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From Loss of Control to Social Exclusion: ERP Effects of Preexposure to a Social Threat in the Cyberball Paradigm. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12091225. [PMID: 36138964 PMCID: PMC9496925 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12091225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies indicated that the onsets of different social threats, such as threats to ”belonging” and “control”, are inconsistent with the subjective beliefs of social participation and require readjustment of expectations. Because a common cognitive system is assumed to be involved, the adjustment triggered by the experience of a single social threat should affect the processing of subsequent social interactions. We examined how preexposure to a loss of control affected social exclusion processing by using the Cyberball paradigm. An event-related brain component (P3) served as a probe for the state of the expectancy system, and self-reports reflected the subjective evaluations of the social threats. In the control group (n = 23), the transition to exclusion elicited a significant P3 effect and a high threat to belonging in the self-reports. Both effects were significantly reduced when the exclusion was preceded by preexposure to a loss of control (EG1disc, n = 23). These effects, however, depend on the offset of the preexposure. In case of a continuation (EG2cont, n = 24), the P3 effect was further reduced, but the threat to belonging was restored. We conclude that the P3 data are consistent with predictions of a common expectancy violation account, whereas self-reports are supposed to be affected by additional processes.
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Wikman P, Moisala M, Ylinen A, Lindblom J, Leikas S, Salmela-Aro K, Lonka K, Güroğlu B, Alho K. Brain Responses to Peer Feedback in Social Media Are Modulated by Valence in Late Adolescence. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:790478. [PMID: 35706832 PMCID: PMC9190756 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.790478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have examined the neural correlates of receiving negative feedback from peers during virtual social interaction in young people. However, there is a lack of studies applying platforms adolescents use in daily life. In the present study, 92 late-adolescent participants performed a task that involved receiving positive and negative feedback to their opinions from peers in a Facebook-like platform, while brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Peer feedback was shown to activate clusters in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), superior temporal gyrus and sulcus (STG/STS), and occipital cortex (OC). Negative feedback was related to greater activity in the VLPFC, MPFC, and anterior insula than positive feedback, replicating previous findings on peer feedback and social rejection. Real-life habits of social media use did not correlate with brain responses to negative feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrik Wikman
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Mona Moisala
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Artturi Ylinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jallu Lindblom
- Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Sointu Leikas
- Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Katariina Salmela-Aro
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- School of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Kirsti Lonka
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
| | - Berna Güroğlu
- Institute of Psychology, Developmental and Educational Psychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Kimmo Alho
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
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Vijayakumar N, Cheng TW, Flannery JE, Flournoy JC, Ross G, Mobasser A, Op de Macks Z, Fisher PA, Pfeifer JH. Differential neural sensitivity to social inclusion and exclusion in adolescents in foster care. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 34:102986. [PMID: 35290856 PMCID: PMC8921471 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102986] [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: 11/20/2021] [Revised: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Foster care youth and controls differ in neural sensitivity to social interactions. Foster care youth have greater lateral prefrontal response to exclusion. They also have less neural response to inclusion. Some of these neural patterns are driven by adverse childhood experiences. Neural patterns are also related to externalizing problems in foster care youth.
Objectives Adolescents in foster care may exhibit differential patterns of brain functioning that contribute to their pervasive socioemotional challenges. However, there has been limited investigation of implicated neural processes, particularly in the social domain. Thus, the current study investigated neural responses to exclusionary and inclusionary peer interactions in adolescents in foster-care. Methods Participants comprised adolescents aged 11–18 years in foster care (N = 69) and a community sample (N = 69). They completed an fMRI adaptation of Cyberball, a virtual ball-throwing paradigm, that included periods of exclusion and over-inclusion. To investigate neural sensitivity to peer social experiences, we quantified neural responses that scaled with consecutive inclusionary and exclusionary interactions (using parametric modulators). Results Relative to the community sample, adolescents in foster care exhibited increasing response to consecutive exclusionary events in lateral prefrontal regions and decreasing response to consecutive inclusionary events in the intraparietal sulcus and temporo-occipital cortex. Further, exploratory analyses revealed that dorsolateral prefrontal activation to exclusion was related to externalizing problems, particularly in the foster care sample. Conclusions Findings highlight greater neural sensitivity to exclusionary, and lesser sensitivity to inclusionary, peer interactions in adolescents in foster care. Engagement of prefrontal clusters may reflect greater salience and emotion regulatory processes during exclusion, while parietal and temporal clusters may reflect reduced attention and behavioural engagement during inclusion. Thus foster care involvement is associated with broad changes in neural responses during peer interactions, and further these potentially relate to externalizing problems that have been identified in this vulnerable population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandita Vijayakumar
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Australia; Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, USA.
