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Xu K, Wang J, Liu G, Yan J, Chang M, Jiang L, Zhang J. Altered dynamic effective connectivity of the default mode network in type 2 diabetes. Front Neurol 2024; 14:1324988. [PMID: 38288329 PMCID: PMC10822894 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1324988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Altered functional connectivity of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) within default mode network (DMN) regions has been verified to be closely associated with cognitive decline in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but most studies neglected the fluctuations of brain activities-the dynamic effective connectivity (DEC) within DMN of T2DM is still unknown. Methods For the current investigation, 40 healthy controls (HC) and 36 T2DM patients have been recruited as participants. To examine the variation of DEC between T2DM and HC, we utilized the methodologies of independent components analysis (ICA) and multivariate granger causality analysis (mGCA). Results We found altered DEC within DMN only show decrease in state 1. In addition, the causal information flow of diabetic patients major affected areas which are closely associated with food craving and metabolic regulation, and T2DM patients stayed longer in low activity level and exhibited decreased transition rate between states. Moreover, these changes related negatively with the MoCA scores and positively with HbA1C level. Conclusion Our study may offer a fresh perspective on brain dynamic activities to understand the mechanisms underlying T2DM-related cognitive deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Xu
- Second Clinical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jun Wang
- Second Clinical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Guangyao Liu
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
- Gansu Province Clinical Research Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jiahao Yan
- Second Clinical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Miao Chang
- Second Clinical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Linzhen Jiang
- Second Clinical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
- Gansu Province Clinical Research Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
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2
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Zheng A, Chen X, Xiang G, Li Q, Du X, Liu X, Xiao M, Chen H. Association Between Negative Affect and Perceived Mortality Threat During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Brain Activity and Connectivity. Neuroscience 2023; 535:63-74. [PMID: 37913860 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.10.021] [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: 06/03/2023] [Revised: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been considered a major threat to physical and mental health around the world, causing great pressure and mortality threat to most people. The current study aimed to investigate the neurological markers underlying the relationship between perceived mortality threat (PMT) and negative affect (NA). We examined whether the regional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) before the COVID-19 outbreak (October 2019 to December 2019, wave 1) were predictive for NA and PMT during the mid-term of the COVID-19 pandemic (February 22 to 28, 2020, wave 2) among 603 young adults (age range 17-22, 70.8% females). Results indicated that PMT was associated with spontaneous activity in several regions (e.g., inferior temporal gyrus, medial occipital gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, and cerebellum) and their RSFC with the distributed regions of the default mode network and cognitive control network. Furthermore, longitudinal mediation models showed that ALFF in the cerebellum, medial occipital gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus (wave 1) predicted PMT (wave 2) through NA (wave 2). These findings revealed functional neural markers of PMT and suggest candidate mechanisms for explaining the complex relationship between NA and mental/neural processing related to PMT in the circumstance of a major crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anqi Zheng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Ximei Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Guangcan Xiang
- Tian Jiabing College of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China.
| | - Qingqing Li
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, China.
| | - Xiaoli Du
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Xinyuan Liu
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Mingyue Xiao
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Hong Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Research Center of Psychology and Social Development, Chongqing 400715, China.
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3
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Liu Z, Zhao H, Xu Y, Liu J, Cui F. Prosocial decision-making under time pressure: Behavioral and neural mechanisms. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:6090-6104. [PMID: 37771259 PMCID: PMC10619401 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26499] [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: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study employed a novel paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to uncover the specific regulatory mechanism of time pressure and empathy trait in prosocial decision-making, compared to self-decision making. Participants were instructed to decide whether to spend their own monetary interest to alleviate themselves (or another person) from unpleasant noise threats under high and low time pressures. On the behavioral level, results showed that high time pressure had a significant effect on reducing participants' willingness to spend money on relieving themselves from the noise, while there is a similar but not significant trend in prosocial decision-making. On the neural level, for self-concerned decision-making, low time pressure activated the bilateral insula more strongly than high time pressure. For prosocial decision-making, high time pressure suppressed activations in multiple brain regions related to empathy (temporal pole, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus), valuation (medial orbitofrontal cortex), and emotion (putamen). The functional connectivity strength among these regions, especially the connectivity between the medial orbitofrontal cortex and putamen, significantly predicted the effect of time pressure on prosocial decision-making at the behavioral level. Additionally, we discovered the activation of the medial orbitofrontal cortex partially mediated the effect of empathy trait scores on prosocial decision-making. These findings suggest that (1) there are different neural underpinnings for the modulation of time pressure for self and prosocial decision-making, and (2) the empathy trait plays a crucial role in the latter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengjie Liu
- School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Hailing Zhao
- School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Yashi Xu
- School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Jie Liu
- School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive NeuroscienceShenzhenChina
| | - Fang Cui
- School of PsychologyShenzhen UniversityShenzhenChina
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive NeuroscienceShenzhenChina
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4
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Xu Z, Zhu R, Zhang S, Zhang S, Liang Z, Mai X, Liu C. Mortality salience enhances neural activities related to guilt and shame when recalling the past. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:5145-5162. [PMID: 35102376 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Mortality salience (MS) influences cognition and behavior. However, its effect on emotion (especially moral emotions) and the underlying neural correlates are unclear. We investigated how MS priming modulated guilt and shame in a later recall task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The behavioral results indicated that MS increased self-reported guilt but not shame. The neural results showed that MS strengthened neural activities related to the psychological processes of guilt and shame. Specifically, for both guilt and shame, MS increased activation in a region associated with self-referential processing (ventral medial prefrontal cortex). For guilt but not shame, MS increased the activation of regions associated with cognitive control (orbitofrontal cortex) and emotion processing (amygdala). For shame but not guilt, MS decreased brain functional connectivity related to self-referential processing. A direct comparison showed that MS more strongly decreased a functional connectivity related to self-referential processing in the shame than in the guilt condition. Additionally, the activation of insula during MS priming was partly predictive of neural activities related to guilt and shame in the subsequent recall task. Our study sheds light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of MS effects on moral emotions and provides theoretical insights for enriching terror management theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenhua Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Ruida Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Shen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Sihui Zhang
- Department of General Adult Psychiatry, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg 69115, Germany
| | - Zilu Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xiaoqin Mai
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
| | - Chao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
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5
