1
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Balters S, Foland-Ross LC, Bruno J, Periyakoil VS, Valantine H, Reiss AL. Neural responses to gender-based microaggressions in academic medicine. J Neurosci Res 2023; 101:1803-1813. [PMID: 37654210 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.25240] [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: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Gender-based microaggressions have been associated with persistent disparities between women and men in academia. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying those often subtle and unintentional yet detrimental behaviors. Here, we assessed the neural responses to gender-based microaggressions in 28 early career faculty in medicine (N = 16 female, N = 12 male sex) using fMRI. Participants watched 33 videos of situations demonstrating gender-based microaggressions and control situations in academic medicine. Video topics had been previously identified through real-life anecdotes about microaggression from women faculty and were scripted and reenacted using professional actors. Primary voxel-wise analyses comparing group differences in activation elucidated a significant group by condition interaction in a right-lateralized cluster across the frontal (inferior and middle frontal gyri, frontal pole, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus) and parietal lobes (supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus). Whereas women faculty exhibited reduced activation in these regions during the microaggression relative to the control condition, the opposite was true for men. Posthoc analyses showed that these patterns were significantly associated with the degree to which participants reported feeling judged for their gender in academic medicine. Lastly, secondary exploratory ROI analyses showed significant between-group differences in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. Women activated these two regions less in the microaggression condition compared to the control condition, whereas men did not. These findings indicate that the observation of gender-based microaggressions results in a specific pattern of neural reactivity in women early career faculty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Balters
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Lara C Foland-Ross
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Jennifer Bruno
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Vyjeyanthi S Periyakoil
- Department of Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Hannah Valantine
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Allan L Reiss
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
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2
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Sai X, Wu X, Li X, Zhu L. Visuospatial or verbal-spatial codes? The different effect of two secondary tasks on the power-space associations during a semantic categorizing task. Cogn Process 2023; 24:481-493. [PMID: 37368058 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01149-x] [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: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The power-space associations have been extensively studied as a possible way to reveal the nature of concept representations, while the visuospatial and verbal-spatial codes are two primary explanations for the phenomenon. In two experiments, we imposed either a visuospatial or a verbal secondary task during the semantic categorizing of power words to examine their respective roles. The results showed that retaining a letter but not a location concurrently interfered with the power-space association. The results suggested that the verbal-spatial codes might play a more fundamental role than the visuospatial codes in the power-space associations during the semantic categorizing of power words.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueying Sai
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China
| | - Xi Wu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China
| | - Xingjia Li
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China.
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3
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Deen B, Schwiedrzik CM, Sliwa J, Freiwald WA. Specialized Networks for Social Cognition in the Primate Brain. Annu Rev Neurosci 2023; 46:381-401. [PMID: 37428602 PMCID: PMC11115357 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-102522-121410] [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] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Primates have evolved diverse cognitive capabilities to navigate their complex social world. To understand how the brain implements critical social cognitive abilities, we describe functional specialization in the domains of face processing, social interaction understanding, and mental state attribution. Systems for face processing are specialized from the level of single cells to populations of neurons within brain regions to hierarchically organized networks that extract and represent abstract social information. Such functional specialization is not confined to the sensorimotor periphery but appears to be a pervasive theme of primate brain organization all the way to the apex regions of cortical hierarchies. Circuits processing social information are juxtaposed with parallel systems involved in processing nonsocial information, suggesting common computations applied to different domains. The emerging picture of the neural basis of social cognition is a set of distinct but interacting subnetworks involved in component processes such as face perception and social reasoning, traversing large parts of the primate brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Deen
- Psychology Department & Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Caspar M Schwiedrzik
- Neural Circuits and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen, A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Society; Perception and Plasticity Group, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research; and Leibniz-Science Campus Primate Cognition, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julia Sliwa
- Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau, ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Winrich A Freiwald
- Laboratory of Neural Systems and The Price Family Center for the Social Brain, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA;
- The Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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4
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Padilla-Coreano N, Tye KM, Zelikowsky M. Dynamic influences on the neural encoding of social valence. Nat Rev Neurosci 2022; 23:535-550. [PMID: 35831442 PMCID: PMC9997616 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-022-00609-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Social signals can serve as potent emotional triggers with powerful impacts on processes from cognition to valence processing. How are social signals dynamically and flexibly associated with positive or negative valence? How do our past social experiences and present social standing shape our motivation to seek or avoid social contact? We discuss a model in which social attributes, social history, social memory, social rank and social isolation can flexibly influence valence assignment to social stimuli, termed here as 'social valence'. We emphasize how the brain encodes each of these four factors and highlight the neural circuits and mechanisms that play a part in the perception of social attributes, social memory and social rank, as well as how these factors affect valence systems associated with social stimuli. We highlight the impact of social isolation, dissecting the neural and behavioural mechanisms that mediate the effects of acute versus prolonged periods of social isolation. Importantly, we discuss conceptual models that may account for the potential shift in valence of social stimuli from positive to negative as the period of isolation extends in time. Collectively, this Review identifies factors that control the formation and attribution of social valence - integrating diverse areas of research and emphasizing their unique contributions to the categorization of social stimuli as positive or negative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy Padilla-Coreano
- Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Kay M Tye
- HHMI-Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Moriel Zelikowsky
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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5
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Suryoputri N, Kiesow H, Bzdok D. Population variation in social brain morphology: Links to socioeconomic status and health disparity. Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:305-327. [PMID: 35658811 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2083230] [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: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Health disparity across layers of society involves reasons beyond the healthcare system. Socioeconomic status (SES) shapes people's daily interaction with their social environment and is known to impact various health outcomes. Using generative probabilistic modeling, we investigate health satisfaction and complementary indicators of socioeconomic lifestyle in the human social brain. In a population cohort of ~10,000 UK Biobank participants, our first analysis probed the relationship between health status and subjective social standing (i.e., financial satisfaction). We identified volume effects in participants unhappy with their health in regions of the higher associative cortex, especially the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and bilateral temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). Specifically, participants in poor subjective health showed deviations in dmPFC and TPJ volume as a function of financial satisfaction. The second analysis on health status and objective social standing (i.e., household income) revealed volume deviations in regions of the limbic system for individuals feeling unhealthy. In particular, low-SES participants dissatisfied with their health showed deviations in volume distributions in the amygdala and hippocampus bilaterally. Thus, our population-level evidence speaks to the possibility that health status and socioeconomic position have characteristic imprints in social brain differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathania Suryoputri
- Department of Medical Engineering and Technomathematics, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Jülich, Germany
| | - Hannah Kiesow
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Danilo Bzdok
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Montreal, Québec, Canada.,McConnell Brain Imaging Centre (BIC), Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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6
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Dwortz MF, Curley JP, Tye KM, Padilla-Coreano N. Neural systems that facilitate the representation of social rank. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200444. [PMID: 35000438 PMCID: PMC8743891 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Across species, animals organize into social dominance hierarchies that serve to decrease aggression and facilitate survival of the group. Neuroscientists have adopted several model organisms to study dominance hierarchies in the laboratory setting, including fish, reptiles, rodents and primates. We review recent literature across species that sheds light onto how the brain represents social rank to guide socially appropriate behaviour within a dominance hierarchy. First, we discuss how the brain responds to social status signals. Then, we discuss social approach and avoidance learning mechanisms that we propose could drive rank-appropriate behaviour. Lastly, we discuss how the brain represents memories of individuals (social memory) and how this may support the maintenance of unique individual relationships within a social group. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine F. Dwortz
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - James P. Curley
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Kay M. Tye
- Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Nancy Padilla-Coreano
- Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FN 32611, USA
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7
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The effect of secondary task on power-space interactions during the performance of a semantic category judgment task. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA SINICA 2022. [DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1041.2022.00772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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8
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Li S, Krueger F, Camilleri JA, Eickhoff SB, Qu C. The neural signatures of social hierarchy-related learning and interaction: A coordinate- and connectivity-based meta-analysis. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118731. [PMID: 34788662 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural mechanisms of two mutually independent yet closely related cognitive processes aiding humans to navigate complex societies: social hierarchy-related learning (SH-RL) and social hierarchy-related interaction (SH-RI). To integrate these heterogeneous results into a more fine-grained and reliable characterization of the neural basis of social hierarchy, we combined coordinate-based meta-analyses with connectivity and functional decoding analyses to understand the underlying neuropsychological mechanism of SH-RL and SH-RI. We identified the anterior insula and temporoparietal junction (dominance detection), medial prefrontal cortex (information updating and computation), and intraparietal sulcus region, amygdala, and hippocampus (social hierarchy representation) as consistent activated brain regions for SH-RL, but the striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus associated with reward processing for SH-RI. Our results provide an overview of the neural architecture of the neuropsychological processes underlying how we understand, and interact within, social hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siying Li
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631 China
| | - Frank Krueger
- School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States; Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States
| | - Julia A Camilleri
- Research Center Jülich, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Germany; Medical Faculty, Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Research Center Jülich, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Germany; Medical Faculty, Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Chen Qu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631 China.
