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van Dooren R, Jongkees BJ, Sellaro R. Self-prioritization in working memory gating. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02869-8. [PMID: 38491316 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02869-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) involves a dynamic interplay between temporary maintenance and updating of goal-relevant information. The balance between maintenance and updating is regulated by an input-gating mechanism that determines which information should enter WM (gate opening) and which should be kept out (gate closing). We investigated whether updating and gate opening/closing are differentially sensitive to the kind of information to be encoded and maintained in WM. Specifically, since the social salience of a stimulus is known to affect cognitive performance, we investigated if self-relevant information differentially impacts maintenance, updating, or gate opening/closing. Participants first learned to associate two neutral shapes with two social labels (i.e., "you" vs. "stranger"), respectively. Subsequently they performed the reference-back paradigm, a well-established WM task that disentangles WM updating, gate opening, and gate closing. Crucially, the shapes previously associated with the self or a stranger served as target stimuli in the reference-back task. We replicated the typical finding of a repetition benefit when consecutive trials require opening the gate to WM. In Study 1 (N = 45) this advantage disappeared when self-associated stimuli were recently gated into WM and immediately needed to be replaced by stranger-associated stimuli. However, this was not replicated in a larger sample (Study 2; N = 90), where a repetition benefit always occurred on consecutive gate-opening trials. Overall, our results do not provide evidence that the self-relevance of stimuli modulates component processes of WM. We discuss possible reasons for this null finding, including the importance of continuous reinstatement and task-relevance of the shape-label associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roel van Dooren
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Bryant J Jongkees
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Roberta Sellaro
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization and Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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2
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Haciahmet CC, Golubickis M, Schäfer S, Frings C, Pastötter B. The oscillatory fingerprints of self-prioritization: Novel markers in spectral EEG for self-relevant processing. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14396. [PMID: 37497664 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14396] [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: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Self-prioritization is a very influential modulator of human information processing. Still, little is known about the time-frequency dynamics of the self-prioritization network. In this EEG study, we used the familiarity-confound free matching task to investigate the spectral dynamics of self-prioritization and their underlying cognitive functions in a drift-diffusion model. Participants (N = 40) repeatedly associated arbitrary geometric shapes with either "the self" or "a stranger." Behavioral results demonstrated prominent self-prioritization effects (SPEs) in reaction time and accuracy. Remarkably, EEG cluster analysis also revealed two significant SPEs, one in delta/theta power (2-7 Hz) and one in beta power (19-29 Hz). Drift-diffusion modeling indicated that beta activity was associated with evidence accumulation, whereas delta/theta activity was associated with response selection. The decreased beta suppression of the SPE might indicate more efficient sensorimotor processing of self-associated stimulus-response features, whereas the increased delta/theta SPE might refer to the facilitated retrieval of self-relevant features across a widely distributed associative self-network. These novel oscillatory biomarkers of self-prioritization indicate their function as an associative glue for the self-concept.
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3
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Liu T, Sui J, Hildebrandt A. To see or not to see: the parallel processing of self-relevance and facial expressions. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2023; 8:70. [PMID: 37991559 PMCID: PMC10665284 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-023-00524-8] [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: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The self, like the concept of central "gravity", facilitates the processing of information that is directly relevant to the self. This phenomenon is known as the self-prioritization effect. However, it remains unclear whether the self-prioritization effect extends to the processing of emotional facial expressions. To fill this gap, we used a self-association paradigm to investigate the impact of self-relevance on the recognition of emotional facial expressions while controlling for confounding factors such as familiarity and overlearning. Using a large and diverse sample, we replicated the effect of self-relevance on face processing but found no evidence for a modulation of self-relevance on facial emotion recognition. We propose two potential theoretical explanations to account for these findings and emphasize that further research with different experimental designs and a multitasks measurement approach is needed to understand this mechanism fully. Overall, our study contributes to the literature on the parallel cognitive processing of self-relevance and facial emotion recognition, with implications for both social and cognitive psychology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuo Liu
- Division for Psychological Methods and Statistics, Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
| | - Andrea Hildebrandt
- Division for Psychological Methods and Statistics, Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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4
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Lee NA, Martin D, Sui J. Accentuate the positive: Evidence that context dependent self-reference drives self-bias. Cognition 2023; 240:105600. [PMID: 37604029 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105600] [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: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
There is abundant evidence of a self-bias in cognition, with prioritised processing of information that is self-relevant. There is also abundant evidence of a positivity-bias in cognition, with prioritised processing of information that is positively valenced (e.g., positive emotional expressions, rewards). While the effects of self-bias and positivity-bias have been well documented in isolation, they have seldom been examined in parallel, so it is unclear whether one or other of these stimulus classes is prioritised or whether they interact. Addressing this gap, the current research aimed to establish the relative primacy of self-bias and positivity-bias using a classification task that paired self-relevant information with emotional expressions (i.e., Expt. 1) or reward information (i.e., Expt. 2). When the self was paired with relatively more positive information (i.e., smiling faces or high reward) we found evidence of a self-bias but no evidence of a positivity-bias. Whereas when the self was paired with relatively less positive information (i.e., neutral faces or low reward) we found evidence of a positivity-bias but no evidence of a self-bias. These results suggest the relative primacy of prioritised processing is flexible, context dependent and might be caused by a drive towards self-enhancement and the self-positivity bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi A Lee
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, United Kingdom.