| | | | | | - John C Flournoy
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, USA; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, USA
| | - Garrett Ross
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Florida, USA
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Beard SJ, Hastings PD, Ferrer E, Robins RW, Guyer AE. Neural Response to Social Exclusion Moderates the Link Between Adolescent Anxiety Symptoms and Substance Use. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2022; 7:180-191. [PMID: 34147709 PMCID: PMC9121759 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substance use (SU) typically increases from middle to late adolescence. Anxiety is one factor associated with greater SU, although variability in who uses substances remains. Some models suggest that brain-based susceptibility markers could reveal which adolescents are at a higher risk for psychopathology, but it is unknown whether these individual differences attenuate or accentuate the association between anxiety and elevated SU even if normative. This study addressed this gap by testing whether neural response to social exclusion moderates the association between anxiety symptoms and increased SU from middle to late adolescence. METHODS Participants were 181 Mexican-origin adolescents (48% female; 16-17 years old) who completed a social exclusion task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan and filled out questionnaires about their SU and anxiety symptoms. Analyses focused on neural response to social exclusion versus inclusion within 3 regions of interest and change in SU across 2 years. RESULTS Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex response to social exclusion, but not subgenual anterior cingulate cortex or anterior insula, moderated the relation between anxiety symptoms and SU, such that higher anxiety symptoms predicted a greater relative increase in SU only for those youth with a lower dorsal anterior cingulate cortex response to exclusion. CONCLUSIONS Blunted dorsal anterior cingulate cortex response to social exclusion may serve as a neural susceptibility marker of altered conflict monitoring or emotion regulation in middle adolescence that, in combination with high levels of anxious feelings, elevates the risk for onset of and/or increased SU by late adolescence. These findings have implications for designing targeted interventions to mitigate SU among adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J. Beard
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis,Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis
| | - Paul D. Hastings
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis,Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | - Emilio Ferrer
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | | | - Amanda E. Guyer
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis,Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis
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Li G, Chen Y, Le TM, Zhornitsky S, Wang W, Dhingra I, Zhang S, Tang X, Li CSR. Perceived friendship and binge drinking in young adults: A study of the Human Connectome Project data. Drug Alcohol Depend 2021; 224:108731. [PMID: 33915512 PMCID: PMC8641247 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Peer influences figure prominently in young adult binge drinking. Women have trended to show a level of alcohol use on par with men during the last decades. It would be of interest to investigate the neural processes of social cognition that may underlie binge drinking and the potential sex differences. METHODS Here, we examined the data of the Human Connectome Project where we identified a total of 175 binge drinkers (125 men) and 285 non-binge drinkers (97 men) performing a social cognition task during brain imaging. We analyzed the imaging data with published routines and evaluated the results at a corrected threshold. RESULTS Both male and female binge relative to non-binge drinkers showed higher perceived friendship. Binge relative to non-binge drinkers demonstrated diminished activations in the anterior medial orbitofrontal cortex (amOFC) during perception of social vs. random interaction, with a more prominent effect size in women. Further, whole-brain regression identified activity of the right posterior insula (rPI) in negative correlation with perceived friendship score in non-binge drinking women. Post-hoc analyses showed significant correlation of rPI activity with perceived friendship, amOFC activity, and a summary measure of alcohol use severity identified by principal component analysis, across all subjects. Mediation and path analysis demonstrated a significant model: amOFC activity → rPI activity → perceived friendship → severity of alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS These findings support peer influences on binge drinking and suggest neural correlates that may relate altered social cognitive processing to alcohol misuse in young adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangfei Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Thang M Le
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Simon Zhornitsky
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Wuyi Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Isha Dhingra
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Sheng Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Xiaoying Tang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.
| | - Chiang-Shan R Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
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Processing of increased frequency of social interaction in social anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5489. [PMID: 33750900 PMCID: PMC7970905 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85027-6] [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: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated how patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) process an increase in the frequency of social interaction. We used an EEG-compatible version of the online ball-tossing game Cyberball to induce an increase in the frequency of social interaction. In the first condition, each player received the ball equally often (inclusion: 33% ball reception). In the following condition, the frequency of the ball reception was increased (overinclusion: 45% ball reception). The main outcome variable was the event-related potential P2, an indicator for social reward processing. Moreover, positive emotions were assessed. Twenty-eight patients with SAD, 29 patients with BPD and 28 healthy controls (HCs) participated. As expected, HCs and patients with BPD, but not patients with SAD, showed an increase in the P2 amplitude from the inclusion to the overinclusion condition. Contrary to our expectations, positive emotions did not change from the inclusion to the overinclusion condition. EEG results provide preliminary evidence that patients with BPD and HCs, but not patients with SAD, process an increase in the frequency of social interaction as rewarding.