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9
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Children’s spatial representation of power during an incidental power evaluation task. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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10
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Barth DM, Mattan BD, Dang TP, Cloutier J. Regional and network neural activity reflect men's preference for greater socioeconomic status during impression formation. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20302. [PMID: 33219303 PMCID: PMC7679381 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76847-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Evidence from social psychology suggests that men compared to women more readily display and pursue control over human resources or capital. However, studying how status and gender shape deliberate impression formation is difficult due to social desirability concerns. Using univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses (n = 65), we examined how gender and socioeconomic status (SES) may influence brain responses during deliberate but private impression formation. Men more than women showed greater activity in the VMPFC and NAcc when forming impressions of high-SES (vs. low-SES) targets. Seed partial least squares (PLS) analysis showed that this SES-based increase in VMPFC activity was associated with greater co-activation across an evaluative network for the high-SES versus low-SES univariate comparison. A data-driven task PLS analysis also showed greater co-activation in an extended network consisting of regions involved in salience detection, attention, and task engagement as a function of increasing target SES. This co-activating network was most pronounced for men. These findings provide evidence that high-SES targets elicit neural responses indicative of positivity, reward, and salience during impression formation among men. Contributions to a network neuroscience understanding of status perception and implications for gender- and status-based impression formation are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise M Barth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Bradley D Mattan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Tzipporah P Dang
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Jasmin Cloutier
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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11
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Effects of Improvisation Training on Student Teachers’ Behavioral, Neuroendocrine, and Psychophysiological Responses during the Trier Social Stress Test. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-020-00145-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
Teaching involves multiple performance situations, potentially causing psychosocial stress. Since the theater-based improvisation method is associated with diminished social stress, we investigated whether improvisation lessened student teachers’ stress responses using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST; preparatory phase, public speech, and math task). Moreover, we studied the influence of interpersonal confidence (IC) – the belief regarding one’s capability related to effective social interactions – on stress responses.
Methods
The intervention group (n = 19) received a 7-week (17.5 h) improvisation training, preceded and followed by the TSST. We evaluated experienced stress using a self-report scale, while physiological stress was assessed before (silent 30-s waiting period) and during the TSST tasks using cardiovascular measures (heart rate, heart rate variability [HRV]), electrodermal activation, facial electromyography (f-EMG), and EEG asymmetry. Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA-axis) reactivity was assessed through repeated salivary cortisol sampling.
Results
Compared to the control group (n = 16), the intervention group exhibited less f-EMG activity before a public speech and higher HRV before the math task. The low IC intervention subgroup reported significantly less stress during the math task. The controls showed a decreased heart rate before the math task, and controls with a low IC exhibited higher HRV during the speech. Self-reported stress and cortisol levels were positively correlated during the post-TSST preparatory phase.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that improvisation training might diminish stress levels, specifically before a performance. In addition, interpersonal confidence appears to reduce stress responses. The decreased stress responses in the control group suggest adaptation through repetition.
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12
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Wang M, Li J, Li D, Zhu C, Wang Y. Modulation of income redistribution decisions by anodal tDCS over the medial prefrontal cortex. Neurosci Lett 2020; 718:134701. [PMID: 31862226 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
One cause of the persistence of income inequality may be rooted in people's resistance to change the existing income distribution. Prior studies have shown that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) may be associated with the decision making that influences income distribution. However, it is unclear whether the mPFC is involved in income redistribution tasks when third-party decision makers are unaffected by the outcome of the decision. In this study, we elucidate the neural mechanism underlying the tolerance of income inequality and the decision making that is related to income redistribution. By applying the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the mPFC, we investigate whether the change in the activation of the mPFC can influence a subject's inclination to expropriate a rich person's endowment and transfer it to a poor person. The main finding is that the anodal stimulation significantly reduced the subject's inclination to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, and lowered the rate of accepting options for redistribution. However, the willingness of income redistribution did not change following the cathodal stimulation compared with the sham condition. The effect of the anodal stimulation was constant across three types of initial inequality. The stimulation effect is likely caused by the subject's enhanced loss aversion or desire to reinforce social hierarchies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minda Wang
- School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, 211189, Nanjing, China; Institute for Study of Brain-Like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, 250199, Jinan, China
| | - Jianbiao Li
- Institute for Study of Brain-Like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, 250199, Jinan, China; Department of Economics and Management, Nankai University Binhai College, 300071, Tianjin, China.