| | - Douglas Martin
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, United Kingdom
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, United Kingdom
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5
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Golubickis M, Macrae CN. Self-Prioritization Reconsidered: Scrutinizing Three Claims. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:876-886. [PMID: 36356105 PMCID: PMC10336703 DOI: 10.1177/17456916221131273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Such is the power of self-relevance, it has been argued that even arbitrary stimuli (e.g., shapes, lines, colors) with no prior personal connection are privileged during information processing following their association with the self (i.e., self-prioritization). This prioritization effect, moreover, is deemed to be stimulus driven (i.e., automatic), grounded in perception, and supported by specialized processing operations. Here, however, we scrutinize these claims and challenge this viewpoint. Although self-relevance unquestionably influences information processing, we contend that, at least at present, there is limited evidence to suggest that the prioritization of arbitrary self-related stimuli is compulsory, penetrates perception, and is underpinned by activity in a dedicated neural network. Rather, self-prioritization appears to be a task-dependent product of ordinary cognitive processes.
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6
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Liu X, Liu S, Liu T, Tang L, Ji M, Xu Y, Xiang Z, Zhou J, Chen Y, Chen J. Altered regional brain activity and functional connectivity in resting-state brain networks associated with psychological erectile dysfunction. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1074327. [PMID: 37360175 PMCID: PMC10285100 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1074327] [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: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED), especially psychological ED (pED), is usually accompanied with psychological factors, which are related to abnormal activity in brain regions involved in sexual behavior. However, the mechanisms underlying functional changes in the brain of pED are still unclear. The present study aimed to explore the abnormalities of brain function, as well as their relationships with sexual behavior and emotion in pED patients. Materials and methods Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were collected from 31 pED patients to 31 healthy controls (HCs). The values of amplitude of fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) were calculated and compared between groups. In addition, the associations between abnormal brain regions and clinical features were evaluated by Pearson correlation analyses. Results Compared to HCs, pED patients demonstrated decreased fALFF values in the left medial superior frontal gyrus (had decreased FC values with the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus), the left lingual gyrus (had decreased FC values with the left parahippocamal gyrus and insula), the left putamen (had decreased FC values with the right caudate) and the right putamen (had decreased FC values with the left putamen and the right caudate). The fALFF values of the left medial superior frontal gyrus were negatively correlated with the fifth item scores of International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5). Negative relationships were found between fALFF values of the left putamen and the second item scores of Arizona Sexual Scale (ASEX). FC values between the right putamen and caudate were negatively related to the state scores of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S). Conclusion Altered brain function were found in the medial superior frontal gyrus and caudate-putamen of pED patients, which were associated with sexual function and psychological condition. These findings provided new insights into the central pathological mechanisms of pED.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Liu
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Shaowei Liu
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Liang Tang
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Mufan Ji
- Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Yan Xu
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Ziliang Xiang
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Jianwen Zhou
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Yun Chen
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Jianhuai Chen
- Department of Andrology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
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7
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Yankouskaya A, Lovett G, Sui J. The relationship between self, value-based reward, and emotion prioritisation effects. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:942-960. [PMID: 35543595 PMCID: PMC10031635 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221102887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
People show systematic biases in perception, memory, attention, and decision-making to prioritise information related to self, reward, and positive emotion. A long-standing set of experimental findings points towards putative common properties of these effects. However, the relationship between them remains largely unknown. Here, we addressed this question by assessing and linking these prioritisation effects generated by a common associative matching procedure in three experiments. Self, reward, and positive emotion prioritisation effects were assessed using cluster and shift function analyses to explore and test associations between these effects across individuals. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct patterns of the relationship between the biases. Individuals with faster responses showed a smaller reward and linear positive association between reward and emotion biases. Individuals with slower responses demonstrated a large reward and no association between reward and emotion biases. No evidence of the relationship between self and value-based reward or positive emotion prioritisation effects was found among the clusters. A shift function indicated a partial dominance of high-reward over low-reward distributions at later processing stages in participants with slower but not faster responses. Full stochastic dominance of self-relevance over others and positive over neutral emotion was pertinent to each subgroup of participants. Our findings suggest the independent origin of the self-prioritisation effect. In contrast, commonalities in cognitive mechanisms supporting value-based reward and positive emotion processing are subject to individual differences. These findings add important evidence to a steadily growing research base about the relationship between basic behavioural drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gemma Lovett
