The social brain in adolescence: Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioural studies

PubMed Central

Burnett, Stephanie; Sebastian, Catherine; Kadosh, Kathrin Cohen; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2015-01-01

Social cognition is the collection of cognitive processes required to understand and interact with others. The term ‘social brain’ refers to the network of brain regions that underlies these processes. Recent evidence suggests that a number of social cognitive functions continue to develop during adolescence, resulting in age differences in tasks that assess cognitive domains including face processing, mental state inference and responding to peer influence and social evaluation. Concurrently, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies show differences between adolescent and adult groups within parts of the social brain. Understanding the relationship between these neural and behavioural observations is a challenge. This review discusses current research findings on adolescent social cognitive development and its functional MRI correlates, then integrates and interprets these findings in the context of hypothesised developmental neurocognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms. PMID:21036192

Altered resting-state functional connectivity of the frontal-striatal reward system in social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Manning, Joshua; Reynolds, Gretchen; Saygin, Zeynep M; Hofmann, Stefan G; Pollack, Mark; Gabrieli, John D E; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan

2015-01-01

We investigated differences in the intrinsic functional brain organization (functional connectivity) of the human reward system between healthy control participants and patients with social anxiety disorder. Functional connectivity was measured in the resting-state via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). 53 patients with social anxiety disorder and 33 healthy control participants underwent a 6-minute resting-state fMRI scan. Functional connectivity of the reward system was analyzed by calculating whole-brain temporal correlations with a bilateral nucleus accumbens seed and a ventromedial prefrontal cortex seed. Patients with social anxiety disorder, relative to the control group, had (1) decreased functional connectivity between the nucleus accumbens seed and other regions associated with reward, including ventromedial prefrontal cortex; (2) decreased functional connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex seed and lateral prefrontal regions, including the anterior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices; and (3) increased functional connectivity between both the nucleus accumbens seed and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex seed with more posterior brain regions, including anterior cingulate cortex. Social anxiety disorder appears to be associated with widespread differences in the functional connectivity of the reward system, including markedly decreased functional connectivity between reward regions and between reward regions and lateral prefrontal cortices, and markedly increased functional connectivity between reward regions and posterior brain regions.

Structural and functional effects of social isolation on the hippocampus of rats with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Khodaie, Babak; Lotfinia, Ahmad Ali; Ahmadi, Milad; Lotfinia, Mahmoud; Jafarian, Maryam; Karimzadeh, Fariba; Coulon, Philippe; Gorji, Ali

2015-02-01

Social isolation has significant long-term psychological and physiological consequences. Both social isolation and traumatic brain injury (TBI) alter normal brain function and structure. However, the influence of social isolation on recovery from TBI is unclear. This study aims to evaluate if social isolation exacerbates the anatomical and functional deficits after TBI in young rats. Juvenile male rats were divided into four groups; sham operated control with social contacts, sham control with social isolation, TBI with social contacts, and TBI with social isolation. During four weeks after brain injury in juvenile rats, we evaluated the animal behaviors by T-maze and open-field tests, recorded brain activity with electrocorticograms and assessed structural changes by histological procedures in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, CA1, and CA3 areas. Our findings revealed significant memory impairments and hyperactivity conditions in rats with TBI and social isolation compared to the other groups. Histological assessments showed an increase of the mean number of dark neurons, apoptotic cells, and caspase-3 positive cells in all tested areas of the hippocampus in TBI rats with and without social isolation compared to sham rats. Furthermore, social isolation significantly increased the number of dark cells, apoptotic neurons, and caspase-3 positive cells in the hippocampal CA3 region in rats with TBI. This study indicates the harmful effect of social isolation on anatomical and functional deficits induced by TBI in juvenile rats. Prevention of social isolation may improve the outcome of TBI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Brain hyperconnectivity in children with autism and its links to social deficits.

PubMed

Supekar, Kaustubh; Uddin, Lucina Q; Khouzam, Amirah; Phillips, Jennifer; Gaillard, William D; Kenworthy, Lauren E; Yerys, Benjamin E; Vaidya, Chandan J; Menon, Vinod

2013-11-14

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting nearly 1 in 88 children, is thought to result from aberrant brain connectivity. Remarkably, there have been no systematic attempts to characterize whole-brain connectivity in children with ASD. Here, we use neuroimaging to show that there are more instances of greater functional connectivity in the brains of children with ASD in comparison to those of typically developing children. Hyperconnectivity in ASD was observed at the whole-brain and subsystems levels, across long- and short-range connections, and was associated with higher levels of fluctuations in regional brain signals. Brain hyperconnectivity predicted symptom severity in ASD, such that children with greater functional connectivity exhibited more severe social deficits. We replicated these findings in two additional independent cohorts, demonstrating again that at earlier ages, the brain of children with ASD is largely functionally hyperconnected in ways that contribute to social dysfunction. Our findings provide unique insights into brain mechanisms underlying childhood autism. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autistic Traits and Brain Activation during Face-to-Face Conversations in Typically Developed Adults

PubMed Central

Suda, Masashi; Takei, Yuichi; Aoyama, Yoshiyuki; Narita, Kosuke; Sakurai, Noriko; Fukuda, Masato; Mikuni, Masahiko

2011-01-01

Background Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviours. The severity of these characteristics is posited to lie on a continuum that extends into the general population. Brain substrates underlying ASD have been investigated through functional neuroimaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, fMRI has methodological constraints for studying brain mechanisms during social interactions (for example, noise, lying on a gantry during the procedure, etc.). In this study, we investigated whether variations in autism spectrum traits are associated with changes in patterns of brain activation in typically developed adults. We used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a recently developed functional neuroimaging technique that uses near-infrared light, to monitor brain activation in a natural setting that is suitable for studying brain functions during social interactions. Methodology We monitored regional cerebral blood volume changes using a 52-channel NIRS apparatus over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and superior temporal sulcus (STS), 2 areas implicated in social cognition and the pathology of ASD, in 28 typically developed participants (14 male and 14 female) during face-to-face conversations. This task was designed to resemble a realistic social situation. We examined the correlations of these changes with autistic traits assessed using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Principal Findings Both the PFC and STS were significantly activated during face-to-face conversations. AQ scores were negatively correlated with regional cerebral blood volume increases in the left STS during face-to-face conversations, especially in males. Conclusions Our results demonstrate successful monitoring of brain function during realistic social interactions by NIRS as well as lesser brain activation in the left STS during face-to-face conversations in typically developed participants with higher levels of autistic traits. PMID:21637754

Autistic traits and brain activation during face-to-face conversations in typically developed adults.

PubMed

Suda, Masashi; Takei, Yuichi; Aoyama, Yoshiyuki; Narita, Kosuke; Sakurai, Noriko; Fukuda, Masato; Mikuni, Masahiko

2011-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviours. The severity of these characteristics is posited to lie on a continuum that extends into the general population. Brain substrates underlying ASD have been investigated through functional neuroimaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, fMRI has methodological constraints for studying brain mechanisms during social interactions (for example, noise, lying on a gantry during the procedure, etc.). In this study, we investigated whether variations in autism spectrum traits are associated with changes in patterns of brain activation in typically developed adults. We used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a recently developed functional neuroimaging technique that uses near-infrared light, to monitor brain activation in a natural setting that is suitable for studying brain functions during social interactions. We monitored regional cerebral blood volume changes using a 52-channel NIRS apparatus over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and superior temporal sulcus (STS), 2 areas implicated in social cognition and the pathology of ASD, in 28 typically developed participants (14 male and 14 female) during face-to-face conversations. This task was designed to resemble a realistic social situation. We examined the correlations of these changes with autistic traits assessed using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Both the PFC and STS were significantly activated during face-to-face conversations. AQ scores were negatively correlated with regional cerebral blood volume increases in the left STS during face-to-face conversations, especially in males. Our results demonstrate successful monitoring of brain function during realistic social interactions by NIRS as well as lesser brain activation in the left STS during face-to-face conversations in typically developed participants with higher levels of autistic traits.

From Brain-Environment Connections to Temporal Dynamics and Social Interaction: Principles of Human Brain Function.