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Pfeifer JH, Allen NB. Puberty Initiates Cascading Relationships Between Neurodevelopmental, Social, and Internalizing Processes Across Adolescence. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:99-108. [PMID: 33334434 PMCID: PMC8494463 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of dramatic developmental transitions-from puberty-related changes in hormones, bodies, and brains to an increasingly complex social world. The concurrent increase in the onset of many mental disorders has prompted the search for key developmental processes that drive changes in risk for psychopathology during this period of life. Hormonal surges and consequent physical maturation linked to pubertal development in adolescence are thought to affect multiple aspects of brain development, social cognition, and peer relations, each of which have also demonstrated associations with risk for mood and anxiety disorders. These puberty-related effects may combine with other nonpubertal influences on brain maturation to transform adolescents' social perception and experiences, which in turn continue to shape both mental health and brain development through transactional processes. In this review, we focus on pubertal, neural, and social changes across the duration of adolescence that are known or thought to be related to adolescent-emergent disorders, specifically depression, anxiety, and deliberate self-harm (nonsuicidal self-injury). We propose a theoretical model in which social processes (both social cognition and peer relations) are critical to understanding the way in which pubertal development drives neural and psychological changes that produce potential mental health vulnerabilities, particularly (but not exclusively) in adolescent girls.
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Adolescent girls' physiological reactivity to real-world peer feedback: A pilot study to validate a Peer Expressed Emotion task. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 204:105057. [PMID: 33360282 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Peer feedback becomes highly salient during adolescence, especially for girls. The way in which adolescents react to social feedback is associated with psychosocial adjustment and mental health. Consequently, researchers are increasingly interested in understanding the physiological and neural underpinnings of adolescent response to feedback by simulating the experience of rejection and acceptance using computer-based paradigms. However, these paradigms typically use nonfamiliar peers and the facade of internet chatrooms or games to present artificial peer feedback. The current study piloted the use of a novel and potentially more ecologically valid peer expressed emotion paradigm in which participants listen to prerecorded clips of ostensible personalized feedback made by their close friend. Physiological data measuring autonomic nervous system response were collected as an index of emotional reactivity/arousal and cognitive-affective processing. Results show promising preliminary evidence validating the task for future use. Participants (N = 18 girls, aged 11-17 years) reported feeling more positive following praise, relative to critical and neutral feedback, and reported feeling more upset following criticism, relative to praise and neutral feedback. Girls exhibited greater pupillary dilation, skin conductance levels (N = 17), and/or heart rate (N = 17) while listening to affectively charged, peer feedback compared with neutral yet personally relevant statements. Girls also exhibited variable physiological response when listening to praising versus critical feedback. Findings from this pilot study validate the use of this novel Peer Expressed Emotion task for the investigation of adolescents' emotional and physiological reactivity in response to real-world peer evaluation. However, it is important to recognize that this study provides only preliminary findings and that future research is needed to replicate the results in larger samples.
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Perceived burdensomeness and neural responses to ostracism in the Cyberball task. J Psychiatr Res 2020; 130:1-8. [PMID: 32763557 PMCID: PMC7554229 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have identified the brain correlates of social pain processing during ostracism. However, the affective response to ostracism may vary according to individual differences in interpersonal needs and subsequent social actions. Despite this relationship, how the neural processes underlying ostracism may be modulated by interpersonal needs to regulate prosocial behaviors remains unknown. Here, in an fMRI study of 64 adults performing the Cyberball task, we quantified ball catching and tossing response time (RT) as a behavioral measure of participants' willingness to seek and reciprocate social interactions. Neural activations to social exclusion were identified and characterized in relation to individual differences in behavioral performance and perceived burdensomeness (PB), a measure of interpersonal needs. The results showed that social exclusion elicited activity in the anterior insula, middle frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, replicating previous studies on ostracism. Importantly, those with higher PB also exhibited greater brain activations to exclusion as well as reduced prosocial behaviors, as reflected by slower ball catching and tossing RT in the Cyberball task. Taken together, these findings suggest that emotional distress in ostracism may increase with PB, resulting in stronger neural responses to social pain and behavioral avoidance of social interactions.
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