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Jie Sui
- The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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8
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Liu YS, Song Y, Lee NA, Bennett DM, Button KS, Greenshaw A, Cao B, Sui J. Depression screening using a non-verbal self-association task: A machine-learning based pilot study. J Affect Disord 2022; 310:87-95. [PMID: 35472473 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.04.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Effective screening is important to combat the raising burden of depression and opens a critical time window for early intervention. Clinical use of non-verbal depression screening is nascent, yet a promising and viable candidate to supplement verbal screening. Differential self- and emotion-processing in depression patients were previously reported by non-verbal behavioural assessments, corroborated by neuroimaging findings of distinct neuroanatomical markers. Thus non-verbal validated brain-behaviour based self-emotion-related assessment data reflect physiological differences and may support individual level screening of depression. METHODS In this pilot study (n = 84) we collected two longitudinal sessions of behavioural assessment data in a laboratory setting. Depression was assessed using Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), to explore optimal screening methods with machine-learning, and to establish the validity of adapting a novel behavioural assessment focusing on self and emotions for depression screening. RESULTS The best machine-learning model achieved high performance in depression screening, 10-Fold cross-validation (CV) Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC) of 0.90 and balanced accuracy of 0.81, using a Gradient Boosting algorithm. Prospective prediction using a model trained with session 1 data to predict session 2 depression status achieved a 10-Fold CV AUC of 0.77 and balanced accuracy of 0.66. We also identified interpretable behavioural signatures for depression patients based on the best model. CONCLUSION The study supports the utility of using behavioural data as a viable and cost-effective solution for depression screening, with a potential wide range of applications in clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang S Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Yipeng Song
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Naomi A Lee
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel M Bennett
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Katherine S Button
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, England, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Greenshaw
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Bo Cao
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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9
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Tan C, Liu X, Zhang G. Inferring Brain State Dynamics Underlying Naturalistic Stimuli Evoked Emotion Changes With dHA-HMM. Neuroinformatics 2022; 20:737-753. [PMID: 35244856 DOI: 10.1007/s12021-022-09568-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The brain functional mechanisms underlying emotional changes have been primarily studied based on the traditional task design with discrete and simple stimuli. However, the brain state transitions when exposed to continuous and naturalistic stimuli with rich affection variations remain poorly understood. This study proposes a dynamic hyperalignment algorithm (dHA) to functionally align the inter-subject neural activity. The hidden Markov model (HMM) was used to study how the brain dynamics responds to emotion during long-time movie-viewing activity. The results showed that dHA significantly improved inter-subject consistency and allowed more consistent temporal HMM states across participants. Afterward, grouping the emotions in a clustering dendrogram revealed a hierarchical grouping of the HMM states. Further emotional sensitivity and specificity analyses of ordered states revealed the most significant differences in happiness and sadness. We then compared the activation map in HMM states during happiness and sadness and found significant differences in the whole brain, but strong activation was observed during both in the superior temporal gyrus, which is related to the early process of emotional prosody processing. A comparison of the inter-network functional connections indicates unique functional connections of the memory retrieval and cognitive network with the cerebellum network during happiness. Moreover, the persistent bilateral connections among salience, cognitive, and sensorimotor networks during sadness may reflect the interaction between high-level cognitive networks and low-level sensory networks. The main results were verified by the second session of the dataset. All these findings enrich our understanding of the brain states related to emotional variation during naturalistic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenhao Tan
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin, 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Xin Liu
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin, 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Gaoyan Zhang
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin, 300350, People's Republic of China.