PubMed

Hari, Riitta

2017-06-07

Experimental data about brain function accumulate faster than does our understanding of how the brain works. To tackle some general principles at the grain level of behavior, I start from the omnipresent brain-environment connection that forces regularities of the physical world to shape the brain. Based on top-down processing, added by sparse sensory information, people are able to form individual "caricature worlds," which are similar enough to be shared among other people and which allow quick and purposeful reactions to abrupt changes. Temporal dynamics and social interaction in natural environments serve as further essential organizing principles of human brain function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How Oral Contraceptives Impact Social-Emotional Behavior and Brain Function.

PubMed

Montoya, Estrella R; Bos, Peter A

2017-02-01

Millions of women worldwide use oral contraceptives ('the pill'; OCs), often starting at a pubertal age when their brains are in a crucial developmental stage. Research into the social-emotional effects of OCs is of utmost importance. In this review, we provide an overview of studies that have emerged over the past decade investigating how OCs, and their main ingredients estradiol (E) and progesterone (P), influence social-emotional behaviors and underlying brain functions. Based on this overview, we present a heuristic model that postulates that OCs modulate core social-emotional behaviors and brain systems. Research domains and challenges for the future, as well as implications, are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Persistent Sleep Disturbances Independently Predict Poorer Functional and Social Outcomes 1 Year After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Chan, Lai Gwen; Feinstein, Anthony

2015-01-01

To investigate the effect of sleep disturbances on functional and social outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury. Outpatient traumatic brain injury clinic in a tertiary trauma center. A total of 374 mild traumatic brain injury patients were assessed within 3 months of injury and followed up every 3 months for 1 year. Analysis of a historical cohort in a naturalistic clinical setting. At each visit, symptoms of concussion and psychological distress and indices of functional and social outcomes were measured with the Rivermead Postconcussion Questionnaire, 28-item General Health Questionnaire, and Rivermead Head Injury Follow-up Questionnaire, respectively. Changes in outcome scores over time were explored using repeated measures analysis of variance and compared between subjects with persistent (SD) and recovered (SR) sleep disturbances. Predictors of functional/social outcome were determined using linear regression. The percentages of subjects reporting sleep disturbances at each time point were 71.9%, 57.2%, 55.1%, and 53.7%, respectively. For functional and social outcomes, significant effects of time (F3,315 = 9.54; P < .001), group (SD vs SR) F1,317 = 5.32; P = .022, and time X group interaction F3,315 = 4.14; P = .007 were found. Persistent sleep disturbance (P = 0.011) and higher symptom burden at 6 months postinjury (P < .0001) were independent predictors of poorer outcome. Sleep disturbance, independent of psychological distress, is an important prognostic factor of functional and social outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury.

Right frontal pole cortical thickness and executive functioning in children with traumatic brain injury: the impact on social problems.

PubMed

Levan, Ashley; Black, Garrett; Mietchen, Jonathan; Baxter, Leslie; Brock Kirwan, C; Gale, Shawn D

2016-12-01

Cognitive and social outcomes may be negatively affected in children with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that executive function would mediate the association between right frontal pole cortical thickness and problematic social behaviors. Child participants with a history of TBI were recruited from inpatient admissions for long-term follow-up (n = 23; average age = 12.8, average time post-injury =3.2 years). Three measures of executive function, the Trail Making Test, verbal fluency test, and the Conners' Continuous Performance Test-Second edition (CPT-II), were administered to each participant while caregivers completed the Childhood Behavior Checklist (CBCL). All participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging following cognitive testing. Regression analysis demonstrated right frontal pole cortical thickness significantly predicted social problems. Measures of executive functioning also significantly predicted social problems; however, the mediation model testing whether executive function mediated the relationship between cortical thickness and social problems was not statistically significant. Right frontal pole cortical thickness and omission errors on the CPT-II predicted Social Problems on the CBCL. Results did not indicate that the association between cortical thickness and social problems was mediated by executive function.

Social inclusion enhances biological motion processing: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

PubMed Central

Bolling, Danielle Z.; Pelphrey, Kevin A.; Kaiser, Martha D.

2012-01-01

Humans are especially tuned to the movements of other people. Neural correlates of this social attunement have been proposed to lie in and around the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) region, which robustly responds to biological motion in contrast to a variety of non-biological motions. This response persists even when no form information is provided, as in point-light displays (PLDs). The aim of the current study was to assess the ability of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to reliably measure brain responses to PLDs of biological motion, and determine the sensitivity of these responses to interpersonal contextual factors. To establish reliability, we measured brain activation to biological motion with fNIRS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during two separate sessions in an identical group of 12 participants. To establish sensitivity, brain responses to biological motion measured with fNIRS were subjected to an additional social manipulation where participants were either socially included or excluded before viewing PLDs of biological motion. Results revealed comparable brain responses to biological motion using fMRI and fNIRS in the right supramarginal gyrus. Further, social inclusion increased brain responses to biological motion in right supramarginal gyrus and posterior STS. Thus, fNIRS can reliably measure brain responses to biological motion and can detect social experience-dependent modulations of these brain responses. PMID:22941501

Following the crowd: Brain Substrates of Long-Term Memory Conformity

PubMed Central

Edelson, Micah; Sharot, Tali; Dolan, Raymond J; Dudai, Yadin

2012-01-01

Human memory is strikingly susceptible to social influences, yet we know little about the underlying mechanisms. We examined how socially induced memory errors are generated in the brain by studying the memory of individuals exposed to recollections of others. Participants exhibited a strong tendency to conform to erroneous recollections of the group, producing both long-lasting and temporary errors, even when their initial memory was strong and accurate. Functional brain imaging revealed that social influence modified the neuronal representation of memory. Specifically, a particular brain signature of enhanced amygdala activity and enhanced amygdala-hippocampus connectivity predicted long-lasting, but not temporary memory alterations. Our findings reveal how social manipulation can alter memory and extend the known functions of the amygdala to encompass socially-mediated memory distortions. PMID:21719681

Impact of Short Social Training on Prosocial Behaviors: An fMRI Study.

PubMed

Lukinova, Evgeniya; Myagkov, Mikhail

2016-01-01

Efficient brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are in need of knowledge about the human brain and how it interacts, plays games, and socializes with other brains. A breakthrough can be achieved by revealing the microfoundations of sociality, an additional component of the utility function reflecting the value of contributing to group success derived from social identity. Building upon our previous behavioral work, we conduct a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments (N = 10 in the Pilot Study and N = 15 in the Main Study) to measure whether and how sociality alters the functional activation of and connectivity between specific systems in the brain. The overarching hypothesis of this study is that sociality, even in a minimal form, serves as a natural mechanism of sustainable cooperation by fostering interaction between brain regions associated with social cognition and those related to value calculation. We use group-based manipulations to induce varying levels of sociality and compare behavior in two social dilemmas: Prisoner's Dilemma and variations of Ultimatum Game. We find that activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus, a region previously associated with cognitive control and modulation of the valuation system, is correlated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to a greater degree when participants make economic decisions in a game with an acquaintance, high sociality condition, compared to a game with a random individual, low sociality condition. These initial results suggest a specific biological mechanism through which sociality facilitates cooperation, fairness and provision of public goods at the cost of individual gain. Future research should examine neural dynamics in the brain during the computation of utility in the context of strategic games that involve social interaction for a larger sample of subjects.

Exploring the Infant Social Brain: What's Going on in There?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Kuhl, Patricia K.

2016-01-01

Advances in neuroscience allow researchers to uncover new information about the social brain in infancy and early childhood. In this article we present state-of-the-art findings about brain functioning during the first 3 years of life that underscore how important social interactions are to early learning. We explore learning opportunities that…

Limitations on the developing preterm brain: impact of periventricular white matter lesions on brain connectivity and cognition.

PubMed

Pavlova, Marina A; Krägeloh-Mann, Ingeborg

2013-04-01

Brain lesions to the white matter in peritrigonal regions, periventricular leukomalacia, in children who were born prematurely represent an important model for studying limitations on brain development. The lesional pattern is of early origin and bilateral, that constrains the compensatory potential of the brain. We suggest that (i) topography and severity of periventricular lesions may have a long-term predictive value for cognitive and social capabilities in preterm birth survivors; and (ii) periventricular lesions may impact cognitive and social functions by affecting brain connectivity, and thereby, the dissociable neural networks underpinning these functions. A further pathway to explore is the relationship between cerebral palsy and cognitive outcome. Restrictions caused by motor disability may affect active exploration of surrounding and social participation that may in turn differentially impinge on cognitive development and social cognition. As an outline for future research, we underscore sex differences, as the sex of a preterm newborn may shape the mechanisms by which the developing brain is affected.

