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Vaillancourt T, van Noordt S, Krygsman A, Brittain H, Davis AC, Palamarchuk IS, Arnocky S, Segalowitz SJ, Crowley MJ, Schmidt LA. Behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion in women: the role of facial attractiveness and friendliness. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15135. [PMID: 38956123 PMCID: PMC11219880 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65833-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
The behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion were examined in women randomized to four conditions, varying in levels of attractiveness and friendliness. Informed by evolutionary theory, we predicted that being socially excluded by attractive unfriendly women would be more distressing than being excluded by unattractive women, irrespective of their friendliness level. Our results contradicted most of our predictions but provide important insights into women's responses to interpersonal conflict. Accounting for rejection sensitivity, P300 event-related potential amplitudes were largest when women were excluded by unattractive unfriendly women. This may be due to an expectancy violation or an annoyance with being excluded by women low on social desirability. An examination of anger rumination rates by condition suggests the latter. Only attractive women's attractiveness ratings were lowered in the unfriendly condition, indicating they were specifically punished for their exclusionary behavior. Women were more likely to select attractive women to compete against with one exception-they selected the Black attractive opponent less often than the White attractive opponent when presented as unfriendly. Finally, consistent with studies on retaliation in relation to social exclusion, women tended to rate competitors who rejected them as being more rude, more competitive, less attractive, less nice, and less happy than non-competitors. The ubiquity of social exclusion and its pointed emotional and physiological impact on women demands more research on this topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy Vaillancourt
- Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques-Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
| | | | - Amanda Krygsman
- Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques-Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Heather Brittain
- Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques-Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
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2
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Vanhollebeke G, Aers F, Goethals L, Raedt RD, Baeken C, Mierlo PV, Vanderhasselt MA. Uncovering the underlying factors of ERP changes in the cyberball paradigm: A systematic review investigating the impact of ostracism and paradigm characteristics. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 155:105464. [PMID: 37977278 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
The Cyberball is the most commonly employed paradigm for the investigation of the effects of social exclusion, also called ostracism. The analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), short-term stimulus-induced fluctuations in the EEG signal, has been employed for the identification of time-sensitive neural responses to ostracism-related information. Changes in ERPs during the Cyberball are normally attributed to the effect of ostracism, but it has been argued that characteristics of the paradigm, not ostracism, are the driving force for these changes. To elucidate the origin of the ERP changes in the Cyberball, we systematically reviewed the Cyberball-ERP literature of healthy, adult populations, and evaluated whether the social context of ostracism or characteristics of the paradigm are better suited for the explanation of the found results. Our results show that for many components no clear origin can be identified, but that expectancy violations, not ostracism, best explains the results of the P3 complex. Future research should therefore also employ other paradigms for the research into the effects of ostracism on ERPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert Vanhollebeke
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Medical Image and Signal Processing Group (MEDISIP), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Fiebe Aers
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lauren Goethals
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Rudi De Raedt
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Chris Baeken
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital (UZBrussel), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Pieter van Mierlo
- Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Medical Image and Signal Processing Group (MEDISIP), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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3
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Zhang P, Zhu M, Hu J, Gao X. The electrophysiological characteristics of social exclusion: the perspective of close and distant relationships. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1010493. [PMID: 37179855 PMCID: PMC10172667 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1010493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The sources of social exclusion are very wide, ranging from the closest people to strangers. However, current studies mainly reveal the electrophysiological characteristics of social exclusion by means of binary comparison between social exclusion and social inclusion, and lack of in-depth analysis of the differences caused by different sources of exclusion. In this study, a static passing ball paradigm system including close and distant relationship identity information was used to reveal the electrophysiological characteristics of individuals when they were excluded by people with different close and distant relationships. The results showed that there was a degree effect of P2, P3a, and LPC components when individuals were excluded by people with different close and distant relationships. Specifically, the amplitude of P2, P3a, and LPC components was larger when individuals were excluded by more distant people. The results indicated that individuals would become more alert and perceive stronger exclusion experience when they were excluded by more distant people, which provided more diversified evidence for the conclusion that electrophysiological components were larger under the condition of exclusion, and revealed the electrophysiological basis behind the multiple motivation models. The results also helped to explain the physiological reasons behind individuals' different coping behaviors toward excluder with different importance of relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengcheng Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Min Zhu