| | - Dahui Li
- Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 55812, Duluth, USA
| | - Chengkang Zhu
- Institute for Study of Brain-Like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, 250199, Jinan, China
| | - Yuanyuan Wang
- Institute for Study of Brain-Like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, 250199, Jinan, China
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13
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Tang F, Zhu L. The cognitive mechanisms of the power-space associations: an individual differences approach. The Journal of General Psychology 2019; 147:244-260. [PMID: 31739766 DOI: 10.1080/00221309.2019.1690972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
A power-space interaction, which denotes the phenomenon that people responded faster to powerful words with up cursor keys and faster to powerless words with down cursor keys, has been repeatedly found. In the present study, we took an individual differences approach to investigate how the power-space interaction is modulated by the spatial cognition. First, we found that the amplitude of power-space interaction was relatively stable within individuals across different stimuli. And, this individual difference in power-space interaction was correlated with the individual's spatial cognition, in such a way that participants with faster speed of mental rotation showed stronger power-space interactions. Our results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms of the power-space associations by suggesting that spatial codes play an important role in the expression of such effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fen Tang
- Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lei Zhu
- Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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14
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Lateral occipitotemporal cortex encodes perceptual components of social actions rather than abstract representations of sociality. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116153. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Revised: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 08/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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15
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Atypical Social Rank Recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15657. [PMID: 31666630 PMCID: PMC6821924 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52211-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Social animals, including humans, structure social groups where social hierarchy exists. Recognizing social rank of other group members is a crucial ability to subsist in such environments. Here we show preliminary evidence with a relatively small number of samples that children with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder involving social dysfunction, exhibit atypical, and more robust recognition of social rank than normal children, which may be developed to compensate deficits of the neural systems processing social information.
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16
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Rogers-Carter MM, Christianson JP. An insular view of the social decision-making network. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 103:119-132. [PMID: 31194999 PMCID: PMC6699879 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Revised: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Social animals must detect, evaluate and respond to the emotional states of other individuals in their group. A constellation of gestures, vocalizations, and chemosignals enable animals to convey affect and arousal to others in nuanced, multisensory ways. Observers integrate social information with environmental and internal factors to select behavioral responses to others via a process call social decision-making. The Social Decision Making Network (SDMN) is a system of brain structures and neurochemicals that are conserved across species (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds) that are the proximal mediators of most social behaviors. However, how sensory information reaches the SDMN to shape behavioral responses during a social encounter is not well known. Here we review the empirical data that demonstrate the necessity of sensory systems in detecting social stimuli, as well as the anatomical connectivity of sensory systems with each node of the SDMN. We conclude that the insular cortex is positioned to link integrated social sensory cues to this network to produce flexible and appropriate behavioral responses to socioemotional cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan M Rogers-Carter
- Department of Psychology, McGuinn Rm 300, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
| | - John P Christianson
- Department of Psychology, McGuinn Rm 300, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
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17
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Balconi M, Fronda G, Vanutelli ME. Donate or receive? Social hyperscanning application with fNIRS. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00247-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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18
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Zhang P, Schubert TW, Zhu L. The Effect of Secondary Task on the Association Between Power and Space. SOCIAL COGNITION 2019. [DOI: 10.1521/soco.2019.37.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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19
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Quadflieg S, Westmoreland K. Making Sense of Other People’s Encounters: Towards an Integrative Model of Relational Impression Formation. JOURNAL OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10919-019-00295-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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20
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Holmgren J, Isager PM, Schubert TW. Evidence for magnitude representations of social hierarchies: Size and distance effects. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0203263. [PMID: 30192800 PMCID: PMC6128480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Social status is often metaphorically construed in terms of spatial relations such as height, size, and numerosity. This has led to the idea that social status might partially be represented by an analogue magnitude system, responsible for processing the magnitude of various physical and abstract dimensions. Accordingly, processing of social status should obey Weber’s law. We conducted three studies to investigate whether social status comparisons would indicate behavioral outcomes derived from Weber’s law: the distance effect and the size effect. Dependent variable was the latency of status comparisons for a variety of both learned and familiar hierarchies. As predicted and in line with previous findings, we observed a clear distance effect. However, the effect of size variation differed from the size effect hypothesized a priori, and an unexpected interaction between the two effects was observed. In conclusion, we provide a robust confirmation of previous observations of the distance effect in social status comparisons, but the shape of the size effect requires new theorizing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jostein Holmgren
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- * E-mail:
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Verbal-spatial and visuospatial coding of power–space interactions. Conscious Cogn 2018; 63:151-160. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2018.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2017] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Tang F, Zhou H, Zhang H, Zhu L. Development of spatial representation of power in children. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 173:239-249. [PMID: 29753907 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Revised: 03/31/2018] [Accepted: 04/02/2018] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