A dedicated network for social interaction processing in the primate brain.

PubMed

Sliwa, J; Freiwald, W A

2017-05-19

Primate cognition requires interaction processing. Interactions can reveal otherwise hidden properties of intentional agents, such as thoughts and feelings, and of inanimate objects, such as mass and material. Where and how interaction analyses are implemented in the brain is unknown. Using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging in macaque monkeys, we discovered a network centered in the medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex that is exclusively engaged in social interaction analysis. Exclusivity of specialization was found for no other function anywhere in the brain. Two additional networks, a parieto-premotor and a temporal one, exhibited both social and physical interaction preference, which, in the temporal lobe, mapped onto a fine-grain pattern of object, body, and face selectivity. Extent and location of a dedicated system for social interaction analysis suggest that this function is an evolutionary forerunner of human mind-reading capabilities. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Oxytocin and vasopressin modulation of the neural correlates of motivation and emotion: results from functional MRI studies in awake rats.

PubMed

Febo, Marcelo; Ferris, Craig F

2014-09-11

Oxytocin and vasopressin modulate a range of species typical behavioral functions that include social recognition, maternal-infant attachment, and modulation of memory, offensive aggression, defensive fear reactions, and reward seeking. We have employed novel functional magnetic resonance mapping techniques in awake rats to explore the roles of these neuropeptides in the maternal and non-maternal brain. Results from the functional neuroimaging studies that are summarized here have directly and indirectly confirmed and supported previous findings. Oxytocin is released within the lactating rat brain during suckling stimulation and activates specific subcortical networks in the maternal brain. Both vasopressin and oxytocin modulate brain regions involved unconditioned fear, processing of social stimuli and the expression of agonistic behaviors. Across studies there are relatively consistent brain networks associated with internal motivational drives and emotional states that are modulated by oxytocin and vasopressin. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social connectedness, mental health and the adolescent brain.

PubMed

Lamblin, M; Murawski, C; Whittle, S; Fornito, A

2017-09-01

Social relationships promote health and wellbeing. Brain regions regulating social behavior continue to develop throughout adolescence, as teens learn to navigate their social environment with increasing sophistication. Adolescence is also a time of increased risk for the development of psychiatric disorders, many of which are characteristically associated with social dysfunction. In this review, we consider the links between adolescent brain development and the broader social environment. We examine evidence that individual differences in social ability, partly determined by genetic influences on brain structure and function, impact the quality and quantity of social ties during adolescence and that, conversely, the structure of one's social network exerts complex yet profound influences on individual behavior and mental health. In this way, the brain and social environment sculpt each other throughout the teenage years to influence one's social standing amongst peers. Reciprocal interactions between brain maturation and the social environment at this critical developmental stage may augment risk or promote resilience for mental illness and other health outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family functioning in severe brain injuries: correlations with caregivers' burden, perceived social support and quality of life.

PubMed

Tramonti, Francesco; Bonfiglio, Luca; Di Bernardo, Carolina; Ulivi, Chiara; Virgillito, Alessandra; Rossi, Bruno; Carboncini, Maria Chiara

2015-01-01

Severe brain injuries have long-term consequences on functional status and psychosocial functioning. Family life can be greatly influenced as well, and features of high caregiver burden can emerge. Although the data on caregivers' distress are constantly increasing, less information is available about the role of family functioning. Thirty caregivers of hospitalised patients with severe brain injuries received questionnaires for the evaluation of caregiver burden, family functioning and perceived social support. A semi-structured interview was performed for the evaluation of quality of life. Family cohesion and adaptability positively correlated with caregivers' quality of life and perceived social support. Partner caregivers' scores were significantly higher on the time-dependent burden than those of sons and daughters, whereas the latter scored higher on the emotional burden.

Global brain dynamics during social exclusion predict subsequent behavioral conformity

PubMed Central

Wasylyshyn, Nick; Hemenway Falk, Brett; Garcia, Javier O; Cascio, Christopher N; O’Donnell, Matthew Brook; Bingham, C Raymond; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Vettel, Jean M; Falk, Emily B

2018-01-01

Abstract Individuals react differently to social experiences; for example, people who are more sensitive to negative social experiences, such as being excluded, may be more likely to adapt their behavior to fit in with others. We examined whether functional brain connectivity during social exclusion in the fMRI scanner can be used to predict subsequent conformity to peer norms. Adolescent males (n = 57) completed a two-part study on teen driving risk: a social exclusion task (Cyberball) during an fMRI session and a subsequent driving simulator session in which they drove alone and in the presence of a peer who expressed risk-averse or risk-accepting driving norms. We computed the difference in functional connectivity between social exclusion and social inclusion from each node in the brain to nodes in two brain networks, one previously associated with mentalizing (medial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, precuneus, temporal poles) and another with social pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Using predictive modeling, this measure of global connectivity during exclusion predicted the extent of conformity to peer pressure during driving in the subsequent experimental session. These findings extend our understanding of how global neural dynamics guide social behavior, revealing functional network activity that captures individual differences. PMID:29529310

Functional brain connectivity when cooperation fails.

PubMed

Balconi, Michela; Vanutelli, Maria Elide; Gatti, Laura

2018-06-01

Functional connectivity during cooperative actions is an important topic in social neuroscience that has yet to be answered. Here, we examined the effects of administration of (fictitious) negative social feedback in relation to cooperative capabilities. Cognitive performance and neural activation underlying the execution of joint actions was recorded with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) on prefrontal regions during a task where pairs of participants received negative feedback after their joint action. Performance (error rates (ERs) and response times (RTs)) and intra- and inter-brain connectivity indices were computed, along with the ConIndex (inter-brain/intra-brain connectivity). Finally, correlational measures were considered to assess the relation between these different measures. Results showed that the negative feedback was able to modulate participants' responses for both behavioral and neural components. Cognitive performance was decreased after the feedback. Moreover, decreased inter-brain connectivity and increased intra-brain connectivity was induced by the feedback, whereas the cooperative task pre-feedback condition was able to increase the brain-to-brain coupling, mainly localized within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Finally, the presence of significant correlations between RTs and inter-brain connectivity revealed that ineffective joint action produces the worst cognitive performance and a more 'individual strategy' for brain activity, limiting the inter-brain connectivity. The present study provides a significant contribution to the identification of patterns of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity when negative social reinforcement is provided in relation to cooperative actions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Short Social Training on Prosocial Behaviors: An fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Lukinova, Evgeniya; Myagkov, Mikhail

2016-01-01

Efficient brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are in need of knowledge about the human brain and how it interacts, plays games, and socializes with other brains. A breakthrough can be achieved by revealing the microfoundations of sociality, an additional component of the utility function reflecting the value of contributing to group success derived from social identity. Building upon our previous behavioral work, we conduct a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments (N = 10 in the Pilot Study and N = 15 in the Main Study) to measure whether and how sociality alters the functional activation of and connectivity between specific systems in the brain. The overarching hypothesis of this study is that sociality, even in a minimal form, serves as a natural mechanism of sustainable cooperation by fostering interaction between brain regions associated with social cognition and those related to value calculation. We use group-based manipulations to induce varying levels of sociality and compare behavior in two social dilemmas: Prisoner’s Dilemma and variations of Ultimatum Game. We find that activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus, a region previously associated with cognitive control and modulation of the valuation system, is correlated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to a greater degree when participants make economic decisions in a game with an acquaintance, high sociality condition, compared to a game with a random individual, low sociality condition. These initial results suggest a specific biological mechanism through which sociality facilitates cooperation, fairness and provision of public goods at the cost of individual gain. Future research should examine neural dynamics in the brain during the computation of utility in the context of strategic games that involve social interaction for a larger sample of subjects. PMID:27458349

Different impressions of other agents obtained through social interaction uniquely modulate dorsal and ventral pathway activities in the social human brain.

