sender") to another one (i.e., the "receiver"), whereby the receiver's state can be predicted by the sender's one. The reviewed literature reveals that delayed synchronization of physiological states is a widespread phenomenon that may underpin the transmission of emotions. These findings have significant implications for various aspects of organizational life, including leader-to-employee communication, and could drive the development of effective leadership training programs. We propose that Organizational Neuroscience may benefit from including interpersonal neurophysiology in its methodological toolkit for laboratory and field studies of leader-follower dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Donato Ferri
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Ernst and Young (EY), Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Borgogni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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3
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Bolis D, Dumas G, Schilbach L. Interpersonal attunement in social interactions: from collective psychophysiology to inter-personalized psychiatry and beyond. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210365. [PMID: 36571122 PMCID: PMC9791489 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In this article, we analyse social interactions, drawing on diverse points of views, ranging from dialectics, second-person neuroscience and enactivism to dynamical systems, active inference and machine learning. To this end, we define interpersonal attunement as a set of multi-scale processes of building up and materializing social expectations-put simply, anticipating and interacting with others and ourselves. While cultivating and negotiating common ground, via communication and culture-building activities, are indispensable for the survival of the individual, the relevant multi-scale mechanisms have been largely considered in isolation. Here, collective psychophysiology, we argue, can lend itself to the fine-tuned analysis of social interactions, without neglecting the individual. On the other hand, an interpersonal mismatch of expectations can lead to a breakdown of communication and social isolation known to negatively affect mental health. In this regard, we review psychopathology in terms of interpersonal misattunement, conceptualizing psychiatric disorders as disorders of social interaction, to describe how individual mental health is inextricably linked to social interaction. By doing so, we foresee avenues for an inter-personalized psychiatry, which moves from a static spectrum of disorders to a dynamic relational space, focusing on how the multi-faceted processes of social interaction can help to promote mental health. This article is part of the theme issue 'Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitris Bolis
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 2–10, Muenchen-Schwabing 80804, Germany,Centre for Philosophy of Science, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal,Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-0867, Japan
| | - Guillaume Dumas
- Precision Psychiatry and Social Physiology Laboratory, CHU Ste-Justine Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3T 1J4,Mila - Quebec AI Institute, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2S 3H1,Culture Mind and Brain Program, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A1
| | - Leonhard Schilbach
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 2–10, Muenchen-Schwabing 80804, Germany,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich 40629, Germany,Department of General Psychiatry 2, LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 80336, Germany
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4
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Pérez A, Davis MH. Speaking and listening to inter-brain relationships. Cortex 2023; 159:54-63. [PMID: 36608420 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Studies of inter-brain relationships thrive, and yet many reservations regarding their scope and interpretation of these phenomena have been raised by the scientific community. It is thus essential to establish common ground on methodological and conceptual definitions related to this topic and to open debate about any remaining points of uncertainty. We here offer insights to improve the conceptual clarity and empirical standards offered by social neuroscience studies of inter-personal interaction using hyperscanning with a particular focus on verbal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Pérez
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
| | - Matthew H Davis
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
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5
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Fini C, Bardi L, Bolis D, Fusaro M, Lisi MP, Michalland AH, Era V. The social roots of self development: from a bodily to an intellectual interpersonal dialogue. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023:10.1007/s00426-022-01785-6. [PMID: 36595049 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01785-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, we propose that interpersonal bodily interactions represent a fertile ground in which the bodily and psychological self is developed, gradually allowing for forms of more abstract and disembodied interactions. We start by focusing on how early infant-caregiver bodily interactions play a crucial role in shaping the boundaries of the self but also in learning to predict others' behavior. We then explore the social function of the sense of touch in the entire life span, highlighting its role in promoting physical and psychological well-being by supporting positive interpersonal exchanges. We go on by introducing the concept of implicit theory of mind, as the early ability to interpret others' intentions, possibly grounded in infant-caregiver bodily exchanges (embodied practices). In the following part, we consider so-called higher level forms of social interaction: intellectual exchanges among individuals. In this regard, we defend the view that, beside the apparent private dimension of "thinking abstractly", using abstract concepts is intrinsically a social process, as it entails the re-enactment of the internalized dialogue through which we acquired the concepts in the first place. Finally, we describe how the hypothesis of "dialectical attunement" may explain the development of abstract thinking: to effectively transform the world according to their survival needs, individuals co-construct structured concepts of it; by doing so, humans fundamentally transform not merely the world they are being in, but their being in the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Fini
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | - Lara Bardi
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Marc Jeannerod, CNRS/UMR 5229, Bron, France.,Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Dimitris Bolis
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry,Kraepelinstrasse 2-10, 80804, Muenchen-Schwabing, Germany.,Centre for Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.,Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki, 444-0867, Japan
| | | | - Matteo P Lisi
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
| | - Arthur Henri Michalland
- Department of Psychology, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, 34199, Montpellier, France.,University of Montpellier - LIFAM, Montpellier, France
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
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6
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Gvirts Problovski HZ, Sherman M, Melnikova V. A link between social isolation during the coronavirus outbreak and social alignment in balcony parties. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264109. [PMID: 35385473 PMCID: PMC8985989 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing need for assessing the psychological costs of social isolation (SI). We examine whether the balcony party during the first outbreak of the pandemic is associated with how individuals cope with SI as well as its causes and consequences during the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 303 quarantined persons responded to a Web-based survey. We found that the effect of balcony parties on the psychological costs of SI is dependent on the self-reported levels of SI. Those who experienced high levels of causes of SI perceived the balcony parties as more beneficial in inducing positive affect and reducing negative affect in comparison to those who experienced low levels of causes of SI. The opposite pattern was observed when individuals were asked about their participation in these parties: individuals with high levels of consequences of SI experienced balcony parties as less beneficial than similar pre-outbreak gathering events, while individuals with low levels of consequences of SI showed an opposite pattern. Finally, for those with high levels of causes of SI and consequences of SI, balcony parties did not meet the expectation of creating feelings of communal solidarity. However, a discrepancy between high SI expectations and experience was not found for those with low SI. Our findings demonstrate that the balcony parties are beneficial in reducing the emotional cost of social isolation–but only for those who feel low levels of SI. The fact that individuals with high levels of SI expected more out of these parties suggests the need to develop interventions aimed at optimizing their expectations. As society enters a new period in which the costs of social distancing may be higher, our findings are valuable for understanding the psychological battle that individuals face while in social isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mor Sherman
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, Ariel University, Ari’el, Israel
| | - Victoria Melnikova
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, Ariel University, Ari’el, Israel
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7
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Nguyen M, Chang A, Micciche E, Meshulam M, Nastase SA, Hasson U. Teacher-student neural coupling during teaching and learning. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:367-376. [PMID: 34450637 PMCID: PMC8972247 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human communication is remarkably versatile, enabling teachers to share highly abstracted and novel information with their students. What neural processes enable such transfer of information across brains during naturalistic teaching and learning? Here, a teacher was scanned in functional magnetic resonance imaging while giving an oral lecture with slides on a scientific topic followed by a review lecture. Students were then scanned while watching either the intact Lecture and Review (N = 20) or a temporally scrambled version of the lecture (N = 20). Using intersubject correlation, we observed widespread Teacher-Student neural coupling spanning sensory cortex and language regions along the superior temporal sulcus as well as higher-level regions including posterior medial cortex (PMC), superior parietal lobule, and dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Teacher-student alignment in higher-level areas was not observed when learning was disrupted by temporally scrambling the lecture. Moreover, teacher-student coupling in PMC was significantly correlated with learning: the more closely the student's brain mirrored the teacher's brain, the more the student improved their learning score. Together, these results suggest that the alignment of neural responses between teacher and students may reflect effective communication of complex information across brains in classroom settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mai Nguyen