Systematic evidence demonstrates that power is mentally represented as vertical space by adults. However, little is known about the developmental progress of such representation. Using the explicit power evaluation task, this study investigated the development of the spatial representation of power. Participants were Chinese children (5-7 years old) and adults. The results revealed that vertical motor responses interfered with responding for all age groups; that is, they responded to words representing powerless groups faster with the down cursor key than with the up cursor key (and vice versa for powerful groups). More important, the size of the effect did not show much developmental change. The findings suggest that even children aged 5 years have developed a spatial representation of power once they understand the power concept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fen Tang
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Haomin Zhou
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Lei Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
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Dien J, Karuzis V, Haarmann HJ. Probing culture in the head: the neural correlates of relational models. Soc Neurosci 2018; 13:648-666. [PMID: 29614912 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2018.1459313] [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: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Relational Models Theory or RMT proposes that there are four universal ways in which socio-economic relations can be organized. According to the RMT, each of its four relational models (Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching, and Market Pricing) is associated with a distinct cognitive representation, with a cumulative pattern in which each relational model is a superset of the next lower model. This report for the first time uses a combination of cognitive and the social neuroscience to put this model to the test. RMT proposes that members of every culture use all four relational models, just in different proportions. It should therefore be possible to study their neural correlates in a mono-cultural sample. In this study, thirty-nine European-American students were imaged in a 3T Siemens Trio with a 24-channel head coil while rating the extent to which each relational model organized relationships with each of thirty-two acquaintances/friend/relatives in a boxcar design. FreeSurfer Functional Analysis Stream (FS-FAST) analyses revealed distinct patterns of activation for each of the relational models. The activations did not follow a cumulative hierarchical pattern, suggestive that this aspect of the RMT model should be revised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Dien
- a Maryland Neuroimaging Center , University of Maryland , College Park , MD , USA
| | - Valerie Karuzis
- b Center for Advanced Study of Language , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA
| | - Henk J Haarmann
- b Center for Advanced Study of Language , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA
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Fiske ST. Stereotype Content: Warmth and Competence Endure. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2018; 27:67-73. [PMID: 29755213 DOI: 10.1177/0963721417738825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Two dimensions persist in social cognition, whether people are making sense of individuals or groups. The Stereotype Content Model terms the basic dimensions perceived warmth (trustworthiness, friendliness) and competence (capability, assertiveness). Measured reliably and validly, these Big Two dimensions converge across methods: survey, cultural, laboratory, and biobehavioral approaches. Generality across place, levels, and time further support the framework. Parallel pairs have emerged repeatedly over the history of psychology and in current theories. The SCM proposes and tests a comprehensive causal theory: perceived social structure (cooperation, status) → stereotypes (warmth, competence) → emotional prejudices (pride, pity, contempt, envy) → discrimination (active and passive help and harm). The SCM uncovers systematic content and dynamics of stereotypes, with practical implications.
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Koski JE, Collins JA, Olson IR. The neural representation of social status in the extended face-processing network. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 46:2795-2806. [PMID: 29119693 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Revised: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Social status is a salient cue that shapes our perceptions of other people and ultimately guides our social interactions. Despite the pervasive influence of status on social behavior, how information about the status of others is represented in the brain remains unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that social status information is embedded in our neural representations of other individuals. Participants learned to associate faces with names, job titles that varied in associated status, and explicit markers of reputational status (star ratings). Trained stimuli were presented in an functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment where participants performed a target detection task orthogonal to the variable of interest. A network of face-selective brain regions extending from the occipital lobe to the orbitofrontal cortex was localized and served as regions of interest. Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we found that face-selective voxels in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex - a region involved in social and nonsocial valuation, could decode faces based on their status. Similar effects were observed with two different status manipulations - one based on stored semantic knowledge (e.g., different careers) and one based on learned reputation (e.g., star ranking). These data suggest that a face-selective region of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex may contribute to the perception of social status, potentially underlying the preferential attention and favorable biases humans display toward high-status individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Koski
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jessica A Collins
- Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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An Integrative Interdisciplinary Perspective on Social Dominance Hierarchies. Trends Cogn Sci 2017; 21:893-908. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Revised: 08/13/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Quadflieg S, Penton-Voak IS. The Emerging Science of People-Watching: Forming Impressions From Third-Party Encounters. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0963721417694353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Traditional impression formation studies have focused almost exclusively on the perception and evaluation of isolated individuals. In recent years, however, portrayals of third-party encounters between two (or more) people have been used increasingly often to probe impressions about the interactions and relations between individuals. This tacit paradigm change has revealed an intriguing scope of judgments that concern how and why people relate to one another. Though these judgments recruit well-known neural networks of impression formation, their underlying cognitive operations and functional significance remain largely speculative. By providing an overview of recent theoretical and empirical approaches on encounter-based impressions, this article highlights their prevalent role in human social cognition.