PubMed

Takahashi, Hideyuki; Terada, Kazunori; Morita, Tomoyo; Suzuki, Shinsuke; Haji, Tomoki; Kozima, Hideki; Yoshikawa, Masahiro; Matsumoto, Yoshio; Omori, Takashi; Asada, Minoru; Naito, Eiichi

2014-09-01

Internal (neuronal) representations in the brain are modified by our experiences, and this phenomenon is not unique to sensory and motor systems. Here, we show that different impressions obtained through social interaction with a variety of agents uniquely modulate activity of dorsal and ventral pathways of the brain network that mediates human social behavior. We scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 16 healthy volunteers when they performed a simple matching-pennies game with a human, human-like android, mechanical robot, interactive robot, and a computer. Before playing this game in the scanner, participants experienced social interactions with each opponent separately and scored their initial impressions using two questionnaires. We found that the participants perceived opponents in two mental dimensions: one represented "mind-holderness" in which participants attributed anthropomorphic impressions to some of the opponents that had mental functions, while the other dimension represented "mind-readerness" in which participants characterized opponents as intelligent. Interestingly, this "mind-readerness" dimension correlated to participants frequently changing their game tactic to prevent opponents from envisioning their strategy, and this was corroborated by increased entropy during the game. We also found that the two factors separately modulated activity in distinct social brain regions. Specifically, mind-holderness modulated activity in the dorsal aspect of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal and posterior paracingulate cortices, while mind-readerness modulated activity in the ventral aspect of TPJ and the temporal pole. These results clearly demonstrate that activity in social brain networks is modulated through pre-scanning experiences of social interaction with a variety of agents. Furthermore, our findings elucidated the existence of two distinct functional networks in the social human brain. Social interaction with anthropomorphic or intelligent-looking agents may distinctly shape the internal representation of our social brain, which may in turn determine how we behave for various agents that we encounter in our society. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Genetic dissection of neural circuits underlying sexually dimorphic social behaviours

PubMed Central

Bayless, Daniel W.; Shah, Nirao M.

2016-01-01

The unique hormonal, genetic and epigenetic environments of males and females during development and adulthood shape the neural circuitry of the brain. These differences in neural circuitry result in sex-typical displays of social behaviours such as mating and aggression. Like other neural circuits, those underlying sex-typical social behaviours weave through complex brain regions that control a variety of diverse behaviours. For this reason, the functional dissection of neural circuits underlying sex-typical social behaviours has proved to be difficult. However, molecularly discrete neuronal subpopulations can be identified in the heterogeneous brain regions that control sex-typical social behaviours. In addition, the actions of oestrogens and androgens produce sex differences in gene expression within these brain regions, thereby highlighting the neuronal subpopulations most likely to control sexually dimorphic social behaviours. These conditions permit the implementation of innovative genetic approaches that, in mammals, are most highly advanced in the laboratory mouse. Such approaches have greatly advanced our understanding of the functional significance of sexually dimorphic neural circuits in the brain. In this review, we discuss the neural circuitry of sex-typical social behaviours in mice while highlighting the genetic technical innovations that have advanced the field. PMID:26833830

The busy social brain: evidence for automaticity and control in the neural systems supporting social cognition and action understanding.

PubMed

Spunt, Robert P; Lieberman, Matthew D

2013-01-01

Much social-cognitive processing is believed to occur automatically; however, the relative automaticity of the brain systems underlying social cognition remains largely undetermined. We used functional MRI to test for automaticity in the functioning of two brain systems that research has indicated are important for understanding other people's behavior: the mirror neuron system and the mentalizing system. Participants remembered either easy phone numbers (low cognitive load) or difficult phone numbers (high cognitive load) while observing actions after adopting one of four comprehension goals. For all four goals, mirror neuron system activation showed relatively little evidence of modulation by load; in contrast, the association of mentalizing system activation with the goal of inferring the actor's mental state was extinguished by increased cognitive load. These results support a dual-process model of the brain systems underlying action understanding and social cognition; the mirror neuron system supports automatic behavior identification, and the mentalizing system supports controlled social causal attribution.

Special issue on the teenage brain: Sensitivity to social evaluation

PubMed Central

Somerville, Leah H.

2013-01-01

Relative to childhood, peer relationships take on a heightened importance during adolescence. Might adolescents be highly attuned to information that concerns when and how they are being evaluated, and what their peers think of them? This review evaluates how continuing brain development - which influences brain function - partially explains or reflects adolescents’ attunement to social evaluation. Though preliminary, evidence is mounting to suggest that while processing information relevant to social evaluation and the internal states of other people, adolescents respond with greater emotional intensity and corresponding nonlinear recruitment of socioaffective brain circuitry. This review highlights research findings that relate trajectories of brain development and social behavior, and discusses promising avenues of future research that will inform how brain development might lead adolescents sensitized to social evaluation. PMID:24761055

Social re-orientation and brain development: An expanded and updated view.

PubMed

Nelson, Eric E; Jarcho, Johanna M; Guyer, Amanda E

2016-02-01

Social development has been the focus of a great deal of neuroscience based research over the past decade. In this review, we focus on providing a framework for understanding how changes in facets of social development may correspond with changes in brain function. We argue that (1) distinct phases of social behavior emerge based on whether the organizing social force is the mother, peer play, peer integration, or romantic intimacy; (2) each phase is marked by a high degree of affect-driven motivation that elicits a distinct response in subcortical structures; (3) activity generated by these structures interacts with circuits in prefrontal cortex that guide executive functions, and occipital and temporal lobe circuits, which generate specific sensory and perceptual social representations. We propose that the direction, magnitude and duration of interaction among these affective, executive, and perceptual systems may relate to distinct sensitive periods across development that contribute to establishing long-term patterns of brain function and behavior. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Brain and Social Networks: Fundamental Building Blocks of Human Experience.

PubMed

Falk, Emily B; Bassett, Danielle S

2017-09-01

How do brains shape social networks, and how do social ties shape the brain? Social networks are complex webs by which ideas spread among people. Brains comprise webs by which information is processed and transmitted among neural units. While brain activity and structure offer biological mechanisms for human behaviors, social networks offer external inducers or modulators of those behaviors. Together, these two axes represent fundamental contributors to human experience. Integrating foundational knowledge from social and developmental psychology and sociology on how individuals function within dyads, groups, and societies with recent advances in network neuroscience can offer new insights into both domains. Here, we use the example of how ideas and behaviors spread to illustrate the potential of multilayer network models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The social brain in psychiatric and neurological disorders

PubMed Central

Kennedy, Daniel P.; Adolphs, Ralph

2013-01-01

Psychiatric and neurological disorders have historically provided key insights into the structure-function relationships that subserve human social cognition and behavior, informing the concept of the ‘social brain’. In this review, we take stock of the current status of this concept, retaining a focus on disorders that impact social behavior. We discuss how the social brain, social cognition, and social behavior are interdependent, and emphasize the important role of development and compensation. We suggest that the social brain, and its dysfunction and recovery, must be understood not in terms of specific structures, but rather in terms of their interaction in large-scale networks. PMID:23047070

Brain State Differentiation and Behavioral Inflexibility in Autism†

PubMed Central

Uddin, Lucina Q.; Supekar, Kaustubh; Lynch, Charles J.; Cheng, Katherine M.; Odriozola, Paola; Barth, Maria E.; Phillips, Jennifer; Feinstein, Carl; Abrams, Daniel A.; Menon, Vinod

2015-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are characterized by social impairments alongside cognitive and behavioral inflexibility. While social deficits in ASDs have extensively been characterized, the neurobiological basis of inflexibility and its relation to core clinical symptoms of the disorder are unknown. We acquired functional neuroimaging data from 2 cohorts, each consisting of 17 children with ASDs and 17 age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children, during stimulus-evoked brain states involving performance of social attention and numerical problem solving tasks, as well as during intrinsic, resting brain states. Effective connectivity between key nodes of the salience network, default mode network, and central executive network was used to obtain indices of functional organization across evoked and intrinsic brain states. In both cohorts examined, a machine learning algorithm was able to discriminate intrinsic (resting) and evoked (task) functional brain network configurations more accurately in TD children than in children with ASD. Brain state discriminability was related to severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors, indicating that weak modulation of brain states may contribute to behavioral inflexibility in ASD. These findings provide novel evidence for a potential link between neurophysiological inflexibility and core symptoms of this complex neurodevelopmental disorder. PMID:25073720

Oxytocin And Vasopressin Modulation Of The Neural Correlates Of Motivation And Emotion: Results From Functional MRI Studies In Awake Rats

PubMed Central

Febo, Marcelo; Ferris, Craig F.