- Department of Social Work and Management, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jingjing Hu
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiangping Gao
- Academic Affairs Office, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Xiangping Gao,
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4
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Jenkins M, Obhi SS. Neurophysiological and Psychological Consequences of Social Exclusion: The Effects of Cueing In-Group and Out-Group Status. Cereb Cortex Commun 2020; 1:tgaa057. [PMID: 34296120 PMCID: PMC8152886 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgaa057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Exclusion by outgroups is often attributed to external factors such as prejudice. Recently, event-related potential studies have demonstrated that subtle cues influence expectations of exclusion, altering the P3b response to inclusion or exclusion. We investigated whether a visual difference between participants and interaction partners could activate expectations of exclusion, indexed by P3b activity, and whether this difference would influence psychological responses to inclusion and exclusion. Participants played a ball-tossing game with two computer-controlled coplayers who were believed to be real. One period involved fair play inclusion while the other involved partial exclusion. Avatars represented participants, with their color matching participant skin tone, and either matching or differing from the color of coplayer avatars. This created the impression that the participant was an ingroup or outgroup member. While ingroup members elicited enhanced P3b activation when receiving the ball during exclusion, outgroup members showed this pattern for both inclusion and exclusion, suggesting that they formed robust a-priori expectations of exclusion. Self-reports indicated that while these expectations were psychologically protective during exclusion, they were detrimental during inclusion. Ultimately, this study reveals that expectations of exclusion can be formed purely based on visual group differences, regardless of the actual minority or majority status of individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Jenkins
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S4L8, Canada
| | - Sukhvinder S Obhi
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S4L8, Canada
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5
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Niedeggen M, Kerschreiter R, Schuck K. Loss of control as a violation of expectations: Testing the predictions of a common inconsistency compensation approach in an inclusionary cyberball game. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0221817. [PMID: 31498829 PMCID: PMC6733461 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Personal control relies on the expectation that events are contingent upon one’s own behavior. A common ‘inconsistency compensation approach’ posits that a violation of expectancies in social interaction triggers aversive arousal and compensatory effort. Following this approach, we tested the hypothesis that interventions affecting participants' decisions violate the expected personal control. In a modified version of the established cyberball paradigm, participants were not excluded, but consistently included. However, their decisions regarding the recipient of a ball throw in the virtual game were occasionally overruled (expectancy violation). We hypothesized that this intervention will trigger a P3 response in event-related brain potentials (ERP). Since this component is related to subjective expectancies, its amplitude was assumed to depend on the frequency of interventions (independent factor: loss of control). Further, we manipulated the vertical position of the participants’ avatar on the computer screen (independent factor: verticality). Building on research showing that verticality is related to the self-assigned power and influences the expected level of control, we hypothesized that the ERP effects of intervention should be more pronounced for participants with avatars in superior position. As predicted, both experimental factors interactively affected the expression of the ERP response: In case of low intervention frequency, P3 amplitudes were significantly pronounced if the participants’ avatar was positioned above as compared to below co-players (high > low self-assigned power). The effect of verticality could be traced back to a lack of adaptation of P3 amplitudes to recurring aversive events. By demonstrating that loss of control triggers ERP effects corresponding to those triggered by social exclusion, this study provides further evidence for a common cognitive mechanism in reactions to aversive events based on an inconsistency in expectancy states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Niedeggen
- Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Rudolf Kerschreiter
- Division of Social, Organizational, and Economic Psychology, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Katharina Schuck
- Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Reddy LF, Irwin MR, Breen EC, Reavis EA, Green MF. Social exclusion in schizophrenia: Psychological and cognitive consequences. J Psychiatr Res 2019; 114:120-125. [PMID: 31059992 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Social exclusion is associated with reduced self-esteem and cognitive impairments in healthy samples. Individuals with schizophrenia experience social exclusion at a higher rate than the general population, but the specific psychological and cognitive consequences for this group are unknown. We manipulated social exclusion in 35 participants with schizophrenia and 34 demographically-matched healthy controls using Cyberball, a virtual ball-tossing game in which participants believed that they were either being included or excluded by peers. All participants completed both versions of the task (inclusion, exclusion) on separate visits, as well as measures of psychological need security, working memory, and social cognition. Following social exclusion, individuals with schizophrenia showed decreased psychological need security and working memory. Contrary to expectations, they showed an improved ability to detect lies on the social cognitive task. Controls showed a decrease in psychological security after exclusion that was larger than that seen in the schizophrenia group. The results suggest that social support and interventions targeting social integration may benefit community functioning by reducing cognitive impairments and psychological stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Felice Reddy
- Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Building 210, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA; UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
| | - Michael R Irwin
- (c)Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, UCLA, 300 Medical Plaza Driveway, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Breen
- (c)Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, UCLA, 300 Medical Plaza Driveway, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
| | - Eric A Reavis
- UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA; Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Building 210, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA
| | - Michael F Green
- Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Building 210, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA; UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
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Themanson JR, Bing NJ, Sheese BE, Pontifex MB. The Influence of Pitch-by-Pitch Feedback on Neural Activity and Pitch Perception in Baseball. JOURNAL OF SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 41:65-72. [PMID: 31027460 DOI: 10.1123/jsep.2018-0165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This study was designed to examine the influence of performance feedback on task performance and neural activity in expert and novice baseball players. Participants completed a video task to determine whether thrown pitches were balls or strikes while their neural activity was recorded. After each pitch, participants were given feedback on the accuracy of their choice. Results indicated that college players exhibited larger frontocentral positivity amplitudes compared with novices, regardless of feedback type. Furthermore, results showed that the feedback-related negativity was related to response accuracy following incorrect feedback for college players, with larger feedback-related negativity amplitude associated with greater response accuracy. This relationship is independent of any relations between overall task accuracy and either feedback-related negativity amplitude or response accuracy following incorrect feedback. These results indicate that the nature of neural activity during pitch feedback for college baseball players can inform and influence participants' subsequent pitch-location performance.
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8
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Abstract
The present study sought to evaluate whether social priming modulates neural responses to ostracism, such that making arbitrary interpersonal decisions increases the experience of social exclusion more than making arbitrary physical decisions. This exploratory event-related potential (ERP) study utilized the Lunchroom task, in which adults (N = 28) first selected one of two options that included either interpersonal or physical descriptors. Participants then received ostracism outcome feedback within a lunchroom scenario in which they were either excluded (e.g. sitting alone) or included (e.g. surrounded by others). While the N2 component was sensitive to priming decision condition, only the P3 component discriminated between ostracism decisions. Further inspection of the neural sources indicated that the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and superior temporal gyrus were more engaged for exclusion than inclusion conditions during both N2 and P3 temporal windows. Evaluation of temporal source dynamics suggest that the effects of ostracism are predominant between 250-500 ms and were larger following interpersonal than physical decisions. These results suggest that being ostracized evokes a larger neural response that is modulated following priming of the social brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin M Hudac
- a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA.,b Center on Human Development and Disability , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA
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Kiat JE, Cheadle JE, Goosby BJ. The impact of social exclusion on anticipatory attentional processing. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 123:48-57. [PMID: 29154954 PMCID: PMC10859167 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2017] [Revised: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The importance of understanding how we anticipate and prepare for social rejection is underscored by the mental and physical toll of continual social vigilance. In this study, we investigate the impact of social rejection on anticipatory attentional processes using the well-known Cyberball task, a paradigm in which participants engage in a game of catch with virtual avatars who after an initial period of fair-play (inclusion condition) then exclude the participant from the game (exclusion condition). The degree of anticipatory attention allocated by subjects towards the avatars was assessed by measuring P3b responses towards the avatars' preparatory actions (i.e. the phase preceding their exclusionary actions) using high density EEG. The results of the study show that relative to the inclusion, participants exhibit elevated levels of anticipatory attentional allocation towards the avatars during the exclusion block. This shift was however significantly moderated by participants' self-reported cognitive regulation tendencies. Participants with higher levels of self-reported cognitive reappraisal tendencies showed larger anticipatory P3b increases from the inclusion to exclusion block relative to participants with reduced levels of reappraisal tendencies. These results highlight the impact of social exclusion on anticipatory neural processing and the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal on these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- John E Kiat
- 238 Burnett Hall, Department of Psychology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, USA.