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Ashley Chang
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Emily Micciche
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Meir Meshulam
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Samuel A Nastase
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Uri Hasson
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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8
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Duerler P, Vollenweider FX, Preller KH. A neurobiological perspective on social influence: Serotonin and social adaptation. J Neurochem 2022; 162:60-79. [PMID: 35274296 PMCID: PMC9322456 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Humans are inherently social beings. Being suggestible to each other's expectations enables pro-social skills that are crucial for social learning and adaptation. Despite its high relevance for psychiatry, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social adaptation are still not well understood. This review therefore provides a conceptual framework covering various distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation and explores the neuropharmacology - in particular the role of the serotonin (5-HT) system - modulating these mechanisms. This article therefore reviews empirical results on social influence processing and reconciles them with recent findings from psychedelic research on social processing to elucidate neurobiological and neuropharmacological underpinnings of social adaptation. Various computational, neurobiological, and neurochemical processes are involved in distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation such as the multisensory process of social information integration that is crucial for the forming of self-representation and representations of social norms. This is again associated with self- and other-perception during social interactions as well as value-based decision making that guides our behaviour in daily interactions. We highlight the critical role of 5-HT in these processes and suggest that 5-HT can facilitate social learning and may represent an important target for treating psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social functioning. This framework also has important implications for psychedelic-assisted therapy as well as for the development of novel treatment approaches and future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Duerler
- Neuropsychopharmacology and Brain Imaging, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital for Psychiatry Zurich, Lenggstr. 31, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Franz X Vollenweider
- Neuropsychopharmacology and Brain Imaging, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital for Psychiatry Zurich, Lenggstr. 31, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katrin H Preller
- Neuropsychopharmacology and Brain Imaging, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital for Psychiatry Zurich, Lenggstr. 31, Zurich, Switzerland
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9
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Bilek E, Zeidman P, Kirsch P, Tost H, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Friston K. Directed coupling in multi-brain networks underlies generalized synchrony during social exchange. Neuroimage 2022; 252:119038. [PMID: 35231631 PMCID: PMC8987739 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in social neuroscience have made neural signatures of social exchange measurable simultaneously across people. This has identified brain regions differentially active during social interaction between human dyads, but the underlying systems-level mechanisms are incompletely understood. This paper introduces dynamic causal modeling and Bayesian model comparison to assess the causal and directed connectivity between two brains in the context of hyperscanning (h-DCM). In this setting, correlated neuronal responses become the data features that have to be explained by models with and without between-brain (effective) connections. Connections between brains can be understood in the context of generalized synchrony, which explains how dynamical systems become synchronized when they are coupled to each another. Under generalized synchrony, each brain state can be predicted by the other brain or a mixture of both. Our results show that effective connectivity between brains is not a feature within dyads per se but emerges selectively during social exchange. We demonstrate a causal impact of the sender's brain activity on the receiver of information, which explains previous reports of two-brain synchrony. We discuss the implications of this work; in particular, how characterizing generalized synchrony enables the discovery of between-brain connections in any social contact, and the advantage of h-DCM in studying brain function on the subject level, dyadic level, and group level within a directed model of (between) brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edda Bilek
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim 68159 , Germany.