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Avoidant Responses to Interpersonal Provocation Are Associated with Increased Amygdala and Decreased Mentalizing Network Activity. eNeuro 2017; 4:eN-NWR-0337-16. [PMID: 28660251 PMCID: PMC5485378 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0337-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2016] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When intentionally pushed or insulted, one can either flee from the provoker or retaliate. The implementation of such fight-or-flight decisions is a central aspect in the genesis and evolution of aggression episodes, yet it is usually investigated only indirectly or in nonsocial situations. In the present fMRI study, we aimed to distinguish brain regions associated with aggressive and avoidant responses to interpersonal provocation in humans. Participants (thirty-six healthy young women) could either avoid or face a highly (HP) and a lowly (LP) provoking opponent in a competitive reaction time task: the fight-or-escape (FOE) paradigm. Subjects avoided the HP more often, but retaliated when facing her. Moreover, they chose to fight the HP more quickly, and showed increased heart rate (HR) right before confronting her. Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and sensorimotor cortex were more active when participants decided to fight, whereas the mentalizing network was engaged when deciding to avoid. Importantly, avoiding the HP relative to the LP was associated with both higher activation in the right basolateral amygdala and lower relative activity in several mentalizing regions [e.g., medial and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), temporal-parietal junction (TPJ)]. These results suggest that avoidant responses to provocation might result from heightened threat anticipation and are associated with reduced perspective taking. Furthermore, our study helps to reconcile conflicting findings on the role of the mentalizing network, the amygdala, and the OFC in aggression.
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Gyurovski I, Kubota J, Cardenas-Iniguez C, Cloutier J. Social status level and dimension interactively influence person evaluations indexed by P300s. Soc Neurosci 2017; 13:333-345. [PMID: 28464709 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2017.1326400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Functional neuroimaging research suggests that status-based evaluations may not solely depend on the level of social status but also on the conferred status dimension. However, no reports to date have studied how status level and dimension shape early person evaluations. To explore early status-based person evaluations, event-related brain potential data were collected from 29 participants while they indicated the status level and dimension of faces that had been previously trained to be associated with one of four status types: high moral, low moral, high financial, or low financial. Analysis of the P300 amplitude (previously implicated in social evaluation) revealed an interaction of status level and status dimension such that enhanced P300 amplitudes were observed in response to targets of high financial and low moral status relative to targets of low financial and high moral status. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of our current understanding of status-based evaluation and, more broadly, of the processes by which person knowledge may shape person perception and evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivo Gyurovski
- a Department of Psychology , University of Chicago , Chicago , IL , USA
| | - Jennifer Kubota
- a Department of Psychology , University of Chicago , Chicago , IL , USA.,b Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture , Chicago , IL , USA
| | | | - Jasmin Cloutier
- a Department of Psychology , University of Chicago , Chicago , IL , USA
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Lu L, Schubert TW, Zhu L. The spatial representation of power in children. Cogn Process 2017; 18:375-385. [PMID: 28488053 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-017-0814-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Previous evidence demonstrates that power is mentally represented as vertical space by adults. However, little is known about how power is mentally represented in children. The current research examines such representations. The influence of vertical information (motor cues) was tested in both an explicit power evaluation task (judge whether labels refer to powerless or powerful groups) and an incidental task (judge whether labels refer to people or animals). The results showed that when power was explicitly evaluated, vertical motor responses interfered with responding in children and adults, i.e., they responded to words representing powerful groups faster with the up than the down cursor key (and vice versa for powerless groups). However, this interference effect disappeared in the incidental task in children. The findings suggest that children have developed a spatial representation of power before they have been taught power-space associations formally, but that they do not judge power spontaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lifeng Lu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, SH, 200433, People's Republic of China
| | - Thomas W Schubert
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O Box 1094, Blindern, 0317, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lei Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai, SH, 200433, People's Republic of China.