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10
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Woźniak M, Schmidt TT, Wu Y, Blankenburg F, Hohwy J. Differences in working memory coding of biological motion attributed to oneself and others. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3721-3734. [PMID: 35466500 PMCID: PMC9294297 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The question how the brain distinguishes between information about self and others is of fundamental interest to both philosophy and neuroscience. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we sought to distinguish the neural substrates of representing a full‐body movement as one's movement and as someone else's movement. Participants performed a delayed match‐to‐sample working memory task where a retained full‐body movement (displayed using point‐light walkers) was arbitrarily labeled as one's own movement or as performed by someone else. By using arbitrary associations we aimed to address a limitation of previous studies, namely that our own movements are more familiar to us than movements of other people. A searchlight multivariate decoding analysis was used to test where information about types of movement and about self‐association was coded. Movement specific activation patterns were found in a network of regions also involved in perceptual processing of movement stimuli, however not in early sensory regions. Information about whether a memorized movement was associated with the self or with another person was found to be coded by activity in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral supplementary motor area, and (at reduced threshold) in the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ). These areas are frequently reported as involved in action understanding (IFG, MFG) and domain‐general self/other distinction (TPJ). Finally, in univariate analysis we found that selecting a self‐associated movement for retention was related to increased activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateusz Woźniak
- Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy Monash University Melbourne Australia
- Social Mind and Body Research Group, Department of Cognitive Science Central European University Vienna Austria
- Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit (NNU), Department of Education and Psychology Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Timo Torsten Schmidt
- Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit (NNU), Department of Education and Psychology Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Yuan‐hao Wu
- Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit (NNU), Department of Education and Psychology Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Felix Blankenburg
- Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit (NNU), Department of Education and Psychology Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy Monash University Melbourne Australia
- Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies Monash University Melbourne Australia
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11
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Yankouskaya A, Denholm-Smith T, Yi D, Greenshaw AJ, Cao B, Sui J. Neural Connectivity Underlying Reward and Emotion-Related Processing: Evidence From a Large-Scale Network Analysis. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:833625. [PMID: 35465191 PMCID: PMC9033203 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.833625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging techniques have advanced our knowledge about neurobiological mechanisms of reward and emotion processing. It remains unclear whether reward and emotion-related processing share the same neural connection topology and how intrinsic brain functional connectivity organization changes to support emotion- and reward-related prioritized effects in decision-making. The present study addressed these challenges using a large-scale neural network analysis approach. We applied this approach to two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets, where participants performed a reward value or emotion associative matching task with tight control over experimental conditions. The results revealed that interaction between the Default Mode Network, Frontoparietal, Dorsal Attention, and Salience networks engaged distinct topological structures to support the effects of reward, positive and negative emotion processing. Detailed insights into the properties of these connections are important for understanding in detail how the brain responds in the presence of emotion and reward related stimuli. We discuss the linking of reward- and emotion-related processing to emotional regulation, an important aspect of regulation of human behavior in relation to mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ala Yankouskaya
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Ala Yankouskaya
| | - Toby Denholm-Smith
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
| | - Dewei Yi
- School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | | | - Bo Cao
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
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12
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Yankouskaya A, Sui J. Self-prioritization is supported by interactions between large-scale brain networks. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:1244-1261. [PMID: 35083806 PMCID: PMC9303922 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has provided solid evidence that the default-mode network (DMN) is implicated in self-referential processing. The functional connectivity of the DMN has also been observed in tasks where self-referential processing leads to self-prioritization (SPE) in perception and decision-making. However, we are less certain about whether (i) SPE solely depends on the interplay within parts of the DMN or is driven by multiple brain networks; and (ii) whether SPE is associated with a unique component of interconnected networks or can be explained by related effects such as emotion prioritization. We addressed these questions by identifying and comparing topological clusters of networks involved in self-and emotion prioritization effects generated in an associative-matching task. Using network-based statistics, we found that SPE controlled by emotion is supported by a unique component of interacting networks, including the medial prefrontal part of the DMN (MPFC), Frontoparietal network (FPN) and insular Salience network (SN). This component emerged as a result of a focal effect confined to few connections, indicating that interaction between DMN, FPC and SN is critical to cognitive operations for the SPE. This result was validated on a separate data set. In contrast, prioritization of happy emotion was associated with a component formed by interactions between the rostral prefrontal part of SN, posterior parietal part of FPN and the MPFC, while sad emotion reveals a cluster of the DMN, Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) and Visual Medial Network (VMN). We discussed theoretical and methodological aspects of these findings within the more general domain of social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Yankouskaya
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, UK
| | - J Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, UK
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13
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Feldborg M, Lee NA, Hung K, Peng K, Sui J. Perceiving the Self and Emotions with an Anxious Mind: Evidence from an Implicit Perceptual Task. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph182212096. [PMID: 34831851 PMCID: PMC8622160 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182212096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety disorders cause mental distress and low wellbeing in many people worldwide. Theories of anxiety describe negative worldviews and self-views as maintaining factors of the disorders. Recent research in social cognition has found a link between depression and altered perceptual biases to emotions, but the same research on anxiety is still missing. In this study, we measured perceptual biases to emotional and self-related stimuli in sub-clinically anxious participants and healthy controls using a self-emotional shape-label matching task. Results demonstrate that anxious participants had a diminished perceptual self-bias compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, the severity of anxiety was related to an emotional bias towards valanced other-related stimuli. The findings confirm the hypothesis that anxious individuals display an altered self-prioritisation effect in comparison with healthy individuals and that anxiety severity is linked to altered responses to emotionally valanced others. These findings have potential implications for early diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michella Feldborg
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK; (M.F.); (N.A.L.); (J.S.)