| | - Peter Zeidman
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Kirsch
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim 68159, Germany
| | - Heike Tost
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim 68159 , Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim 68159 , Germany
| | - Karl Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
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10
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Shamay-Tsoory SG, Hertz U. Adaptive Empathy: A Model for Learning Empathic Responses in Response to Feedback. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022; 17:1008-1023. [PMID: 35050819 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211031926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is usually deployed in social interactions. Nevertheless, common measures and examinations of empathy study this construct in isolation from the person in distress. In this article we seek to extend the field of examination to include both empathizer and target to determine whether and how empathic responses are affected by feedback and learned through interaction. Building on computational approaches in feedback-based adaptations (e.g., no feedback, model-free and model-based learning), we propose a framework for understanding how empathic responses are learned on the basis of feedback. In this framework, adaptive empathy, defined as the ability to adapt one's empathic responses, is a central aspect of empathic skills and can provide a new dimension to the evaluation and investigation of empathy. By extending existing neural models of empathy, we suggest that adaptive empathy may be mediated by interactions between the neural circuits associated with valuation, shared distress, observation-execution, and mentalizing. Finally, we propose that adaptive empathy should be considered a prominent facet of empathic capabilities with the potential to explain empathic behavior in health and psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone G Shamay-Tsoory
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa.,Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa
| | - Uri Hertz
- Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa.,Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa
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11
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Pan Y, Novembre G, Olsson A. The Interpersonal Neuroscience of Social Learning. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021; 17:680-695. [PMID: 34637374 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211008429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The study of the brain mechanisms underpinning social behavior is currently undergoing a paradigm shift, moving its focus from single individuals to the real-time interaction among groups of individuals. Although this development opens unprecedented opportunities to study how interpersonal brain activity shapes behaviors through learning, there have been few direct connections to the rich field of learning science. Our article examines how the rapidly developing field of interpersonal neuroscience is (and could be) contributing to our understanding of social learning. To this end, we first review recent research extracting indices of brain-to-brain coupling (BtBC) in the context of social behaviors and, in particular, social learning. We then discuss how studying communicative behaviors during learning can aid the interpretation of BtBC and how studying BtBC can inform our understanding of such behaviors. We then discuss how BtBC and communicative behaviors collectively can predict learning outcomes, and we suggest several causative and mechanistic models. Finally, we highlight key methodological and interpretational challenges as well as exciting opportunities for integrating research in interpersonal neuroscience with social learning, and we propose a multiperson framework for understanding how interpersonal transmission of information between individual brains shapes social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafeng Pan
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
| | - Giacomo Novembre
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology
| | - Andreas Olsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
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12
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Bolis D, Lahnakoski JM, Seidel D, Tamm J, Schilbach L. Interpersonal similarity of autistic traits predicts friendship quality. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:222-231. [PMID: 33104781 PMCID: PMC7812635 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Autistic traits are known to be associated with social interaction difficulties. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, relevant research has been typically restricted to studying individuals. In line with the 'dialectical misattunement hypothesis' and clinical insights of intact social interactions among autistic individuals, we hypothesized that friendship quality varies as a function of interpersonal similarity and more concretely the difference value of autistic traits in a dyad, above and beyond autistic traits per se. Therefore, in this study, we used self-report questionnaires to investigate these measures in a sample of 67 neurotypical dyads across a broad range of autistic traits. Our results demonstrate that the more similar two persons are in autistic traits, the higher is the perceived quality of their friendship, irrespective of friendship duration, age, sex and, importantly, the (average of) autistic traits in a given dyad. More specifically, higher interpersonal similarity of autistic traits was associated with higher measures of closeness, acceptance and help. These results, therefore, lend support to the idea of an interactive turn in the study of social abilities across the autism spectrum and pave the way for future studies on the multiscale dynamics of social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitris Bolis
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich-Schwabing, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
- Munich Medical Research School (MMRS), Dekanat der Medizinischen Fakultät, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80336 Munich, Germany
| | - Juha M Lahnakoski
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich-Schwabing, Germany
| | - Daniela Seidel
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich-Schwabing, Germany
| | - Jeanette Tamm
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich-Schwabing, Germany
| | - Leonhard Schilbach
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich-Schwabing, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
- Medical Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz, 80539 Munich, Germany
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13