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31
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Quadflieg S, Koldewyn K. The neuroscience of people watching: how the human brain makes sense of other people's encounters. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2017; 1396:166-182. [DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Revised: 02/13/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Quadflieg
- School of Experimental Psychology; University of Bristol; Bristol United Kingdom
| | - Kami Koldewyn
- School of Psychology; Bangor University; Bangor United Kingdom
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32
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Ligneul R, Girard R, Dreher JC. Social brains and divides: the interplay between social dominance orientation and the neural sensitivity to hierarchical ranks. Sci Rep 2017; 7:45920. [PMID: 28378784 PMCID: PMC5381105 DOI: 10.1038/srep45920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, dominance hierarchies emerge through social competition and underlie the control of resources. Confronting the disruptive influence of socioeconomic inequalities, human populations tend to split into groups who legitimize existing dominance hierarchies and groups who condemn them. Here, we hypothesized that variations in the neural sensitivity to dominance ranks partly underpins this ideological split, as measured by the social dominance orientation scale (SDO). Following a competitive task used to induce dominance representations about three opponents (superior, equal and inferior), subjects were passively presented the faces of these opponents while undergoing fMRI. Analyses demonstrated that two key brain regions, the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (aDLPFC) were sensitive to social ranks. Confirming our hypothesis, the sensitivity of the right aDLPFC to social ranks correlated positively with the SDO scale, which is known to predict behaviors and political attitudes associated with the legitimization of dominance hierarchies. This study opens new perspectives for the neurosciences of political orientation and social dominance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Ligneul
- Neuroeconomics, Reward and Decision-making Team, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon 1, France
| | - Romuald Girard
- Neuroeconomics, Reward and Decision-making Team, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon 1, France
| | - Jean-Claude Dreher
- Neuroeconomics, Reward and Decision-making Team, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon 1, France
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Jenke L, Huettel SA. Issues or Identity? Cognitive Foundations of Voter Choice. Trends Cogn Sci 2016; 20:794-804. [PMID: 27769726 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.08.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2016] [Revised: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Voter choice is one of the most important problems in political science. The most common models assume that voting is a rational choice based on policy positions (e.g., key issues) and nonpolicy information (e.g., social identity, personality). Though such models explain macroscopic features of elections, they also reveal important anomalies that have been resistant to explanation. We argue for a new approach that builds upon recent research in cognitive science and neuroscience; specifically, we contend that policy positions and social identities do not combine in merely an additive manner, but compete to determine voter preferences. This model not only explains several key anomalies in voter choice, but also suggests new directions for research in both political science and cognitive science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libby Jenke
- Department of Political Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Scott A Huettel
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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Jiang X, Zhou X. Who is respectful? Effects of social context and individual empathic ability on ambiguity resolution during utterance comprehension. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1588. [PMID: 26557102 PMCID: PMC4615935 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Verbal communication is often ambiguous. By employing the event-related potential (ERP) technique, this study investigated how a comprehender resolves referential ambiguity by using information concerning the social status of communicators. Participants read a conversational scenario which included a minimal conversational context describing a speaker and two other persons of the same or different social status and a directly quoted utterance. A singular, second-person pronoun in the respectful form (nin/nin-de in Chinese) in the utterance could be ambiguous with respect to which of the two persons was the addressee (the “Ambiguous condition”). Alternatively, the pronoun was not ambiguous either because one of the two persons was of higher social status and hence should be the addressee according to social convention (the “Status condition”) or because a word referring to the status of a person was additionally inserted before the pronoun to help indicate the referent of the pronoun (the “Referent condition”). Results showed that the perceived ambiguity decreased over the Ambiguous, Status, and Referent conditions. Electrophysiologically, the pronoun elicited an increased N400 in the Referent than in the Status and the Ambiguous conditions, reflecting an increased integration demand due to the necessity of linking the pronoun to both its antecedent and the status word. Relative to the Referent condition, a late, sustained positivity was elicited for the Status condition starting from 600 ms, while a more delayed, anterior negativity was elicited for the Ambiguous condition. Moreover, the N400 effect was modulated by individuals' sensitivity to the social status information, while the late positivity effect was modulated by individuals' empathic ability. These findings highlight the neurocognitive flexibility of contextual bias in referential processing during utterance comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoming Jiang
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University Beijing, China ; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University Beijing, China ; Key Laboratory of Machine Perception and Key Laboratory of Computational Linguistics (Ministry of Education), Peking University Beijing, China ; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University Beijing, China ; IDG McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU, Peking University Beijing, China
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Verweij M, Senior TJ, Domínguez D JF, Turner R. Emotion, rationality, and decision-making: how to link affective and social neuroscience with social theory. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:332. [PMID: 26441506 PMCID: PMC4585257 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2015] [Accepted: 09/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we argue for a stronger engagement between concepts in affective and social neuroscience on the one hand, and theories from the fields of anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology on the other. Affective and social neuroscience could provide an additional assessment of social theories. We argue that some of the most influential social theories of the last four decades-rational choice theory, behavioral economics, and post-structuralism-contain assumptions that are inconsistent with key findings in affective and social neuroscience. We also show that another approach from the social sciences-plural rationality theory-shows greater compatibility with these findings. We further claim that, in their turn, social theories can strengthen affective and social neuroscience. The former can provide more precise formulations of the social phenomena that neuroscientific models have targeted, can help neuroscientists who build these models become more aware of their social and cultural biases, and can even improve the models themselves. To illustrate, we show how plural rationality theory can be used to further specify and test the somatic marker hypothesis. Thus, we aim to accelerate the much-needed merger of social theories with affective and social neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Verweij
- Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Jacobs University Bremen Bremen, Germany
| | - Timothy J Senior
- Digital Cultures Research Centre, University of the West of England Bristol, UK
| | - Juan F Domínguez D
- Social Neuroscience Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Robert Turner
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract
Orientation is a fundamental mental function that processes the relations between the behaving self to space (places), time (events), and person (people). Behavioral and neuroimaging studies have hinted at interrelations between processing of these three domains. To unravel the neurocognitive basis of orientation, we used high-resolution 7T functional MRI as 16 subjects compared their subjective distance to different places, events, or people. Analysis at the individual-subject level revealed cortical activation related to orientation in space, time, and person in a precisely localized set of structures in the precuneus, inferior parietal, and medial frontal cortex. Comparison of orientation domains revealed a consistent order of cortical activity inside the precuneus and inferior parietal lobes, with space orientation activating posterior regions, followed anteriorly by person and then time. Core regions at the precuneus and inferior parietal lobe were activated for multiple orientation domains, suggesting also common processing for orientation across domains. The medial prefrontal cortex showed a posterior activation for time and anterior for person. Finally, the default-mode network, identified in a separate resting-state scan, was active for all orientation domains and overlapped mostly with person-orientation regions. These findings suggest that mental orientation in space, time, and person is managed by a specific brain system with a highly ordered internal organization, closely related to the default-mode network.