2014-01-01

Oxytocin and vasopressin modulate a range of species typical behavioral functions that include social recognition, maternal-infant attachment, and modulation of memory, offensive aggression, defensive fear reactions, and reward seeking. We have employed novel functional magnetic resonance mapping techniques in awake rats to explore the roles of these neuropeptides in the maternal and non-maternal brain. Results from the functional neuroimaging studies that are summarized here have directly and indirectly confirmed and supported previous findings. Oxytocin is released within the lactating rat brain during suckling stimulation and activates specific subcortical networks in the maternal brain. Both vasopressin and oxytocin modulate brain regions involved unconditioned fear, processing of social stimuli and the expression of agonistic behaviors. Across studies there are relatively consistent brain networks associated with internal motivational drives and emotional states that are modulated by oxytocin and vasopressin. PMID:24486356

Asymmetries of the human social brain in the visual, auditory and chemical modalities.

PubMed

Brancucci, Alfredo; Lucci, Giuliana; Mazzatenta, Andrea; Tommasi, Luca

2009-04-12

Structural and functional asymmetries are present in many regions of the human brain responsible for motor control, sensory and cognitive functions and communication. Here, we focus on hemispheric asymmetries underlying the domain of social perception, broadly conceived as the analysis of information about other individuals based on acoustic, visual and chemical signals. By means of these cues the brain establishes the border between 'self' and 'other', and interprets the surrounding social world in terms of the physical and behavioural characteristics of conspecifics essential for impression formation and for creating bonds and relationships. We show that, considered from the standpoint of single- and multi-modal sensory analysis, the neural substrates of the perception of voices, faces, gestures, smells and pheromones, as evidenced by modern neuroimaging techniques, are characterized by a general pattern of right-hemispheric functional asymmetry that might benefit from other aspects of hemispheric lateralization rather than constituting a true specialization for social information.

Alpha oscillations and their impairment in affective and post-traumatic stress disorders.

PubMed

Eidelman-Rothman, Moranne; Levy, Jonathan; Feldman, Ruth

2016-09-01

Affective and anxiety disorders are debilitating conditions characterized by impairments in cognitive and social functioning. Elucidating their neural underpinnings may assist in improving diagnosis and developing targeted interventions. Neural oscillations are fundamental for brain functioning. Specifically, oscillations in the alpha frequency range (alpha rhythms) are prevalent in the awake, conscious brain and play an important role in supporting perceptual, cognitive, and social processes. We review studies utilizing various alpha power measurements to assess abnormalities in brain functioning in affective and anxiety disorders as well as obsessive compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders. Despite some inconsistencies, studies demonstrate associations between aberrant alpha patterns and these disorders both in response to specific cognitive and emotional tasks and during a resting state. We conclude by discussing methodological considerations and future directions, and underscore the need for much further research on the role of alpha functionality in social contexts. As social dysfunction accompanies most psychiatric conditions, research on alpha's involvement in social processes may provide a unique window into the neural mechanisms underlying these disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social dysfunction after pediatric traumatic brain injury: a translational perspective

PubMed Central

Ryan, Nicholas P.; Catroppa, Cathy; Godfrey, Celia; Noble-Haeusslein, Linda J.; Shultz, Sandy R.; O'Brien, Terence J.; Anderson, Vicki; Semple, Bridgette D.

2016-01-01

Social dysfunction is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI), contributing to reduced quality of life for survivors. Factors which influence the emergence, development or persistence of social deficits after injury remain poorly understood, particularly in the context of ongoing brain maturation during childhood. Aberrant social interactions have recently been modeled in adult and juvenile rodents after experimental TBI, providing an opportunity to gain new insights into the underlying neurobiology of these behaviors. Here, we review our current understanding of social dysfunction in both humans and rodent models of TBI, with a focus on brain injuries acquired during early development. Modulators of social outcomes are discussed, including injury-related and environmental risk and resilience factors. Disruption of social brain network connectivity and aberrant neuroendocrine function are identified as potential mechanisms of social impairments after pediatric TBI. Throughout, we highlight the overlap and disparities between outcome measures and findings from clinical and experimental approaches, and explore the translational potential of future research to prevent or ameliorate social dysfunction after childhood TBI. PMID:26949224

Detecting social-cognitive deficits after traumatic brain injury: An ALE meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

PubMed

Xiao, Hui; Jacobsen, Andre; Chen, Ziqian; Wang, Yang

2017-01-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in significant social dysfunction, which is represented by impairment to social-cognitive abilities (i.e. social cognition, social attention/executive function and communication). This study is aimed to explore brain networks mediating the social dysfunction after TBI and its underlying mechanisms. We performed a quantitative meta-analysis using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of social-cognitive abilities following TBI. Sixteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria resulting in a total of 190 patients with TBI and 206 controls enrolled in the ALE meta-analysis. The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were the specific regions that social cognition predominantly engaged. The cingulate gyrus, frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule were the main regions related to social attention/executive functions. Communication dysfunction, especially related to language deficits, was found to show greater activation of the temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus in TBI. The current ALE meta-analytic findings provide evidence that patients have significant social-cognitive disabilities following TBI. The relatively limited pool of literature and the varied fMRI results from published studies indicate that social-cognitive abilities following TBI is an area that would greatly benefit from further investigation.

Applying gene regulatory network logic to the evolution of social behavior.

PubMed

Baran, Nicole M; McGrath, Patrick T; Streelman, J Todd

2017-06-06

Animal behavior is ultimately the product of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for brain development and neural networks for brain function. The GRN approach has advanced the fields of genomics and development, and we identify organizational similarities between networks of genes that build the brain and networks of neurons that encode brain function. In this perspective, we engage the analogy between developmental networks and neural networks, exploring the advantages of using GRN logic to study behavior. Applying the GRN approach to the brain and behavior provides a quantitative and manipulative framework for discovery. We illustrate features of this framework using the example of social behavior and the neural circuitry of aggression.

The missing link: leadership, identity, and the social brain.

PubMed

van Vugt, Mark

2012-05-01

How the cohesion of a social network is being maintained in spite of having different layers of social interaction is an important question. I argue that the evolution of both (political) hierarchy and social identity play a crucial role in scaling up and bonding social networks. Together they are missing links in the social brain hypothesis, and further research is needed to understand the functions of leadership and social identity. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Logical Interactions in AN Expanded Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tadić, Bosiljka

Understanding the emergent behavior in many complex systems in the physical world and society requires a detailed study of dynamical phenomena occurring and mutually coupled at different scales. The brain processes underlying the social conduct of each, and the emergent social behavior of interacting individuals on a larger scale, represent striking examples of the multiscale complexity. Studies of the human brain, a paradigm of a complex functional system, are enabled by a wealth of brain imaging data that provide clues of how we comprehend space, time, languages, numbers, and differentiate normal from diseased individuals, for example. The social brain, a neural basis for social cognition, represents a dynamically organized part of the brain which is involved in the inference of thoughts, feelings, and intentions going on in the brains of others. Research in this currently unexplored area opens a new perspective on the genesis of the societal organization at different levels and the associated social values...

Evidence for social working memory from a parametric functional MRI study.

PubMed

Meyer, Meghan L; Spunt, Robert P; Berkman, Elliot T; Taylor, Shelley E; Lieberman, Matthew D

2012-02-07

Keeping track of various amounts of social cognitive information, including people's mental states, traits, and relationships, is fundamental to navigating social interactions. However, to date, no research has examined which brain regions support variable amounts of social information processing ("social load"). We developed a social working memory paradigm to examine the brain networks sensitive to social load. Two networks showed linear increases in activation as a function of increasing social load: the medial frontoparietal regions implicated in social cognition and the lateral frontoparietal system implicated in nonsocial forms of working memory. Of these networks, only load-dependent medial frontoparietal activity was associated with individual differences in social cognitive ability (trait perspective-taking). Although past studies of nonsocial load have uniformly found medial frontoparietal activity decreases with increasing task demands, the current study demonstrates these regions do support increasing mental effort when such effort engages social cognition. Implications for the etiology of clinical disorders that implicate social functioning and potential interventions are discussed.