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Henco L, Diaconescu AO, Lahnakoski JM, Brandi ML, Hörmann S, Hennings J, Hasan A, Papazova I, Strube W, Bolis D, Schilbach L, Mathys C. Aberrant computational mechanisms of social learning and decision-making in schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1008162. [PMID: 32997653 PMCID: PMC7588082 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Revised: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychiatric disorders are ubiquitously characterized by debilitating social impairments. These difficulties are thought to emerge from aberrant social inference. In order to elucidate the underlying computational mechanisms, patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (N = 29), schizophrenia (N = 31), and borderline personality disorder (N = 31) as well as healthy controls (N = 34) performed a probabilistic reward learning task in which participants could learn from social and non-social information. Patients with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder performed more poorly on the task than healthy controls and patients with major depressive disorder. Broken down by domain, borderline personality disorder patients performed better in the social compared to the non-social domain. In contrast, controls and major depressive disorder patients showed the opposite pattern and schizophrenia patients showed no difference between domains. In effect, borderline personality disorder patients gave up a possible overall performance advantage by concentrating their learning in the social at the expense of the non-social domain. We used computational modeling to assess learning and decision-making parameters estimated for each participant from their behavior. This enabled additional insights into the underlying learning and decision-making mechanisms. Patients with borderline personality disorder showed slower learning from social and non-social information and an exaggerated sensitivity to changes in environmental volatility, both in the non-social and the social domain, but more so in the latter. Regarding decision-making the modeling revealed that compared to controls and major depression patients, patients with borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia showed a stronger reliance on social relative to non-social information when making choices. Depressed patients did not differ significantly from controls in this respect. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion of a general interpersonal hypersensitivity in borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia based on a shared computational mechanism characterized by an over-reliance on beliefs about others in making decisions and by an exaggerated need to make sense of others during learning specifically in borderline personality disorder. People suffering from psychiatric disorders frequently experience difficulties in social interaction, such as an impaired ability to use social signals to build representations of others and use these to guide behavior. Compuational models of learning and decision-making enable the characterization of individual patterns in learning and decision-making mechanisms that may be disorder-specific or disorder-general. We employed this approach to investigate the behavior of healthy participants and patients diagnosed with depression, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder while they performed a probabilistic reward learning task which included a social component. Patients with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder performed more poorly on the task than controls and depressed patients. In addition, patients with borderline personality disorder concentrated their learning efforts more on the social compared to the non-social information. Computational modeling additionally revealed that borderline personality disorder patients showed a reduced flexibility in the weighting of newly obtained social and non-social information when learning about their predictive value. Instead, we found exaggerated learning of the volatility of social and non-social information. Additionally, we found a pattern shared between patients with borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia who both showed an over-reliance on predictions about social information during decision-making. Our modeling therefore provides a computational account of the exaggerated need to make sense of and rely on one’s interpretation of others’ behavior, which is prominent in both disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Henco
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- Graduate School for Systemic Neurosciences, Munich, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Andreea O. Diaconescu
- Department of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), University of Toronto, Canada
| | - Juha M. Lahnakoski
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Marie-Luise Brandi
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Sophia Hörmann
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Johannes Hennings
- Department of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, kbo-Isar-Amper-Klinikum Munich-East, Munich/Haar, Germany
| | - Alkomiet Hasan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Munich, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic, University of Augsburg, Medical Faculty, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Irina Papazova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Munich, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Strube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Munich, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Dimitris Bolis
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
| | - Leonhard Schilbach
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- Graduate School for Systemic Neurosciences, Munich, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
- Medical Faculty, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Christoph Mathys
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA),Trieste, Italy
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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14
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"Through others we become ourselves": The dialectics of predictive coding and active inference. Behav Brain Sci 2020; 43:e93. [PMID: 32460940 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x19002917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Thinking through other minds creatively situates the free-energy principle within real-life cultural processes, thereby enriching both sociocultural theories and Bayesian accounts of cognition. Here, shifting the attention from thinking-through to becoming-with, we suggest complementing such an account by focusing on the empirical, computational, and conceptual investigation of the multiscale dynamics of social interaction.
