Spontaneous default mode network phase-locking moderates performance perceptions under stereotype threat

On the neural networks of self and other bias and their role in emergent social interactions

Extensive research has documented the brain networks that play an integral role in bias, or the alteration and filtration of information processing in a manner that fundamentally favors an individual. The roots of bias, whether self- or other-oriented, are a complex constellation of neural and psychological processes that start at the most fundamental levels of sensory processing. From the millisecond information is received in the brain it is filtered at various levels and through various brain networks in relation to extant intrinsic activity to provide individuals with a perception of reality that complements and satisfies the conscious perceptions they have for themselves and the cultures in which they were reared. The products of these interactions, in turn, are dynamically altered by the introduction of others, be they friends or strangers who are similar or different in socially meaningful ways. While much is known about the various ways that basic biases alter specific aspects of neural function to support various forms of bias, the breadth and scope of the phenomenon remains entirely unclear. The purpose of this review is to examine the brain networks that shape (i.e., bias) the self-concept and how interactions with similar (ingroup) compared to dissimilar (outgroup) others alter these network (and subsequent interpersonal) interactions in fundamental ways. Throughout, focus is placed on an emerging understanding of the brain as a complex system, which suggests that many of these network interactions likely occur on a non-linear scale that blurs the lines between network hierarchies.

Impact of stereotype threat on brain activity during memory tasks in older adults

We report the first neuroimaging experiment to investigate the impact of explicitly activating aging stereotypes (i.e., stereotype threat) on brain activity during cognitive tasks. Cognitively normal older adults read about aging stereotypes or a control passage prior to taking episodic memory, working memory, and a non-demanding control task during fMRI. At the group level, stereotype activation did not impact cognitive performance or measures sensitive to stress and anxiety (physiological or self-report), but like prior work, highly educated and retired adults exhibited greater stereotype effects on episodic memory. At the neural level, stereotype activation did not impact brain activity in executive control or emotional regulation regions previously linked to stereotype threat effects in younger adults, suggesting that stereotype threat operates differently in older adults. Instead, on each task, the stereotype group showed more brain activity than the control group in parietal midline regions (e.g., precuneus, posterior cingulate). Although activity in these regions can arise from many processes, they have previously been associated with self-referential thinking and error-prevention focus, and in our study, brain activity in these regions was associated with slower responses and lower false alarm errors on the episodic memory task. Collectively, these findings are more consistent with the regulatory fit hypothesis than an executive control interference hypothesis of stereotype threat effects in older adults, whereby older adults adopt an error-prevention mindset in response to explicit stereotype threat.

How the brain negotiates divergent executive processing demands: Evidence of network reorganization in fleeting brain states

During performance in everyday contexts, multiple networks draw from shared executive resources to maintain attention, regulate arousal, and solve problems. At times, requirements for attention and self-regulation appear to be in competition. How does the brain attempt to resolve conflicts arising from such divergent processing demands? Here we demonstrate that the brain is capable of managing multiple processes via rapidly cycling between functional brain states over time, as it is typically regarded. Treating the brain as a complex system, comprising relationships within and between functional networks, we implemented Hidden Markov Modeling (HMM) on electroencephalographic (EEG) data to identify nonlinear brain states in both intra and internetwork synchrony that produced better performance for women subjects who were tasked with solving difficult problems under autobiographically-relevant, evaluative stress. Prior work often found that emotion-regulation and default-mode network (ERN and DMN) activity conflicted with the frontoparietal network's (FPN) ability to facilitate executive functioning necessary for problem solving. Contrastingly, we discovered that fleeting, nonlinear states dominated by FPN and ERN internetwork synchrony supported optimum performance generally, while during stress, states dominated by ERN and DMN intranetwork synchrony were more important for performance. These results imply that the brain may be capable of resolving competing processes through networks' cooperative dynamics. Further, data suggests a novel role for DMN as a mechanism for integrating external threats with internal, self-referent processing during evaluative stress within the observed population.

Stereotype-based stressors facilitate emotional memory neural network connectivity and encoding of negative information to degrade math self-perceptions among women

Stress engendered by stereotype threatening situations may facilitate encoding of negative, stereotype confirming feedback received during a performance among women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It is unclear, however, whether this process is comprised of the same neurophysiological mechanisms evident in any emotional memory encoding context, or if this encoding bias directly undermines positive self-perceptions in the stigmatized domain. A total of 160 men and women completed a math test that provided veridical positive and negative feedback, a memory test for feedback, and math self-enhancing and valuing measures in a stereotype threatening or neutral context while continuous electroencephalography activity and startle probe responses to positive and negative feedback was recorded. Indexing amygdala activity to feedback via startle responses and emotional memory network connectivity elicited during accurate recognition of positive and negative feedback via graph analyses, only stereotype threatened women encoded negative feedback better when they exhibited increased amygdala activity and emotional memory network connectivity in response to said feedback. Emotional memory biases, in turn, predicted decreases in women’s self-enhancing, math valuing and performance. Findings provide an emotional memory encoding-based mechanism for well-established findings indicating that women have more negative math self-perceptions compared with men regardless of actual performance.