Neuroimaging studies of social cognition in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Fujiwara, Hironobu; Yassin, Walid; Murai, Toshiya

2015-05-01

Impaired social cognition is considered a core contributor to unfavorable psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. Rather than being a unitary process, social cognition is a collection of multifaceted processes that recruit multiple brain structures, thus structural and functional neuroimaging techniques are ideal methodologies for revealing the underlying pathophysiology of impaired social cognition. Many neuroimaging studies have suggested that in addition to white-matter deficits, schizophrenia is associated with decreased gray-matter volume in multiple brain areas, especially fronto-temporal and limbic regions. However, few schizophrenia studies have examined associations between brain abnormalities and social cognitive disabilities. During the last decade, we have investigated structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, and our findings have been confirmed by us and others. By assessing different types of social cognitive abilities, structural abnormalities in multiple brain regions have been found to be associated with disabilities in social cognition, such as recognition of facial emotion, theory of mind, and empathy. These structural deficits have also been associated with alexithymia and quality of life in ways that are closely related to the social cognitive disabilities found in schizophrenia. Here, we overview a series of neuroimaging studies from our laboratory that exemplify current research into this topic, and discuss how it can be further tackled using recent advances in neuroimaging technology. © 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Pattern of brain activation during social cognitive tasks is related to social competence in siblings discordant for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Villarreal, Mirta F; Drucaroff, Lucas J; Goldschmidt, Micaela G; de Achával, Delfina; Costanzo, Elsa Y; Castro, Mariana N; Ladrón-de-Guevara, M Soledad; Busatto Filho, Geraldo; Nemeroff, Charles B; Guinjoan, Salvador M

2014-09-01

Measures of social competence are closely related to actual community functioning in patients with schizophrenia. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying competence in schizophrenia are not fully understood. We hypothesized that social deficits in schizophrenia are explained, at least in part, by abnormally lateralized patterns of brain activation in response to tasks engaging social cognition, as compared to healthy individuals. We predicted such patterns would be partly heritable, and therefore affected in patients' nonpsychotic siblings as well. We used a functional magnetic resonance image paradigm to characterize brain activation induced by theory of mind tasks, and two tests of social competence, the Test of Adaptive Behavior in Schizophrenia (TABS), and the Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA) in siblings discordant for schizophrenia and comparable healthy controls (n = 14 per group). Healthy individuals showed the strongest correlation between social competence and activation of right hemisphere structures involved in social cognitive processing, whereas in patients, the correlation pattern was lateralized to left hemisphere areas. Unaffected siblings of patients exhibited a pattern intermediate between the other groups. These results support the hypothesis that schizophrenia may be characterized by an abnormal functioning of nondominant hemisphere structures involved in the processing of socially salient information. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atypical cross talk between mentalizing and mirror neuron networks in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Fishman, Inna; Keown, Christopher L; Lincoln, Alan J; Pineda, Jaime A; Müller, Ralph-Axel

2014-07-01

Converging evidence indicates that brain abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involve atypical network connectivity, but it is unclear whether altered connectivity is especially prominent in brain networks that participate in social cognition. To investigate whether adolescents with ASD show altered functional connectivity in 2 brain networks putatively impaired in ASD and involved in social processing, theory of mind (ToM) and mirror neuron system (MNS). Cross-sectional study using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging involving 25 adolescents with ASD between the ages of 11 and 18 years and 25 typically developing adolescents matched for age, handedness, and nonverbal IQ. Statistical parametric maps testing the degree of whole-brain functional connectivity and social functioning measures. Relative to typically developing controls, participants with ASD showed a mixed pattern of both over- and underconnectivity in the ToM network, which was associated with greater social impairment. Increased connectivity in the ASD group was detected primarily between the regions of the MNS and ToM, and was correlated with sociocommunicative measures, suggesting that excessive ToM-MNS cross talk might be associated with social impairment. In a secondary analysis comparing a subset of the 15 participants with ASD with the most severe symptomology and a tightly matched subset of 15 typically developing controls, participants with ASD showed exclusive overconnectivity effects in both ToM and MNS networks, which were also associated with greater social dysfunction. Adolescents with ASD showed atypically increased functional connectivity involving the mentalizing and mirror neuron systems, largely reflecting greater cross talk between the 2. This finding is consistent with emerging evidence of reduced network segregation in ASD and challenges the prevailing theory of general long-distance underconnectivity in ASD. This excess ToM-MNS connectivity may reflect immature or aberrant developmental processes in 2 brain networks involved in understanding of others, a domain of impairment in ASD. Further, robust links with sociocommunicative symptoms of ASD implicate atypically increased ToM-MNS connectivity in social deficits observed in ASD.

The amygdala as a hub in brain networks that support social life

PubMed Central

Bickart, Kevin C.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2016-01-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that the amygdala is central to handling the demands of complex social life in primates. In this paper, we synthesize extant anatomical and functional data from rodents, monkeys, and humans to describe the topography of three partially distinct large-scale brain networks anchored in the amygdala that each support unique functions for effectively managing social interactions and maintaining social relationships. These findings provide a powerful componential framework for parsing social behavior into partially distinct neural underpinnings that differ among healthy people and disintegrate or fail to develop in neuropsychiatric populations marked by social impairment, such as autism, antisocial personality disorder, and frontotemporal dementia. PMID:25152530

SOCIAL: an integrative framework for the development of social skills.

PubMed

Beauchamp, Miriam H; Anderson, Vicki

2010-01-01

Despite significant advances in the field of social neuroscience, much remains to be understood regarding the development and maintenance of social skills across the life span. Few comprehensive models exist that integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and explain the multitude of factors that influence the emergence and expression of social skills. Here, a developmental biopsychosocial model (SOCIAL) is offered that incorporates the biological underpinnings and socio-cognitive skills that underlie social function (attention/executive function, communication, socio-emotional skills), as well as the internal and external (environmental) factors that mediate these skills. The components of the model are discussed in the context of the social brain network and are supported by evidence from 3 conditions known to affect social functioning (autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury). This integrative model is intended to provide a theoretical structure for understanding the origins of social dysfunction and the factors that influence the emergence of social skills through childhood and adolescence in both healthy and clinical populations.

Adolescent Neurobiological Susceptibility to Social Context

PubMed Central

Schriber, Roberta A.; Guyer, Amanda E.

2016-01-01

Adolescence has been characterized as a period of heightened sensitivity to social contexts. However, adolescents vary in how their social contexts affect them. According to neurobiological susceptibility models, endogenous, biological factors confer some individuals, relative to others, with greater susceptibility to environmental influences, whereby more susceptible individuals fare the best or worst of all individuals, depending on the environment they encounter (e.g., high vs. low parental warmth). Until recently, research guided by these theoretical frameworks has not incorporated direct measures of brain structure or function to index this sensitivity. Drawing on prevailing models of adolescent neurodevelopment and a growing number of neuroimaging studies on the interrelations among social contexts, the brain, and developmental outcomes, we review research that supports the idea of adolescent neurobiological susceptibility to social context for understanding why and how adolescents differ in development and well-being. We propose that adolescent development is shaped in part by brain-based individual differences in sensitivity to social contexts – be they positive or negative – such as those created through relationships with parents/caregivers and peers. As such, we recommend that future research measure brain function and structure to operationalize susceptibility factors that moderate the influence of social contexts on developmental outcomes. PMID:26773514

Family functioning, social support and depression after traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Leach, L R; Frank, R G; Bouman, D E; Farmer, J

1994-10-01

Functional outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is thought to be dependent upon effective social support and avoidance of depressive episodes. Research indicates that post-injury changes often occur in the family's functioning, hence impacting the family's ability to provide the needed social support. Social support, in turn, has been hypothesized to work as a buffer between significant life event and levels of depressive symptoms. Thus poor social support after a TBI, due to changes in family functioning, could result in depressive episodes for the person with a TBI. This paper empirically examines this question by investigating whether social support is predictive of depression in persons who have sustained a TBI. Thirty-nine persons who had sustained TBI were interviewed to assess their family functioning, perceived social support, and current depressive symptomatology. The results showed that the effective use of problem-solving and behavioural coping strategies by the family in response to TBI was significantly related to lower levels of depression in the person who sustained the TBI. However, perceived social support was not predictive of depression.

Brain connectivity dynamics during social interaction reflect social network structure

PubMed Central

Schmälzle, Ralf; Brook O’Donnell, Matthew; Garcia, Javier O.; Cascio, Christopher N.; Bayer, Joseph; Vettel, Jean M.