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Kuylen M, Han S, Harris L, Huys Q, Monsó S, Pitman A, Fleming SM, David AS. Mortality Awareness: New Directions. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2022:302228221100640. [PMID: 35531947 DOI: 10.1177/00302228221100640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Thinking about our own death and its salience in relation to decision making has become a fruitful area of multidisciplinary research across the breadth of psychological science. By bringing together experts from philosophy, cognitive and affective neuroscience, clinical and computational psychiatry we have attempted to set out the current state of the art and point to areas of further enquiry. One stimulus for doing this is the need to engage with policy makers who are now having to consider guidelines on suicide and assisted suicide so that they may be aware of their own as well as the wider populations' cognitive processes when confronted with the ultimate truth of mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Kuylen
- Mental Health, Ethics and Law Research Group, Department of Psychological Medicine, 4616King's College London, London, UK
| | - Shihui Han
- Culture and Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, 12465Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Lasana Harris
- Department of Experimental Psychology, 4919University College London, London, UK
| | - Quentin Huys
- Division of Psychiatry and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 4919University College London, London, UK
| | - Susana Monsó
- Department of Logic, History, and Philosophy of Science, 16757Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Stephen M Fleming
- Department of Experimental Psychology, 4919University College London, London, UK
| | - Anthony S David
- UCL Institute of Mental Health, 4919University College London, London, UK
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6
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Tan H, Duan Q, Liu Y, Qiao X, Luo S. Does losing money truly hurt? The shared neural bases of monetary loss and pain. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3153-3163. [PMID: 35315958 PMCID: PMC9189080 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Both monetary loss and pain have been studied for decades, but evidence supporting the relationship between them is still lacking. We conducted a meta‐analysis to explore the overlapping brain regions between monetary loss and pain, including physical pain and social pain. Regardless of the type of pain experienced, activation of the anterior insula was a shared neural representation of monetary loss and pain. The network representation pattern of monetary loss was more similar to that of social pain than that of physical pain. In conclusion, our research provided evidence of the common neural correlates of monetary loss and pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixin Tan
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Qin Duan
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yihan Liu
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xinyu Qiao
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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7
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Lantos D, Molenberghs P. The neuroscience of intergroup threat and violence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:77-87. [PMID: 34534553 PMCID: PMC9620594 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a global increase in hate crimes and xenophobia. In these uncertain times, real or imaginary threats can easily lead to intergroup conflict. Here, we integrate social neuroscience findings with classic social psychology theories into a framework to better understand how intergroup threat can lead to violence. The role of moral disengagement, dehumanization, and intergroup schadenfreude in this process are discussed, together with their underlying neural mechanisms. We outline how this framework can inform social scientists and policy makers to help reduce the escalation of intergroup conflict and promote intergroup cooperation. The critical role of the media and public figures in these unprecedented times is highlighted as an important factor to achieve these goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorottya Lantos
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, United Kingdom.
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8
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Wu T, Han S. Neural mechanisms of modulations of empathy and altruism by beliefs of others' pain. eLife 2021; 10:e66043. [PMID: 34369378 PMCID: PMC8373377 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceived cues signaling others' pain induce empathy which in turn motivates altruistic behavior toward those who appear suffering. This perception-emotion-behavior reactivity is the core of human altruism but does not always occur in real-life situations. Here, by integrating behavioral and multimodal neuroimaging measures, we investigate neural mechanisms underlying modulations of empathy and altruistic behavior by beliefs of others' pain (BOP). We show evidence that lack of BOP reduces subjective estimation of others' painful feelings and decreases monetary donations to those who show pain expressions. Moreover, lack of BOP attenuates neural responses to their pain expressions within 200 ms after face onset and modulates neural responses to others' pain in the insular, post-central, and frontal cortices. Our findings suggest that BOP provide a cognitive basis of human empathy and altruism and unravel the intermediate neural mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taoyu Wu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/MGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/MGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking UniversityBeijingChina
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9
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Zhou X, Pan Y, Zhang R, Bei L, Li X. Mortality threat mitigates interpersonal competition: an EEG-based hyperscanning study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:621-631. [PMID: 33755182 PMCID: PMC8138089 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Awareness of death has been shown to influence human cognition and behavior. Yet, how mortality threat (MT) impacts our daily social behavior remains elusive. To address this issue, we developed a dyadic experimental model and recruited 86 adults (43 dyads) to complete two computer-based tasks (i.e. competitive and cooperative button-pressing). We manipulated dyads’ awareness of death [MT vs neutral control (NC)] and simultaneously measured their neurophysiological activity using electroencephalography during the task. Several fundamental observations were made. First, the MT group showed significantly attenuated competition and slightly promoted cooperation. Second, compared to NC, MT significantly decreased gamma-band inter-brain synchronization (IBS) in the competitive context, which was associated with increased subjective fear of death within dyads. Notably, those effects were context-specific: we did not observe comparable results in the cooperative context. Finally, a machine-learning approach was successfully used to discriminate between the MT and NC groups based on accumulated IBS. Together, these findings indicate that MT to some extent mitigates interpersonal competition, and such mitigation might be associated with changes in gamma-band IBS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Zhou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Yafeng Pan
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17165, Sweden
| | - Ruqian Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Litian Bei
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Xianchun Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
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10
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Zhornitsky S, Le TM, Wang W, Dhingra I, Chen Y, Li CSR, Zhang S. Midcingulate Cortical Activations Interrelate Chronic Craving and Physiological Responses to Negative Emotions in Cocaine Addiction. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 1:37-47. [PMID: 35664438 PMCID: PMC9164547 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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11
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Frontotemporal dementia, music perception and social cognition share neurobiological circuits: A meta-analysis. Brain Cogn 2021; 148:105660. [PMID: 33421942 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease that presents with profound changes in social cognition. Music might be a sensitive probe for social cognition abilities, but underlying neurobiological substrates are unclear. We performed a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies in FTD patients and functional MRI studies for music perception and social cognition tasks in cognitively normal controls to identify robust patterns of atrophy (FTD) or activation (music perception or social cognition). Conjunction analyses were performed to identify overlapping brain regions. In total 303 articles were included: 53 for FTD (n = 1153 patients, 42.5% female; 1337 controls, 53.8% female), 28 for music perception (n = 540, 51.8% female) and 222 for social cognition in controls (n = 5664, 50.2% female). We observed considerable overlap in atrophy patterns associated with FTD, and functional activation associated with music perception and social cognition, mostly encompassing the ventral language network. We further observed overlap across all three modalities in mesolimbic, basal forebrain and striatal regions. The results of our meta-analysis suggest that music perception and social cognition share neurobiological circuits that are affected in FTD. This supports the idea that music might be a sensitive probe for social cognition abilities with implications for diagnosis and monitoring.