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15
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Baillin F, Lefebvre A, Pedoux A, Beauxis Y, Engemann DA, Maruani A, Amsellem F, Kelso JAS, Bourgeron T, Delorme R, Dumas G. Interactive Psychometrics for Autism With the Human Dynamic Clamp: Interpersonal Synchrony From Sensorimotor to Sociocognitive Domains. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:510366. [PMID: 33324246 PMCID: PMC7725713 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.510366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The human dynamic clamp (HDC) is a human-machine interface designed on the basis of coordination dynamics for studying realistic social interaction under controlled and reproducible conditions. Here, we propose to probe the validity of the HDC as a psychometric instrument for quantifying social abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical development. To study interpersonal synchrony with the HDC, we derived five standardized scores following a gradient from sensorimotor and motor to higher sociocognitive skills in a sample of 155 individuals (113 participants with ASD, 42 typically developing participants; aged 5 to 25 years; IQ > 70). Regression analyses were performed using normative modeling on global scores according to four subconditions (HDC behavior "cooperative/competitive," human task "in-phase/anti-phase," diagnosis, and age at inclusion). Children with ASD had lower scores than controls for motor skills. HDC motor coordination scores were the best candidates for stratification and diagnostic biomarkers according to exploratory analyses of hierarchical clustering and multivariate classification. Independently of phenotype, sociocognitive skills increased with developmental age while being affected by the ongoing task and HDC behavior. Weaker performance in ASD for motor skills suggests the convergent validity of the HDC for evaluating social interaction. Results provided additional evidence of a relationship between sensorimotor and sociocognitive skills. HDC may also be used as a marker of maturation of sociocognitive skills during real-time social interaction. Through its standardized and objective evaluation, the HDC not only represents a valid paradigm for the study of interpersonal synchrony but also offers a promising, clinically relevant psychometric instrument for the evaluation and stratification of sociomotor dysfunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Baillin
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Aline Lefebvre
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Amandine Pedoux
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Yann Beauxis
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Denis A Engemann
- Parietal Project-Team, INRIA Saclay - Île de France, Palaiseau, France
| | - Anna Maruani
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Frédérique Amsellem
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - J A Scott Kelso
- Human Brain and Behavior Laboratory, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States.,Intelligent Systems Research Centre, University of Ulster, Derry Londonderry, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas Bourgeron
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Richard Delorme
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Guillaume Dumas
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.,Human Brain and Behavior Laboratory, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States.,Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,CHU Sainte-Justine Centre de Recherche, Precision Psychiatry and Social Physiology Laboratory, Montreal, QC, Canada
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16
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Pan Y, Cheng X. Two-Person Approaches to Studying Social Interaction in Psychiatry: Uses and Clinical Relevance. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:301. [PMID: 32390881 PMCID: PMC7193689 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Social interaction is ubiquitous in human society. The two-person approach-a new, powerful tool to study information exchange and social behaviors-aims to characterize the behavioral dynamics and neural mechanisms of real-time social interactions. In this review, we discuss the benefits of two-person approaches compared to those for conventional, single-person approaches. We describe measures and paradigms that model social interaction in three dimensions (3-D), including eye-to-eye, body-to-body, and brain-to-brain relationships. We then discuss how these two-person measures and paradigms are used in psychiatric conditions (e.g., autism, mood disorders, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and psychotherapy). Furthermore, the advantages of a two-person approach (e.g., dual brain stimulation, multi-person neurofeedback) in clinical interventions are described. Finally, we discuss the methodological and translational challenges surrounding the application of two-person approaches in psychiatry, as well as prospects for future two-/multi-person studies. We conclude that two-person approaches serve as useful additions to the range of behavioral and neuroscientific methods available to assess social interaction in psychiatric settings, for both diagnostic techniques and complementary interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafeng Pan
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Xiaojun Cheng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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17