Theories for Race and Gender Differences in Management of Social Identity-Related Stressors: a Systematic Review

Sociodemographic group-specific strategies for stress management may contribute to racial and gender disparities in health outcomes in the USA. We aimed to systematically review theoretical and empirical investigations of factors influencing variation in response to and management of identity-related stress among black and white Americans. OvidPsychInfo and PubMed databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Criteria were participant age of ≥ 18 years, conducted in the US sampling black or white participants, and published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. The final sample included 167 articles. Theories suggesting social status inequities as the primary contributor to disparate strategies employed by black and white women and men to manage social identity-related stress were most frequently tested and supported. Studies disproportionally focused on how women and black persons cope as targets of prejudice and discrimination rather than on how management strategies of men or white persons are affected as perpetrators. Finally, there was theoretical support for an interactive effect of race and gender on stress management, but empirical evidence was lacking, particularly among black men, white women, and white men. The literature could be strengthened through the use of prospective cohorts and nationally representative samples, as well as study designs accounting for potential within-race and within-gender variation in the effects of social identity-related stressors on coping. With greater consistency in methodology, future empirical studies may yield additional information regarding group differences in stress management pertinent to clarifying mechanisms for the health consequences of exposure to social inequity among black and white women and men.

Motivated Forgetting in Early Mathematics: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Educators assume that students are motivated to retain what they are taught. Yet, students commonly report that they forget most of what they learn, especially in mathematics. In the current study I ask whether students may be motivated to forget mathematics because of academic experiences threaten the self-perceptions they are committed to maintaining. Using a large dataset of 1st and 2nd grade children (N = 812), I hypothesize that math anxiety creates negative experiences in the classroom that threaten children's positive math self-perceptions, which in turn spurs a motivation to forget mathematics. I argue that this motivation to forget is activated during the winter break, which in turn reduces the extent to which children grow in achievement across the school year. Children were assessed for math self-perceptions, math anxiety and math achievement in the fall before going into winter break. During the spring, children's math achievement was measured once again. A math achievement growth score was devised from a regression model of fall math achievement predicting spring achievement. Results show that children with higher math self-perceptions showed reduced growth in math achievement across the school year as a function of math anxiety. Children with lower math interest self-perceptions did not show this relationship. Results serve as a proof-of-concept for a scientific account of motivated forgetting within the context of education.

Cultivating the social-emotional imagination in gifted education: insights from educational neuroscience

Evidence from education, psychology, and neuroscience suggests that investing in the development of the social-emotional imagination is essential to cultivating giftedness in adolescents. Nurturing these capacities may be especially effective for promoting giftedness in students who are likely to lose interest and ambition over time. Giftedness is frequently equated with high general intelligence as measured by IQ tests, but this narrow conceptualization does not adequately capture students' abilities to utilize their talents strategically to fully realize their future possible selves. The brain's default mode network is thought to play an important role in supporting imaginative thinking about the self and others across time. Because this network's functioning is temporarily attenuated when individuals engage in task- and action-oriented focus (mindsets thought to engage the brain's executive attention network), we suggest that consistently focusing students on tasks requiring immediate action could undermine long-term cultivation of giftedness. We argue that giftedness-especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-can be cultivated by encouraging adolescents' intellectual curiosity and supporting their ability to connect schoolwork to a larger purpose. Improving STEM and gifted education may depend upon a shift from knowledge transmission and regimented evaluation to creative exploration, intentional reflectiveness, and mindful switching between task focus and imagining.

Rethinking Explicit Expectations: Connecting Placebos, Social Cognition, and Contextual Perception

Expectancy effects are a widespread phenomenon, and they come with a lasting influence on cognitive operations, from basic stimulus processing to higher cognitive functions. Their impact is often profound and behaviorally significant, as evidenced by an enormous body of literature investigating the characteristics and possible processes underlying expectancy effects. The literature on this topic spans diverse fields, from clinical psychology to cognitive neuroscience, and from social psychology to behavioral biology. We present an emerging perspective on these diverse phenomena and show how this perspective stimulates new toeholds for investigation, provides insight in underlying mechanisms, improves awareness of methodological confounds, and can lead to a deeper understanding of the effects of expectations on a broad spectrum of cognitive processes.