2017-01-01

Social ties are crucial for humans. Disruption of ties through social exclusion has a marked effect on our thoughts and feelings; however, such effects can be tempered by broader social network resources. Here, we use fMRI data acquired from 80 male adolescents to investigate how social exclusion modulates functional connectivity within and across brain networks involved in social pain and understanding the mental states of others (i.e., mentalizing). Furthermore, using objectively logged friendship network data, we examine how individual variability in brain reactivity to social exclusion relates to the density of participants’ friendship networks, an important aspect of social network structure. We find increased connectivity within a set of regions previously identified as a mentalizing system during exclusion relative to inclusion. These results are consistent across the regions of interest as well as a whole-brain analysis. Next, examining how social network characteristics are associated with task-based connectivity dynamics, we find that participants who showed greater changes in connectivity within the mentalizing system when socially excluded by peers had less dense friendship networks. This work provides insight to understand how distributed brain systems respond to social and emotional challenges and how such brain dynamics might vary based on broader social network characteristics. PMID:28465434

Executive functions and theory of mind as predictors of social adjustment in childhood traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Robinson, Kristen E; Fountain-Zaragoza, Stephanie; Dennis, Maureen; Taylor, H Gerry; Bigler, Erin D; Rubin, Kenneth; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2014-11-15

This study examined whether executive function and theory of mind mediate the effects of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social adjustment, relative to children with orthopedic injury (OI). Participants included 19 children with severe TBI, 41 children with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 57 children with OI. They completed measures of executive function, as well as cognitive, affective, and conative theory of mind. Parents provided ratings of children's social adjustment. Children with severe TBI performed more poorly than children with OI on executive function and theory of mind tasks and were rated by parents as having more behavioral symptoms and worse communication and social skills. Executive function and theory of mind were positively correlated with social skills and communication skills, and negatively correlated with behavioral symptoms. In multiple mediator models, theory of mind and executive function were not significant direct predictors of any measure of social adjustment, but mediated the association between injury and adjustment for children with severe TBI. Theory of mind was a significant independent mediator when predicting social skills, but executive function was not. TBI in children, particularly severe injury, is associated with poor social adjustment. The impact of TBI on children's social adjustment is likely mediated by its effects on executive function and theory of mind.

Executive Functions and Theory of Mind as Predictors of Social Adjustment in Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

PubMed Central

Fountain-Zaragoza, Stephanie; Dennis, Maureen; Taylor, H. Gerry; Bigler, Erin D.; Rubin, Kenneth; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2014-01-01

Abstract This study examined whether executive function and theory of mind mediate the effects of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social adjustment, relative to children with orthopedic injury (OI). Participants included 19 children with severe TBI, 41 children with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 57 children with OI. They completed measures of executive function, as well as cognitive, affective, and conative theory of mind. Parents provided ratings of children's social adjustment. Children with severe TBI performed more poorly than children with OI on executive function and theory of mind tasks and were rated by parents as having more behavioral symptoms and worse communication and social skills. Executive function and theory of mind were positively correlated with social skills and communication skills, and negatively correlated with behavioral symptoms. In multiple mediator models, theory of mind and executive function were not significant direct predictors of any measure of social adjustment, but mediated the association between injury and adjustment for children with severe TBI. Theory of mind was a significant independent mediator when predicting social skills, but executive function was not. TBI in children, particularly severe injury, is associated with poor social adjustment. The impact of TBI on children's social adjustment is likely mediated by its effects on executive function and theory of mind. PMID:25003478

Expressive Art for the Social and Community Integration of Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injuries: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goyal, Anita; Keightley, Michelle L.

2008-01-01

Adolescents with acquired brain injuries suffer from social and community withdrawal that result in isolation from their peer groups. The review highlights the evidence of effectiveness of expressive art interventions in the form of theatre for populations with difficulties in physical, emotional, cognitive, or social functioning. A systematic…

The neurobiology of social environmental risk for schizophrenia: an evolving research field.

PubMed

Akdeniz, Ceren; Tost, Heike; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas

2014-04-01

Schizophrenia is a severe and complex brain disorder that usually manifests in early adulthood and disturbs a wide range of human functions. More than 100 years after its initial description, the pathophysiology of the disorder is still incompletely understood. Many epidemiological studies strongly suggest a complex interaction between genetic and environmental risk factors for the development of the disorder. While there is considerable evidence for a social environmental component of this risk, the links between adverse social factors and altered brain function have just come into focus. In the present review, we first summarize epidemiological evidence for the significance of social environmental risk factors, outline the role of altered social stress processing in mental illness, and review the latest experimental evidence for the neural correlates of social environmental risk for schizophrenia. The studies we have discussed in this review provide a selection of the current work in the field. We suggest that many of the social environmental risk factors may impact on perceived social stress and engage neural circuits in the brain whose functional and structural architecture undergoes detrimental change in response to prolonged exposure. We conclude that multidisciplinary approaches involving various fields and thoroughly constructed longitudinal designs are necessary to capture complex structure of social environmental risks.

The Neuropeptide Tac2 Controls a Distributed Brain State Induced by Chronic Social Isolation Stress.

PubMed

Zelikowsky, Moriel; Hui, May; Karigo, Tomomi; Choe, Andrea; Yang, Bin; Blanco, Mario R; Beadle, Keith; Gradinaru, Viviana; Deverman, Benjamin E; Anderson, David J

2018-05-17

Chronic social isolation causes severe psychological effects in humans, but their neural bases remain poorly understood. 2 weeks (but not 24 hr) of social isolation stress (SIS) caused multiple behavioral changes in mice and induced brain-wide upregulation of the neuropeptide tachykinin 2 (Tac2)/neurokinin B (NkB). Systemic administration of an Nk3R antagonist prevented virtually all of the behavioral effects of chronic SIS. Conversely, enhancing NkB expression and release phenocopied SIS in group-housed mice, promoting aggression and converting stimulus-locked defensive behaviors to persistent responses. Multiplexed analysis of Tac2/NkB function in multiple brain areas revealed dissociable, region-specific requirements for both the peptide and its receptor in different SIS-induced behavioral changes. Thus, Tac2 coordinates a pleiotropic brain state caused by SIS via a distributed mode of action. These data reveal the profound effects of prolonged social isolation on brain chemistry and function and suggest potential new therapeutic applications for Nk3R antagonists. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impaired social brain network for processing dynamic facial expressions in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Sato, Wataru; Toichi, Motomi; Uono, Shota; Kochiyama, Takanori

2012-08-13

Impairment of social interaction via facial expressions represents a core clinical feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the neural correlates of this dysfunction remain unidentified. Because this dysfunction is manifested in real-life situations, we hypothesized that the observation of dynamic, compared with static, facial expressions would reveal abnormal brain functioning in individuals with ASD.We presented dynamic and static facial expressions of fear and happiness to individuals with high-functioning ASD and to age- and sex-matched typically developing controls and recorded their brain activities using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Regional analysis revealed reduced activation of several brain regions in the ASD group compared with controls in response to dynamic versus static facial expressions, including the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), fusiform gyrus, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Dynamic causal modeling analyses revealed that bi-directional effective connectivity involving the primary visual cortex-MTG-IFG circuit was enhanced in response to dynamic as compared with static facial expressions in the control group. Group comparisons revealed that all these modulatory effects were weaker in the ASD group than in the control group. These results suggest that weak activity and connectivity of the social brain network underlie the impairment in social interaction involving dynamic facial expressions in individuals with ASD.

Social in, social out: How the brain responds to social language with more social language.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Falk, Emily B; Lieberman, Matthew D

Social connection is a fundamental human need. As such, people's brains are sensitized to social cues, such as those carried by language, and to promoting social communication. The neural mechanisms of certain key building blocks in this process, such as receptivity to and reproduction of social language, however, are not known. We combined quantitative linguistic analysis and neuroimaging to connect neural activity in brain regions used to simulate the mental states of others with exposure to, and re-transmission of, social language. Our results link findings on successful idea transmission from communication science, sociolinguistics and cognitive neuroscience to prospectively predict the degree of social language that participants utilize when re-transmitting ideas as a function of 1) initial language inputs and 2) neural activity during idea exposure.

Functional connectivity associated with social networks in older adults: A resting-state fMRI study.