| | - Naomi A. Lee
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK; (M.F.); (N.A.L.); (J.S.)
| | - Kalai Hung
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
- Correspondence:
| | - Kaiping Peng
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK; (M.F.); (N.A.L.); (J.S.)
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Lee NA, Martin D, Sui J. A pre-existing self-referential anchor is not necessary for self-prioritisation. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 219:103362. [PMID: 34273602 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-prioritisation effect (SPE) has consistently occurred in perceptual matching tasks in which neutral stimuli are paired with familiar labels representing different identities (e.g., triangle-Self, square-Friend). Participants are faster and more accurate at judging self-related shape-label pairings than the pairings associated with others. Much evidence has suggested that the SPE is driven by the self acting as an integrative hub that enhances stimulus processing (e.g., triangle). However, there is a growing debate as to whether the SPE is genuine or determined by the labels (e.g., 'me', 'you') being pre-existing self-referential anchor points. We investigated this in an adapted perceptual matching task in which participants were instructed to associate arbitrary stimulus pairs (visual features: shape and colour) with different people and then immediately carried out a colour-shape matching task. The results showed the standard pattern of the SPE in this perceptual matching task without familiar labels, indicating that the effect is not critically dependent on familiar labels. Further analysis revealed that the SPE emerged only when the complete shape-colour pairing was presented rather than individual elements (self-shape or self-colour). The theoretical implications of these findings are considered.
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15
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Guan F, Liu G, Pedersen WS, Chen O, Zhao S, Sui J, Peng K. Neurostructural correlates of dispositional self-compassion. Neuropsychologia 2021; 160:107978. [PMID: 34339716 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Self-compassion is an important emotion regulation strategy predicting positive psychological health and fewer psychopathological problems, but little is known about its structural neural basis. In the current study, we investigated the neurostructural correlates of dispositional self-compassion and its components using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). We found that self-compassion was inversely correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which was primarily driven by the reduced self-judgment component. We also found that the mindfulness component was associated with greater GMV in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex and the left supplementary motor area, while the isolation and the over-identification components were both correlated with greater GMV in the right inferior temporal gyrus, and over-identification additionally related to less GMV in visual areas. Our findings suggest that dispositional self-compassion and its components are associated with brain structure in regions involved in emotion regulation, self-referential and emotion processing, with implications for the cognitive and neural mechanisms of self-compassion as well as those underlying the effects of self-compassion on its health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Guan
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Guanmin Liu
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Walker S Pedersen
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Outong Chen
- Normal College & School of Education, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Sasa Zhao
- UMR 5229, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Kaiping Peng
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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16
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Shi G, Li X, Zhu Y, Shang R, Sun Y, Guo H, Sui J. The divided brain: Functional brain asymmetry underlying self-construal. Neuroimage 2021; 240:118382. [PMID: 34252524 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118382] [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: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-construal (orientations of independence and interdependence) is a fundamental concept that guides human behaviour, and it is linked to a large number of brain regions. However, understanding the connectivity of these regions and the critical principles underlying these self-functions are lacking. Because brain activity linked to self-related processes are intrinsic, the resting-state method has received substantial attention. Here, we focused on resting-state functional connectivity matrices based on brain asymmetry as indexed by the differential partition of the connectivity located in mirrored positions of the two hemispheres, hemispheric specialization measured using the intra-hemispheric (left or right) connectivity, brain communication via inter-hemispheric interactions, and global connectivity as the sum of the two intra-hemispheric connectivity. Combining machine learning techniques with hypothesis-driven network mapping approaches, we demonstrated that orientations of independence and interdependence were best predicted by the asymmetric matrix compared to brain communication, hemispheric specialization, and global connectivity matrices. The network results revealed that there were distinct asymmetric connections between the default mode network, the salience network and the executive control network which characterise independence and interdependence. These analyses shed light on the importance of brain asymmetry in understanding how complex self-functions are optimally represented in the brain networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gen Shi
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xuesong Li
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, PR China.
| | - Yifan Zhu
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Ruihong Shang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Yang Sun
- Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Hua Guo
- Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
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