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12
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Self-esteem and cultural worldview buffer mortality salience effects on responses to self-face: Distinct neural mediators. Biol Psychol 2020; 155:107944. [PMID: 32810564 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Terror management theory proposes cultural worldview and self-esteem as two buffers against death anxiety. The neural mediators of these buffering effects, however, have not been fully understood. The present work investigated neural mediation mechanisms between self-esteem/cultural trait (self-construal) and mortality salience (MS) effects on self-face processing. We found that MS (vs. NA) priming eliminated self-face advantage in behavioral judgments of face-orientation in low self-esteem individuals and reduced self-face advantage in behavioral judgments of facial-familiarity in individuals with high interdependent self-construals. Our functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results showed that, following MS priming, insular activities mediated the relationship between self-esteem and self-face advantage in face-orientation judgments, whereas dorsal medial prefrontal activity mediated the relationship between interdependent self-construal and self-face advantage in face-familiarity judgments. Our findings suggest that distinct neural mechanisms are engaged in mediating the relationships between self-esteem/cultural trait and MS effects on the emotional and cognitive processes of self-relevant information.
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13
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Gao T, Zhou Y, Li W, Pfabigan DM, Han S. Neural mechanisms of reinforcement learning under mortality threat. Soc Neurosci 2019; 15:170-185. [PMID: 31526160 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1668846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement learning - to adjust behaviors in response to feedback regarding reward and punishment - is pivotal to our survival. The present work investigated whether and how reinforcement learning is affected by thoughts of mortality that endanger one's survival. We recorded electroencephalographic while adults performed a probabilistic learning task that required a forced-choice between two visual patterns for monetary reward for different beneficiaries (i.e., self, stranger, or no one) followed by reward or no-reward feedback. We found that verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) enlarged an early positive component (P1) at the occipital electrodes but decreased a late positive potential (LPP) at the frontocentral electrodes in response to learning stimuli. While no-reward feedback relative to reward feedback stimuli elicited a feedback-related negativity (FRN) and increased non-phase locked theta band (4-8 Hz) activity at the frontocentral electrodes during reward learning for all beneficiaries, verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) significantly reduced the FRN amplitude but failed to modulate the theta band activity. These results suggest that mortality salience enhances early attentional processing but dampens late cognitive evaluation of the learning stimuli during reinforcement learning. Moreover, mortality salience decreases the neural sensitivity to feedback signaling the absence of monetary reward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyu Gao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenxin Li
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Daniela M Pfabigan
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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14
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Jauniaux J, Khatibi A, Rainville P, Jackson PL. A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on pain empathy: investigating the role of visual information and observers' perspective. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 14:789-813. [PMID: 31393982 PMCID: PMC6847411 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy relies on brain systems that support the interaction between an observer's mental state and cues about the others' experience. Beyond the core brain areas typically activated in pain empathy studies (insular and anterior cingulate cortices), the diversity of paradigms used may reveal secondary networks that subserve other more specific processes. A coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI experiments on pain empathy was conducted to obtain activation likelihood estimates along three factors and seven conditions: visual cues (body parts, facial expressions), visuospatial (first-person, thirdperson), and cognitive (self-, stimuli-, other-oriented tasks) perspectives. The core network was found across cues and perspectives, and common activation was observed in higher-order visual areas. Body-parts distinctly activated areas related with sensorimotor processing (superior and inferior parietal lobules, anterior insula) while facial expression distinctly involved the inferior frontal gyrus. Self- compared to other-perspective produced distinct activations in the left insula while stimulus- versus other-perspective produced distinctive responses in the inferior frontal and parietal lobules, precentral gyrus, and cerebellum. Pain empathy relies on a core network which is modulated by several secondary networks. The involvement of the latter seems to depend on the visual cues available and the observer's mental state that can be influenced by specific instructions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josiane Jauniaux
- École de psychologie, Université Laval, 2325, rue des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
- Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS), 525, boul. Wilfrid-Hamel, Québec, QC G1M 2S8, Canada
- Centre de recherche CERVO, 2601, rue de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2G3, Canada
| | - Ali Khatibi
- Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), 4545, Chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal, QC H3W 1W4, Canada
- Center of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Pierre Rainville
- Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), 4545, Chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal, QC H3W 1W4, Canada
- Département de stomatologie, Université de Montréal, CP 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Philip L Jackson
- École de psychologie, Université Laval, 2325, rue des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
- Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS), 525, boul. Wilfrid-Hamel, Québec, QC G1M 2S8, Canada
- Centre de recherche CERVO, 2601, rue de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2G3, Canada
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15
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Luo S, Wu B, Fan X, Zhu Y, Wu X, Han S. Thoughts of death affect reward learning by modulating salience network activity. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116068. [PMID: 31398436 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Thoughts of death substantially influence human behavior and psychological well-being. A large number of behavioral studies have shown evidence that asking individuals to think about death or mortality salience leads to significant changes of their behaviors. These findings support the well-known terror management theory to account for the psychological mechanisms of existential anxiety. However, despite increasing findings of mortality salience effects on human behavior, how the brain responds to reminders of mortality and changes the activity underlying subsequent behavior remains poorly understood. By scanning healthy adults (N = 80) of both sexes using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we showed that, relative to reading emotionally neutral sentences, reading sentences that evoke death-related thoughts decreased the salience network activity, reduced the connectivity between the cingulate cortex and other brain regions during a subsequent resting state, and dampened the speed of learning reward-related objects and cingulate responses to loss feedback during a subsequent reward learning task. In addition, the decreased resting-state cingulate connectivity mediated the association between salience network deactivations in response to reminders of mortality and suppressed cingulate responses to loss feedback. Finally, the suppressed cingulate responses to loss feedback further predicted the dampened speed of reward learning. Our findings demonstrate sequential modulations of the salience network activity by mortality salience, which provide a neural basis for understanding human behavior under mortality threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Bing Wu