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Jiang T, Zhu L. Is power-space a continuum? Distance effect during power judgments. Conscious Cogn 2015; 37:8-15. [PMID: 26261895 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2015] [Revised: 07/23/2015] [Accepted: 08/05/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Despite the increasing evidence suggesting that power processing can activate vertical space schema, it still remains unclear whether this power-space is dichotomic or continuous. Here we tested the nature of the power-space by the distance effect, a continuous property of space cognition. In two experiments, participants were required to judge the power of one single word (Experiment 1) or compare the power of two words presented in pairs (Experiment 2). The power distance was indexed by the absolute difference of power ratings. Results demonstrated that reaction time decreased with the power distance, whereas accuracy increased with the power distance. The findings indicated that different levels of power were presented as different vertical heights, implying that there was a common mechanism underlying space and power cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianjiao Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai SH 200433, China
| | - Lei Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai SH 200433, China.
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38
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The influence of vertical motor responses on explicit and incidental processing of power words. Conscious Cogn 2015; 34:33-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2014] [Revised: 02/09/2015] [Accepted: 02/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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40
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Wang Y, Quadflieg S. In our own image? Emotional and neural processing differences when observing human-human vs human-robot interactions. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 10:1515-24. [PMID: 25911418 PMCID: PMC4631149 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Notwithstanding the significant role that human-robot interactions (HRI) will play in the near future, limited research has explored the neural correlates of feeling eerie in response to social robots. To address this empirical lacuna, the current investigation examined brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while a group of participants (n = 26) viewed a series of human-human interactions (HHI) and HRI. Although brain sites constituting the mentalizing network were found to respond to both types of interactions, systematic neural variation across sites signaled diverging social-cognitive strategies during HHI and HRI processing. Specifically, HHI elicited increased activity in the left temporal-parietal junction indicative of situation-specific mental state attributions, whereas HRI recruited the precuneus and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) suggestive of script-based social reasoning. Activity in the VMPFC also tracked feelings of eeriness towards HRI in a parametric manner, revealing a potential neural correlate for a phenomenon known as the uncanny valley. By demonstrating how understanding social interactions depends on the kind of agents involved, this study highlights pivotal sub-routes of impression formation and identifies prominent challenges in the use of humanoid robots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin Wang
- Division of Psychology, New York University
- Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Susanne Quadflieg
- Division of Psychology, New York University
- Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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Abstract
Social groups across species rapidly self-organize into hierarchies, where members vary in their level of power, influence, skill, or dominance. In this review, we explore the nature of social hierarchies and the traits associated with status in both humans and nonhuman primates, and how status varies across development in humans. Our review finds that we can rapidly identify social status based on a wide range of cues. Like monkeys, we tend to use certain cues, like physical strength, to make status judgments, although layered on top of these more primitive perceptual cues are sociocultural status cues like job titles and educational attainment. One's relative status has profound effects on attention, memory, and social interactions, as well as health and wellness. These effects can be particularly pernicious in children and adolescents. Developmental research on peer groups and social exclusion suggests teenagers may be particularly sensitive to social status information, but research focused specifically on status processing and associated brain areas is very limited. Recent evidence from neuroscience suggests that there may be an underlying neural network, including regions involved in executive, emotional, and reward processing, that is sensitive to status information. We conclude with questions for future research as well as stressing the need to expand social neuroscience research on status processing to adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Koski
- a Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA 19122 , USA
| | - Hongling Xie
- a Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA 19122 , USA
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- a Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA 19122 , USA
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