| | - Jacob E Cheadle
- 737 Oldfather Hall, Department of Sociology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
| | - Bridget J Goosby
- 741 Oldfather Hall, Department of Sociology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
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Zhang Q, Li X, Wang K, Zhou X, Dong Y, Zhang L, Xie W, Mu J, Li H, Zhu C, Yu F. Dull to Social Acceptance Rather than Sensitivity to Social Ostracism in Interpersonal Interaction for Depression: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence from Cyberball Tasks. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:162. [PMID: 28408877 PMCID: PMC5374192 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Impairments in interpersonal relationships in depression present as irritability, pessimism, and withdrawal, and play an important role in the onset and maintenance of the disorder. However, we know little about the neurological causes of this impaired interpersonal function. This study used the event-related brain potential (ERP) version of the Cyberball paradigm to investigate the emotions and neural activities in depressive patients during social inclusion and exclusion simultaneously to explore neuropsychological mechanisms. Methods: Electrophysiological data were recorded when 27 depressed patients and 23 healthy controls (HCs) performed a virtual ball tossing game (Cyberball) during which the participants believed they were playing with two other co-players over the internet. The Cyberball paradigm included two other conditions; inclusion during which participants received the ball with the same probability as the other players to experience a feeling of acceptance, and exclusion during which the participants experienced a feeling of ostracism when the other two players threw the ball with each other. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used as a baseline and after each block during the Cyberball to assess positive and negative effects. In addition, a brief Need-Threat Scale (NTS) was used to assess the fulfillment of basic needs of subjects after each block and 10 min after ostracism. Moreover, the relationship between the ERP data of depression and clinical symptoms was analyzed. Results: Exclusion compared to inclusion Cyberball caused a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect. The group differences were only found in the positive affect. Moreover, patients reported a lower level of basic needs than did HCs after social inclusion, but a similar level of basic needs after social exclusion. At the electrophysiological level, patients showed decreased P3 amplitudes compared to HCs in social inclusion, and P3 amplitudes were borderline negatively correlated with their scores of anhedonia symptoms. Limitations: A limitation of our study was that the subjects' criteria were different. Conclusions: The behavioral and electrophysiological results indicated that the interpersonal problems in depressive patients were mainly due to deficits in processing the pleasurable social stimuli rather than aversive social cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Zhang
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Xiaosi Li
- Anhui Mental Health CenterHefei, China
| | - Kai Wang
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China.,Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Xiaoqin Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, The Chaohu Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical UniversityChaohu, China
| | - Yi Dong
- Anhui Mental Health CenterHefei, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Wen Xie
- Anhui Mental Health CenterHefei, China
| | | | - Hongchen Li
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Chunyan Zhu
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Fengqiong Yu
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
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Baddam S, Laws H, Crawford JL, Wu J, Bolling DZ, Mayes LC, Crowley MJ. What they bring: baseline psychological distress differentially predicts neural response in social exclusion by children's friends and strangers in best friend dyads. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11:1729-1740. [PMID: 27330184 PMCID: PMC5091675 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 04/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Friendships play a major role in cognitive, emotional and social development in middle childhood. We employed the online Cyberball social exclusion paradigm to understand the neural correlates of dyadic social exclusion among best friends assessed simultaneously. Each child played with their friend and an unfamiliar player. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were assessed via electroencephalogram during exclusion by friend and unfamiliar peer. Data were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling to account for nesting of children within friendship dyads. Results showed that stranger rejection was associated with larger P2 and positive slow wave ERP responses compared to exclusion by a friend. Psychological distress differentially moderated the effects of friend and stranger exclusion such that children with greater psychological distress were observed to have larger neural responses (larger P2 and slow wave) to exclusion by a stranger compared to exclusion by a friend. Conversely, children with lower levels of psychological distress had larger neural responses for exclusion by a friend than by a stranger. Psychological distress within the dyad differentially predicted the P2 and slow wave response. Findings highlight the prominent, but differential role of individual and dyadic psychological distress levels in moderating responses to social exclusion in middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Holly Laws
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | | | - Jia Wu
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University