- Department of Radiology, The 7th Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyue Fan
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yiyi Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Xinhuai Wu
- Department of Radiology, The 7th Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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16
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Chen Y, Shen Y, Shi Z, Zhang X, Li H, Xu X, Guan L, Han S, Yang J. Mortality salience impairs self-referential processing: Neurophysiological and behavioral evidence. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00193-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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17
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Holbrook C, Gordon CL, Iacoboni M. Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses. J Vis Exp 2018. [PMID: 30320754 PMCID: PMC6235344 DOI: 10.3791/58204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Decades of behavioral science research have documented functional shifts in attitudes and ideological adherence in response to various challenges, but little work to date has illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying these dynamics. This paper describes how continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation may be employed to experimentally assess the causal contribution of cortical regions to threat-related ideological shifts. In the example protocol provided here, participants are exposed to a threat prime-an explicit reminder of their own inevitable death and bodily decomposition-following a downregulation of the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) or a sham stimulation. Next, disguised within a series of distracter tasks, participants' relative degree of ideological adherence is assessed-in the present example, with regard to coalitional prejudice and religious belief. Participants for whom the pMFC has been downregulated exhibit less coalitionally biased responses to an immigrant critical of the participants' national in-group, and less conviction in positive afterlife beliefs (i.e., God, angels, and heaven), despite having recently been reminded of death. These results complement prior findings that continuous theta burst stimulation of the pMFC influences social conformity and sharing and illustrate the feasibility of investigating the neural basis of high-level social cognitive shifts using transcranial magnetic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced;
| | - Chelsea L Gordon
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
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18
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Wang C, Tian J. Reminders of Mortality Alter Pain-Evoked Potentials in a Chinese Sample. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1667. [PMID: 30245659 PMCID: PMC6137269 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Pain is of evolutionary importance to human survival. However, the perception of pain could be changed when death-related thoughts are accessible. Although the influence of mortality salience (MS) on pain processing has been investigated in Westerners recently, it is unclear whether this effect is constrained by specific culture context since humans may employ cultural worldviews to defend the existence problem. The current study tested whether and how MS affected pain processing in a Chinese male sample. We primed participants with sentences indicating MS or negative affect (NA) on either of two days. Both before and after the priming, event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by painful and non-painful electrical stimulations were recorded. Results showed that pain-evoked potentials were identified as an early negative complex N60-P90-N130 and a late positivity P260. Pain-evoked N130 after MS priming was larger than that after NA priming. Meanwhile, pain-evoked P260 decreased after MS priming but not after NA priming. These findings indicate that reminders of mortality affect both early sensory and late cognitive neural responses related to physical pain. Although previous studies reporting an increased effect of MS on perceived pain intensity in Westerners, we found an unchanged or possibly reduced effect in Chinese. Thus, the current work provides insight into a culture-sensitive perspective on how pain processing would be modulated when existential problem occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenbo Wang
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Tian
- Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
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19
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Luo S, Zhang X. Empathy in female submissive BDSM practitioners. Neuropsychologia 2018; 116:44-51. [PMID: 28126624 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2016] [Revised: 01/02/2017] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The practice of bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM) sometimes is associated with giving and receiving pain. It remains unresolved how BDSM practitioners perceive the pain of other people. This study investigated whether and how the BDSM experience affects human empathy. Experiment 1 measured trait empathy and subjective empathic responses in BDSM practitioners and control respondents. The results revealed lower trait empathy scores and subjective pain intensity ratings in the female submissive group (Subs) compared to controls. Experiment 2 measured participants' neural responses to others' suffering by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) from female Subs and controls while viewing painful and neutral expressions. We found that the differential amplitudes between painful and neutral expressions in the frontal N1 (92-112ms), frontal P2 (132-172ms) and central late LPP (700-1000ms) were reduced in the submissive group versus the control group. These findings suggest that being in the submissive role during BDSM practice weakens female individuals' empathic responses to others' suffering at both the behavioral and neural levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Xiao Zhang
- Institute for Economic and Social Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510006, China
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20
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Luo S, Zhang X. Embodiment and Humiliation Moderation of Neural Responses to Others' Suffering in Female Submissive BDSM Practitioners. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:463. [PMID: 30038558 PMCID: PMC6046371 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Giving and receiving pain are common in the practice of BDSM (bondage-discipline, dominance-submission, and sadism-masochism). Playing a submissive role during BDSM practice weakens both the behavioral and neural empathic responses of female individuals to others' suffering, suggesting that long-term BDSM experience affects BDSM practitioners' empathic ability. This study further investigates whether physical restriction during BDSM practice also modulates individuals' neural responses to others' suffering. We measured neural responses to others' suffering by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) in female submissives while they viewed painful and neutral expressions in sexual sadistic/general social contexts under ball gag Blocking and Relaxed conditions. The neural responses recorded during 92-112 ms (N1), 132-172 ms (P2), 200-340 ms (N2), early late positive potential (LPP, 400-600 ms), and late LPP (700-1,000 ms) were included in the analyses. Compared to the relaxed condition, when a ball gag was used to prevent facial muscle movement and facial mimicry, the N1, early LPP, and late LPP responses neural responses to others' suffering were inhibited. The moderation effect of ball gag blocking on the N1 and early LPP amplitudes was positively correlated with the subjective feelings of facial muscle stillness, and the blocking moderation effect on the late LPP amplitudes was positively correlated with subjective feelings of humiliation. This study is the first neuropsychological investigation of the transient BDSM-related physical restriction effects on BDSM practitioners. These findings suggest that physical restriction (via a ball gag) during BDSM practices increases the wearer's facial muscle stillness and sense of humiliation. This physical restriction inhibits both early automatic responses and late controlled processes in response to the suffering of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiao Zhang