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Holmes J, Nolte T. "Surprise" and the Bayesian Brain: Implications for Psychotherapy Theory and Practice. Front Psychol 2019; 10:592. [PMID: 30984063 PMCID: PMC6447687 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The free energy principle (FEP) has gained widespread interest and growing acceptance as a new paradigm of brain function, but has had little impact on the theory and practice of psychotherapy. The aim of this paper is to redress this. Brains rely on Bayesian inference during which “bottom-up” sensations are matched with “top-down” predictions. Discrepancies result in “prediction error.” The brain abhors informational “surprise,” which is minimized by (1) action enhancing the statistical likelihood of sensory samples, (2) revising inferences in the light of experience, updating “priors” to reality-aligned “posteriors,” and (3) optimizing the complexity of our generative models of a capricious world. In all three, free energy is converted to bound energy. In psychopathology energy either remains unbound, as in trauma and inhibition of agency, or manifests restricted, anachronistic “top-down” narratives. Psychotherapy fosters client agency, linguistic and practical. Temporary uncoupling bottom-up from top-down automatism and fostering scrutinized simulations sets a number of salutary processes in train. Mentalising enriches Bayesian inference, enabling experience and feeling states to be “metabolized” and assimilated. “Free association” enhances more inclusive sensory sampling, while dream analysis foregrounds salient emotional themes as “attractors.” FEP parallels with psychoanalytic theory are outlined, including Freud’s unpublished project, Bion’s “contact barrier” concept, the Fonagy/Target model of sexuality, Laplanche’s therapist as “enigmatic signifier,” and the role of projective identification. The therapy stimulates patients to become aware of and revise the priors’ they bring to interpersonal experience. In the therapeutic “duet for one,” the energy binding skills and non-partisan stance of the analyst help sufferers face trauma without being overwhelmed by psychic entropy. Overall, the FEP provides a sound theoretical basis for psychotherapy practice, training, and research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Holmes
- University College London, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tobias Nolte
- Department of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
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18
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Shamay-Tsoory SG, Saporta N, Marton-Alper IZ, Gvirts HZ. Herding Brains: A Core Neural Mechanism for Social Alignment. Trends Cogn Sci 2019; 23:174-186. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2018] [Revised: 11/25/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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19
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Crucianelli L, Wheatley L, Filippetti ML, Jenkinson PM, Kirk E, Fotopoulou AK. The mindedness of maternal touch: An investigation of maternal mind-mindedness and mother-infant touch interactions. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 35:47-56. [PMID: 29402735 PMCID: PMC6347578 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2017] [Revised: 01/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence shows that maternal touch may promote emotion regulation in infants, however less is known about how parental higher-order social cognition abilities are translated into tactile, affect-regulatory behaviours towards their infants. During 10 min book-reading, mother-infant sessions when infants were 12 months old (N = 45), we investigated maternal mind-mindedness (MM), the social cognitive ability to understand an infant's mental state, by coding the contingency of maternal verbal statements towards the infants' needs and desires. We also rated spontaneous tactile interactions in terms of their emotional contingency. We found that frequent non-attuned mind-related comments were associated with touch behaviours that were not contingent with the infant's emotions; ultimately discouraging affective tactile responses from the infant. However, comments that were more appropriate to infant's mental states did not necessarily predict more emotionally-contingent tactile behaviours. These findings suggest that when parental high-order social cognitive abilities are compromised, they are also likely to translate into inappropriate, tactile attempts to regulate infant's emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crucianelli
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Lisa Wheatley
- Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Paul M Jenkinson
- School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
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20
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Fotopoulou A, Tsakiris M. Mentalizing homeostasis: the social origins of interoceptive inference – replies to Commentaries. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/15294145.2017.1307667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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21
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Bolis D, Balsters J, Wenderoth N, Becchio C, Schilbach L. Beyond Autism: Introducing the Dialectical Misattunement Hypothesis and a Bayesian Account of Intersubjectivity. Psychopathology 2017; 50:355-372. [PMID: 29232684 DOI: 10.1159/000484353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Drawing on sociocultural theories and Bayesian accounts of brain function, in this article we construe psychiatric conditions as disorders of social interaction to fully account for their complexity and dynamicity across levels of description and temporal scales. After an introduction of the theoretical underpinnings of our integrative approach, we take autism spectrum conditions (ASC) as a paradigm example and discuss how neurocognitive hypotheses can be translated into a Bayesian formulation, i.e., in terms of predictive processing and active inference. We then argue that consideration of individuals (even within a Bayesian framework) will not be enough for a comprehensive understanding of psychiatric conditions and consequently put forward the dialectical misattunement hypothesis, which views psychopathology not merely as disordered function within single brains but also as a dynamic interpersonal mismatch that encompasses various levels of description. Moving from a mere comparison of groups, i.e., "healthy" persons versus "patients," to a fine-grained analysis of social interactions within dyads and groups of individuals will open new avenues and may allow to avoid an overly neurocentric scope in psychiatric research as well as help to reduce social exclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitris Bolis
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
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