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Weschke S, Niedeggen M. Target and Non-Target Processing during Oddball and Cyberball: A Comparative Event-Related Potential Study. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0153941. [PMID: 27100787 PMCID: PMC4839683 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2015] [Accepted: 04/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The phenomenon of social exclusion can be investigated by using a virtual ball-tossing game called Cyberball. In neuroimaging studies, structures have been identified which are activated during social exclusion. But to date the underlying mechanisms are not fully disclosed. In previous electrophysiological studies it was shown that the P3 complex is sensitive to exclusion manipulations in the Cyberball paradigm and that there is a correlation between P3 amplitude and self-reported social pain. Since this posterior event-related potential (ERP) was widely investigated using the oddball paradigm, we directly compared the ERP effects elicited by the target (Cyberball: “ball possession”) and non-target (Cyberball: “ball possession of a co-player) events in both paradigms. Analyses mainly focused on the effect of altered stimulus probabilities of the target and non-target events between two consecutive blocks of the tasks. In the first block, the probability of the target and non-target event was 33% (Cyberball: inclusion), in the second block target probability was reduced to 17%, and accordingly, non-target probability was increased to 66% (Cyberball: exclusion). Our results indicate that ERP amplitude differences between inclusion and exclusion are comparable to ERP amplitude effects in a visual oddball task. We therefore suggest that ERP effects–especially in the P3 range–in the Oddball and Cyberball paradigm rely on similar mechanisms, namely the probability of target and non-target events. Since the simulation of social exclusion (Cyberball) did not trigger a unique ERP response, the idea of an exclusion-specific neural alarm system is not supported. The limitations of an ERP-based approach will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Weschke
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Michael Niedeggen
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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13
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van Noordt SJR, White LO, Wu J, Mayes LC, Crowley MJ. Social exclusion modulates event-related frontal theta and tracks ostracism distress in children. Neuroimage 2015; 118:248-55. [PMID: 26048623 PMCID: PMC4554839 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2015] [Revised: 05/21/2015] [Accepted: 05/29/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Social exclusion is a potent elicitor of distress. Previous studies have shown that medial frontal theta oscillations are modulated by the experience of social exclusion. Using the Cyberball paradigm, we examined event-related dynamics of theta power in the EEG at medial frontal sites while children aged 8-12 years were exposed to conditions of fair play and social exclusion. Using an event-related design, we found that medial frontal theta oscillations (4-8Hz) increase during both early (i.e., 200-400ms) and late (i.e., 400-800ms) processing of rejection events during social exclusion relative to perceptually identical "not my turn" events during inclusion. Importantly, we show that only for the later time window (400-800ms) slow-wave theta power tracks self-reported ostracism distress. Specifically, greater theta power at medial frontal sites to "rejection" events predicted higher levels of ostracism distress. Alpha and beta oscillations for rejection events were unrelated to ostracism distress at either 200-400ms or 400-800ms time windows. Our findings extend previous studies by showing that medial frontal theta oscillations for rejection events are a neural signature of social exclusion, linked to experienced distress in middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefon J R van Noordt
- Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Brock University, Saint Catharines, ON, Canada
| | - Lars O White
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Jia Wu
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Linda C Mayes
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Michael J Crowley
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Program for Anxiety Disorders, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience (CTDN), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
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ERP effects and perceived exclusion in the Cyberball paradigm: Correlates of expectancy violation? Brain Res 2015; 1624:265-274. [PMID: 26236023 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.07.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2015] [Revised: 06/04/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
A virtual ball-tossing game called Cyberball has allowed the identification of neural structures involved in the processing of social exclusion by using neurocognitive methods. However, there is still an ongoing debate if structures involved are either pain- or exclusion-specific or part of a broader network. In electrophysiological Cyberball studies we have shown that the P3b component is sensitive to exclusion manipulations, possibly modulated by the probability of ball possession of the participant (event "self") or the presumed co-players (event "other"). Since it is known from oddball studies that the P3b is not only modulated by the objective probability of an event, but also by subjective expectancy, we independently manipulated the probability of the events "self" and "other" and the expectancy for these events. Questionnaire data indicate that social need threat is only induced when the expectancy for involvement in the ball-tossing game is violated. Similarly, the P3b amplitude of both "self" and "other" events was a correlate of expectancy violation. We conclude that both the subjective report of exclusion and the P3b effect induced in the Cyberball paradigm are primarily based on a cognitive process sensitive to expectancy violations, and that the P3b is not related to the activation of an exclusion-specific neural alarm system.
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