- Institute for Economic and Social Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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21
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Xiang Y, Wang Y, Gao S, Zhang X, Cui R. Neural Mechanisms With Respect to Different Paradigms and Relevant Regulatory Factors in Empathy for Pain. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:507. [PMID: 30087592 PMCID: PMC6066512 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy for pain is thought to activate the affective-motivational components of the pain matrix, which includes the anterior insula and middle and anterior cingulate cortices, as indicated by functional magnetic resonance imaging and other methodologies. Activity in this core neural network reflects the affective experience that activates our responses to pain and lays the neural foundation for our understanding of our own emotions and those of others. Furthermore, although picture-based paradigms can activate somatosensory components of directly experienced pain, cue-based paradigms cannot. In addition to this difference, the two paradigms evoke other distinct neuronal responses. Although the automatic “perception-action” model has long been the dominant theory for pain empathy, a “bottom-up, top-down” mechanism seems to be more comprehensive and persuasive. Indeed, a variety of factors can regulate the intensity of empathy for pain through “top-down” processes. In this paper, we integrate and generalize knowledge regarding pain empathy and introduce the findings from recent studies. We also present ideas for future research into the neural mechanisms underlying pain empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yien Xiang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory on Molecular and Chemical Genetic, The Second Hospital Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Yicun Wang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory on Molecular and Chemical Genetic, The Second Hospital Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Shuohui Gao
- Department of Gastrointestinal Colorectal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Xuewen Zhang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory on Molecular and Chemical Genetic, The Second Hospital Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Ranji Cui
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory on Molecular and Chemical Genetic, The Second Hospital Jilin University, Changchun, China
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22
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Han X, He K, Wu B, Shi Z, Liu Y, Luo S, Wei K, Wu X, Han S. Empathy for pain motivates actions without altruistic effects: evidence of motor dynamics and brain activity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:893-901. [PMID: 28338790 PMCID: PMC5472110 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy has been supposed to be a proximate mechanism of altruistic behavior. We investigated whether empathy for pain drives actions without altruistic effects and how such actions modulate neural responses to others’ pain. In two experiments, we asked healthy adults to press a button for no reason when viewing video clips showing faces with pain expressions receiving needle penetration or faces with neutral expressions receiving a cotton swab touch. Experiment 1 found that participants pressed a button with greater response force when watching painful than non-painful stimuli. Participants who reported greater unpleasant feelings pressed the button harder when viewing painful stimuli. Experiment 2 revealed that passively viewing painful vs non-painful stimuli increased blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals in the middle cingulate cortex, supplementary motor cortex, and bilateral second somatosensory and inferior frontal cortex, which, however, were reduced by the action of button press without altruistic effects. In addition, individuals who reported higher personal distress illustrated greater decrease of the second somatosensory activity induced by button press. Our results indicate that empathy for pain motivates simple actions without altruistic effects that in turn reduce neural responses to others’ pain, suggesting a functional role of action execution in self distress relief when viewing others’ suffering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochun Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Kang He
- Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Bing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Zhenhao Shi
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Liu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Siyang Luo
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Kunlin Wei
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xinhuai Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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23
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Luo S, Yu D, Han S. 5-HTTLPR moderates the association between interdependence and brain responses to mortality threats. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:6157-6171. [PMID: 28921740 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2017] [Revised: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
While behavioral research suggests an association between cultural worldview and decreased anxiety of death, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. Using functional MRI, we investigated whether and how the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), which has been associated with mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, moderates the associations between a cultural trait (i.e., interdependence) and self-report of death anxiety/depression and between interdependence and brain responses to mortality threats. Long/long and short/short allele carriers of the 5-HTTLPR were scanned using fMRI while they performed a one-back task on death-related, death-unrelated negative, and neutral words. Participants' interdependence and death anxiety/depression were assessed using questionnaires after scanning. We found that participants who assessed themselves with greater interdependence reported lower death anxiety/depression and showed decreased neural response to death-related words in emotion-related brain regions including the anterior cingulate, putamen, and thalamus. However, these results were evident in long/long allele carriers of the 5-HTTLPR but not in short/short allele carriers who even showed positive associations between interdependence and neural activities in the anterior cingulate, putamen and thalamus in response to death-related words. Our findings suggest candidate mechanisms for explaining the complex relationship between genotype, cultural traits, and mental/neural responses to mortality threats. Hum Brain Mapp 38:6157-6171, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Dian Yu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
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24
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Shi Z, Han S. Distinct effects of reminding mortality and physical pain on the default-mode activity and activity underlying self-reflection. Soc Neurosci 2017; 13:372-383. [PMID: 28486837 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2017.1329165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral research suggests that reminding both mortality and negative affect influences self-related thoughts. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we tested the hypothesis that reminders of mortality and physical pain decrease brain activity underlying self-related thoughts. Three groups of adults underwent priming procedures during which they answered questions pertaining to mortality, physical pain, or leisure time, respectively. Before and after priming, participants performed personality trait judgments on oneself or a celebrity, identified the font of words, or passively viewed a fixation. The default-mode activity and neural activity underlying self-reflection were identified by contrasting viewing a fixation vs. font judgment and trait judgments on oneself vs. a celebrity, respectively. The analyses of the pre-priming functional MRI (fMRI) data identified the default-mode activity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), ventral medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and parahippocampal gyrus, and the activity underlying instructed self-reflection in both the ventral and dorsal regions of the MPFC. The analyses of the post-priming fMRI data revealed that, relative to leisure time priming, reminding mortality significantly reduced the default-mode PCC activity, and reminding physical pain significantly decreased the dorsal MPFC activity during instructed self-reflection. Our findings suggest distinct neural underpinnings of the effect of reminding morality and aversive emotion on default-mode and instructed self-reflection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenhao Shi
- a School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health , Peking University , Beijing , China.,b Center for Studies of Addiction, Department of Psychiatry , University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine , Philadelphia , PA , USA
| | - Shihui Han
- a School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health , Peking University , Beijing , China
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25
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Yun JY, Kim JC, Ku J, Shin JE, Kim JJ, Choi SH. The left middle temporal gyrus in the middle of an impaired social-affective communication network in social anxiety disorder. J Affect Disord 2017; 214:53-59. [PMID: 28266321 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2016] [Revised: 12/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies on patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) reported changed patterns of the resting-state functional connectivity network (rs-FCN) between the prefrontal cortices and other prefrontal, amygdalar or striatal regions. Using a graph theory approach, this study explored the modularity-based community profile and patterns of inter-/intra-modular communication for the rs-FCN in SAD. METHODS In total, for 28 SAD patients and 27 healthy controls (HC), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired in resting-state and subjected to a graph theory analysis. RESULTS The within-module degree z-score for a hub region [out of a total of 10 hub regions ranked using the participation coefficient] named left middle temporal gyrus was impaired in SAD compared to HC, proportional to the severity of clinician-scored and patient-reported functional impairment in SAD. LIMITATIONS Most of participants included in this study were undergraduate students in their early-to-mid 20's. CONCLUSIONS This study showed the importance of functional communication from the left middle temporal gyrus with other opercular-insular-subcortical regions for better objective functioning and lesser subjective disability in SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Je-Yeon Yun
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Chang Kim
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeonghun Ku
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Keimyung University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Eun Shin
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Jin Kim
- Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo-Hee Choi
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Institute of Human Behavioral Medicine, SNU-MRC, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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26
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Feng C, Azarian B, Ma Y, Feng X, Wang L, Luo YJ, Krueger F. Mortality salience reduces the discrimination between in-group and out-group interactions: A functional MRI investigation using multi-voxel pattern analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 2016; 38:1281-1298. [PMID: 27859936 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
As a fundamental concern of human beings, mortality salience impacts various human social behaviors including intergroup interactions; however, the underlying neural signature remains obscure. Here, we examined the neural signatures underlying the impact of mortality reminders on in-group bias in costly punishment combining a second-party punishment task with multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data. After mortality salience (MS) priming or general negative affect priming, participants received offers from racial in-group and out-group proposers and decided how to punish proposers by reducing their payoffs. We revealed that MS priming attenuated in-group bias and dampened the discriminated activation patterns pertaining to group identities in regions previously implicated in costly punishment, including dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The group identity represented in multivariate patterns of activity of these regions predicted in-group bias for the control condition, i.e., the stronger discriminative representations of group identities in these regions; the larger was the in-group bias. Furthermore, the in-group bias was reliably decoded by distributed activation patterns in the punishment-related networks but only in the control condition and not in the MS condition. These findings elucidate the neural underpinnings of the effects of mortality reminders on intergroup interaction. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1281-1298, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunliang Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China.,College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, China
| | - Bobby Azarian
- The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
| | - Yina Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China
| | - Xue Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China
| | - Lili Wang
- School of Educational Science, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian, China
| | - Yue-Jia Luo
- Institute of Affective and Social Neuroscience Shenzhen University, China.,Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, China
| | - Frank Krueger
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
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27
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Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy in survey instruments. Qual Life Res 2016; 25:2497-2510. [PMID: 27138962 DOI: 10.1007/s11136-016-1304-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study examines the effect of question context created by order in questionnaires on three subjective well-being measures: life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy. METHODS We conducted two Web survey experiments. The first experiment (n = 648) altered the order of life satisfaction and self-rated health: (1) life satisfaction asked immediately after self-rated health; (2) self-rated health immediately after life satisfaction; and (3) two items placed apart. We examined their correlation coefficient by experimental condition and further examined its interaction with objective health. The second experiment (n = 479) asked life expectancy before and after parental mortality questions. Responses to life expectancy were compared by order using ANOVA, and we examined interaction with parental mortality status using ANCOVA. Additionally, response time and probes were examined. RESULTS Correlation coefficients between self-rated health and life satisfaction differed significantly by order: 0.313 (life satisfaction first), 0.508 (apart), and 0.643 (self-rated health first). Differences were larger among respondents with chronic conditions. Response times were the shortest when self-rated health was asked first. When life expectancy asked after parental mortality questions, respondents reported considering parents more for answering life expectancy; and respondents with deceased parents reported significantly lower expectancy, but not those whose parents were alive. CONCLUSION Question context effects exist. Findings suggest placing life satisfaction and self-rated health apart to avoid artificial attenuation or inflation in their association. Asking about parental mortality prior to life expectancy appears advantageous as this leads respondents to consider parental longevity more, an important factor for true longevity.
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Self-esteem buffers the mortality salience effect on the implicit self-face processing. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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29
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Luo S, Yu D, Han S. Genetic and neural correlates of romantic relationship satisfaction. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 11:337-48. [PMID: 26385612 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2015] [Accepted: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Romantic relationship satisfaction (RRS) is important for mental/physical health but varies greatly across individuals. To date, we have known little about the biological (genetic and neural) correlates of RRS. We tested the hypothesis that the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), the promoter region of the gene SLC6A4 that codes for the serotonin transporter protein, is associated with individuals' RRS. Moreover, we investigated neural activity that mediates 5-HTTLPR association with RRS by scanning short-short (s/s) and long-long (l/l) homozygotes of 5-HTTLPR, using functional MRI, during a Cyberball game that resulted in social exclusion. l/l compared with s/s allele carriers reported higher RRS but lower social interaction anxiety. l/l compared with s/s carriers showed stronger activity in the right ventral prefrontal cortex (RVPFC) and stronger functional connectivity between the dorsal and rostral ACC when being excluded from the Cyberball game. Moreover, the 5-HTTLPR association with RRS was mediated by the RVPFC activity and the 5-HTTLPR association with social interaction anxiety was mediated by both the dorsal-rostral ACC connectivity and RVPFC activity. Our findings suggest that 5-HTTLPR is associated with satisfaction of one's own romantic relationships and this association is mediated by the neural activity in the brain region related to emotion regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Dian Yu
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Shihui Han
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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30
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Holbrook C, Izuma K, Deblieck C, Fessler DMT, Iacoboni M. Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 11:387-94. [PMID: 26341901 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
People cleave to ideological convictions with greater intensity in the aftermath of threat. The posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) plays a key role in both detecting discrepancies between desired and current conditions and adjusting subsequent behavior to resolve such conflicts. Building on prior literature examining the role of the pMFC in shifts in relatively low-level decision processes, we demonstrate that the pMFC mediates adjustments in adherence to political and religious ideologies. We presented participants with a reminder of death and a critique of their in-group ostensibly written by a member of an out-group, then experimentally decreased both avowed belief in God and out-group derogation by downregulating pMFC activity via transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results provide the first evidence that group prejudice and religious belief are susceptible to targeted neuromodulation, and point to a shared cognitive mechanism underlying concrete and abstract decision processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for further research characterizing the cognitive and affective mechanisms at play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Holbrook
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA,
| | - Keise Izuma
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Choi Deblieck
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA and
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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31
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Li X, Liu Y, Luo S, Wu B, Wu X, Han S. Mortality salience enhances racial in-group bias in empathic neural responses to others' suffering. Neuroimage 2015; 118:376-85. [PMID: 26074201 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.06.023] [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: 03/15/2015] [Revised: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 06/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral research suggests that mortality salience (MS) leads to increased in-group identification and in-group favoritism in prosocial behavior. What remains unknown is whether and how MS influences brain activity that mediates emotional resonance with in-group and out-group members and is associated with in-group favoritism in helping behavior. The current work investigated MS effects on empathic neural responses to racial in-group and out-group members' suffering. Experiments 1 and 2 respectively recorded event related potentials (ERPs) and blood oxygen level dependent signals to pain/neutral expressions of Asian and Caucasian faces from Chinese adults who had been primed with MS or negative affect (NA). Experiment 1 found that an early frontal/central activity (P2) was more strongly modulated by pain vs. neutral expressions of Asian than Caucasian faces, but this effect was not affected by MS vs. NA priming. However, MS relative to NA priming enhanced racial in-group bias in long-latency neural response to pain expressions over the central/parietal regions (P3). Experiment 2 found that MS vs. NA priming increased racial in-group bias in empathic neural responses to pain expression in the anterior and mid-cingulate cortex. Our findings indicate that reminding mortality enhances brain activity that differentiates between racial in-group and out-group members' emotional states and suggest a neural basis of in-group favoritism under mortality threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyang Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Bing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xinhuai Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Shihui Han
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University.
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32
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Luo S, Ma Y, Liu Y, Li B, Wang C, Shi Z, Li X, Zhang W, Rao Y, Han S. Interaction between oxytocin receptor polymorphism and interdependent culture values on human empathy. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 10:1273-81. [PMID: 25680993 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that the association between oxytocin receptor polymorphism (OXTR rs53576) and emotion-related behavioral/psychological tendencies differs between individuals from East Asian and Western cultures. What remains unresolved is which specific dimension of cultural orientations interacts with OXTR rs53576 to shape these tendencies and whether such gene × culture interactions occurs at both behavioral and neural level. This study investigated whether and how OXTR rs53576 interacts with interdependence-a key dimension of cultural orientations that distinguish between East Asian and Western cultures-to affect human empathy that underlies altruistic motivation and prosocial behavior. Experiment 1 measured interdependence, empathy trait and OXTR rs53576 genotypes of 1536 Chinese participants. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a stronger association between interdependence and empathy trait in G allele carriers compared with A/A homozygotes of OXTR rs53576. Experiment 2 measured neural responses to others' suffering by scanning A/A and G/G homozygous of OXTR rs53576 using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed stronger associations between interdependence and empathic neural responses in the insula, amygdala and superior temporal gyrus in G/G compared with A/A carriers. Our results provide the first evidence for gene × culture interactions on empathy at both behavioral tendency and underlying brain activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Yina Ma
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Bingfeng Li
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Chenbo Wang
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Zhenhao Shi
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Xiaoyang Li
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
| | - Wenxia Zhang
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yi Rao
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Shihui Han
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and
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33
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Wang C, Wu B, Liu Y, Wu X, Han S. Challenging emotional prejudice by changing self-concept: priming independent self-construal reduces racial in-group bias in neural responses to other's pain. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 10:1195-201. [PMID: 25605968 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2014] [Accepted: 01/14/2015] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans show stronger empathy for in-group compared with out-group members' suffering and help in-group members more than out-group members. Moreover, the in-group bias in empathy and parochial altruism tend to be more salient in collectivistic than individualistic cultures. This work tested the hypothesis that modifying self-construals, which differentiate between collectivistic and individualistic cultural orientations, affects in-group bias in empathy for perceived own-race vs other-race pain. By scanning adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found stronger neural activities in the mid-cingulate, left insula and supplementary motor area (SMA) in response to racial in-group compared with out-group members' pain after participants had been primed with interdependent self-construals. However, the racial in-group bias in neural responses to others' pain in the left SMA, mid-cingulate cortex and insula was significantly reduced by priming independent self-construals. Our findings suggest that shifting an individual's self-construal leads to changes of his/her racial in-group bias in neural responses to others' suffering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenbo Wang
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China, and
| | - Bing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China, and
| | - Xinhuai Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China, and
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34
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Valentini E, Koch K, Aglioti SM. Thoughts of death modulate psychophysical and cortical responses to threatening stimuli. PLoS One 2014; 9:e112324. [PMID: 25386905 PMCID: PMC4227888 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2014] [Accepted: 10/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Existential social psychology studies show that awareness of one's eventual death profoundly influences human cognition and behaviour by inducing defensive reactions against end-of-life related anxiety. Much less is known about the impact of reminders of mortality on brain activity. Therefore we explored whether reminders of mortality influence subjective ratings of intensity and threat of auditory and painful thermal stimuli and the associated electroencephalographic activity. Moreover, we explored whether personality and demographics modulate psychophysical and neural changes related to mortality salience (MS). Following MS induction, a specific increase in ratings of intensity and threat was found for both nociceptive and auditory stimuli. While MS did not have any specific effect on nociceptive and auditory evoked potentials, larger amplitude of theta oscillatory activity related to thermal nociceptive activity was found after thoughts of death were induced. MS thus exerted a top-down modulation on theta electroencephalographic oscillatory amplitude, specifically for brain activity triggered by painful thermal stimuli. This effect was higher in participants reporting higher threat perception, suggesting that inducing a death-related mind-set may have an influence on body-defence related somatosensory representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elia Valentini
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Roma, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Roma, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Katharina Koch
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Roma, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Roma, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Roma, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Roma, Italy
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Silveira S, Graupmann V, Agthe M, Gutyrchik E, Blautzik J, Demirçapa I, Berndt A, Pöppel E, Frey D, Reiser M, Hennig-Fast K. Existential neuroscience: effects of mortality salience on the neurocognitive processing of attractive opposite-sex faces. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 9:1601-7. [PMID: 24078106 PMCID: PMC4187282 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2013] [Revised: 08/14/2013] [Accepted: 09/23/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Being reminded of the inherently finite nature of human existence has been demonstrated to elicit strivings for sexual reproduction and the formation and maintenance of intimate relationships. Recently, it has been proposed that the perception of potential mating partners is influenced by mortality salience. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the neurocognitive processing of attractive opposite-sex faces after priming with death-related words for heterosexual men and women. Significant modulations of behavioral and neural responses were found when participants were requested to decide whether they would like to meet the presented person. Men were more in favor of meeting attractive women after being primed with death-related words compared to a no-prime condition. Increased neural activation could be found under mortality salience in the left anterior insula and the adjacent lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) for both men and women. As previously suggested, we believe that the lPFC activation reflects an approach-motivated defense mechanism to overcome concerns that are induced by being reminded of death and dying. Our results provide insight on a neurocognitive level that approach motivation in general, and mating motivation in particular is modulated by mortality salience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarita Silveira
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Verena Graupmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Agthe
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Evgeny Gutyrchik
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Janusch Blautzik
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Idil Demirçapa
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea Berndt
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Ernst Pöppel
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Dieter Frey
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Maximilian Reiser
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Kristina Hennig-Fast
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Institute of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, and Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
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Dynamic neural processing of linguistic cues related to death. PLoS One 2013; 8:e67905. [PMID: 23840787 PMCID: PMC3695929 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2012] [Accepted: 05/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral studies suggest that humans evolve the capacity to cope with anxiety induced by the awareness of death's inevitability. However, the neurocognitive processes that underlie online death-related thoughts remain unclear. Our recent functional MRI study found that the processing of linguistic cues related to death was characterized by decreased neural activity in human insular cortex. The current study further investigated the time course of neural processing of death-related linguistic cues. We recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to death-related, life-related, negative-valence, and neutral-valence words in a modified Stroop task that required color naming of words. We found that the amplitude of an early frontal/central negativity at 84-120 ms (N1) decreased to death-related words but increased to life-related words relative to neutral-valence words. The N1 effect associated with death-related and life-related words was correlated respectively with individuals' pessimistic and optimistic attitudes toward life. Death-related words also increased the amplitude of a frontal/central positivity at 124-300 ms (P2) and of a frontal/central positivity at 300-500 ms (P3). However, the P2 and P3 modulations were observed for both death-related and negative-valence words but not for life-related words. The ERP results suggest an early inverse coding of linguistic cues related to life and death, which is followed by negative emotional responses to death-related information.
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