PubMed

Pillemer, Sarah; Holtzer, Roee; Blumen, Helena M

2017-06-01

Poor social networks and decreased levels of social support are associated with worse mood, health, and cognition in younger and older adults. Yet, we know very little about the brain substrates associated with social networks and social support, particularly in older adults. This study examined functional brain substrates associated with social networks using the Social Network Index (SNI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Resting-state fMRI data from 28 non-demented older adults were analyzed with independent components analyses. As expected, four established resting-state networks-previously linked to motor, vision, speech, and other language functions-correlated with the quality (SNI-1: total number of high-contact roles of a respondent) and quantity (SNI-2: total number of individuals in a respondent's social network) of social networks: a sensorimotor, a visual, a vestibular/insular, and a left frontoparietal network. Moreover, SNI-1 was associated with greater functional connectivity in the lateral prefrontal regions of the left frontoparietal network, while SNI-2 was associated with greater functional connectivity in the medial prefrontal regions of this network. Thus, lateral prefrontal regions may be particularly linked to the quality of social networks while medial prefrontal regions may be particularly linked to the quantity of social networks.

Social risky decision-making reveals gender differences in the TPJ: A hyperscanning study using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Zhang, Mingming; Liu, Tao; Pelowski, Matthew; Jia, Huibin; Yu, Dongchuan

2017-12-01

Previous neuroscience studies have investigated neural correlates of risky decision-making in a single-brain frame during pseudo social (predominantly non face-to-face) contexts. To fully understand the risky decision-making behavior in more natural social interactions, the present study employed a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technique to simultaneously measure pairs of participants' fronto-temporal activations in a face-to-face gambling card-game. The intra-brain results revealed that both those who identified as males and as females showed higher activations in their mPFC and in the inferior parts of the frontopolar area, as well as in the tempo-parietal junction (TPJ) in cases involving higher versus lower risk. This is consistent with previous findings suggesting importance of the mentalizing network in decision tasks. The fNIRS results of inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) also revealed that males and females showed increased inter-brain coherence in the mPFC and dlPFC. Females, however, uniquely showed increased inter-brain coherence in the left TPJ. This INS result suggests that males may primarily depend on non-social cognitive ability to make a risky decision in a social interaction, while females may use both social and non-social cognitive abilities. The implications are also discussed for general topics of human interaction and two-person neuroscience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural mechanisms of behavioral change in young adults with high-functioning autism receiving virtual reality social cognition training: A pilot study.

PubMed

Yang, Y J Daniel; Allen, Tandra; Abdullahi, Sebiha M; Pelphrey, Kevin A; Volkmar, Fred R; Chapman, Sandra B

2018-05-01

Measuring treatment efficacy in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) relies primarily on behaviors, with limited evidence as to the neural mechanisms underlying these behavioral gains. This pilot study addresses this void by investigating neural and behavioral changes in a Phase I trial in young adults with high-functioning ASD who received an evidence-based behavioral intervention, Virtual Reality-Social Cognition Training over 5 weeks for a total of 10 hr. The participants were tested pre- and post-training with a validated biological/social versus scrambled/nonsocial motion neuroimaging task, previously shown to activate regions within the social brain networks. Three significant brain-behavior changes were identified. First, the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, a hub for socio-cognitive processing, showed increased brain activation to social versus nonsocial stimuli in individuals with greater gains on a theory-of-mind measure. Second, the left inferior frontal gyrus, a region for socio-emotional processing, tracked individual gains in emotion recognition with decreased activation to social versus nonsocial stimuli. Finally, the left superior parietal lobule, a region for visual attention, showed significantly decreased activation to nonsocial versus social stimuli across all participants, where heightened attention to nonsocial contingencies has been considered a disabling aspect of ASD. This study provides, albeit preliminary, some of the first evidence of the harnessable neuroplasticity in adults with ASD through an age-appropriate intervention in brain regions tightly linked to social abilities. This pilot trial motivates future efforts to develop and test social interventions to improve behaviors and supporting brain networks in adults with ASD. Autism Res 2018, 11: 713-725. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This study addresses how the behavioral changes after treatment for ASD reflect underlying brain changes. Before and after receiving VR-SCT, young adults with high-functioning ASD passively viewed biological motion stimuli in a MRI scanner, tapping changes in the social brain network. The results reveal neuroplasticity in this age population, extending the window of opportunity for interventions to impact social competency in adults with ASD. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Asymmetries of the human social brain in the visual, auditory and chemical modalities

PubMed Central

Brancucci, Alfredo; Lucci, Giuliana; Mazzatenta, Andrea; Tommasi, Luca

2008-01-01

Structural and functional asymmetries are present in many regions of the human brain responsible for motor control, sensory and cognitive functions and communication. Here, we focus on hemispheric asymmetries underlying the domain of social perception, broadly conceived as the analysis of information about other individuals based on acoustic, visual and chemical signals. By means of these cues the brain establishes the border between ‘self’ and ‘other’, and interprets the surrounding social world in terms of the physical and behavioural characteristics of conspecifics essential for impression formation and for creating bonds and relationships. We show that, considered from the standpoint of single- and multi-modal sensory analysis, the neural substrates of the perception of voices, faces, gestures, smells and pheromones, as evidenced by modern neuroimaging techniques, are characterized by a general pattern of right-hemispheric functional asymmetry that might benefit from other aspects of hemispheric lateralization rather than constituting a true specialization for social information. PMID:19064350

A Neuropsychological Profile for Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum? Cognitive, Academic, Executive, Social, and Behavioral Functioning in School-Age Children.

PubMed

Siffredi, Vanessa; Anderson, Vicki; McIlroy, Alissandra; Wood, Amanda G; Leventer, Richard J; Spencer-Smith, Megan M

2018-05-01

Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC), characterized by developmental absence of the corpus callosum, is one of the most common congenital brain malformations. To date, there are limited data on the neuropsychological consequences of AgCC and factors that modulate different outcomes, especially in children. This study aimed to describe general intellectual, academic, executive, social and behavioral functioning in a cohort of school-aged children presenting for clinical services to a hospital and diagnosed with AgCC. The influences of age, social risk and neurological factors were examined. Twenty-eight school-aged children (8 to 17 years) diagnosed with AgCC completed tests of general intelligence (IQ) and academic functioning. Executive, social and behavioral functioning in daily life, and social risk, were estimated from parent and teacher rated questionnaires. MRI findings reviewed by a pediatric neurologist confirmed diagnosis and identified brain characteristics. Clinical details including the presence of epilepsy and diagnosed genetic condition were obtained from medical records. In our cohort, ~50% of children experienced general intellectual, academic, executive, social and/or behavioral difficulties and ~20% were functioning at a level comparable to typically developing children. Social risk was important for understanding variability in neuropsychological outcomes. Brain anomalies and complete AgCC were associated with lower mathematics performance and poorer executive functioning. This is the first comprehensive report of general intellectual, academic, executive social and behavioral consequences of AgCC in school-aged children. The findings have important clinical implications, suggesting that support to families and targeted intervention could promote positive neuropsychological functioning in children with AgCC who come to clinical attention. (JINS, 2018, 24, 445-455).

The amygdala as a hub in brain networks that support social life.

PubMed

Bickart, Kevin C; Dickerson, Bradford C; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2014-10-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that the amygdala is central to handling the demands of complex social life in primates. In this paper, we synthesize extant anatomical and functional data from rodents, monkeys, and humans to describe the topography of three partially distinct large-scale brain networks anchored in the amygdala that each support unique functions for effectively managing social interactions and maintaining social relationships. These findings provide a powerful componential framework for parsing social behavior into partially distinct neural underpinnings that differ among healthy people and disintegrate or fail to develop in neuropsychiatric populations marked by social impairment, such as autism, antisocial personality disorder, and frontotemporal dementia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information flow between interacting human brains: Identification, validation, and relationship to social expertise.

PubMed

Bilek, Edda; Ruf, Matthias; Schäfer, Axel; Akdeniz, Ceren; Calhoun, Vince D; Schmahl, Christian; Demanuele, Charmaine; Tost, Heike; Kirsch, Peter; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas

2015-04-21

Social interactions are fundamental for human behavior, but the quantification of their neural underpinnings remains challenging. Here, we used hyperscanning functional MRI (fMRI) to study information flow between brains of human dyads during real-time social interaction in a joint attention paradigm. In a hardware setup enabling immersive audiovisual interaction of subjects in linked fMRI scanners, we characterize cross-brain connectivity components that are unique to interacting individuals, identifying information flow between the sender's and receiver's temporoparietal junction. We replicate these findings in an independent sample and validate our methods by demonstrating that cross-brain connectivity relates to a key real-world measure of social behavior. Together, our findings support a central role of human-specific cortical areas in the brain dynamics of dyadic interactions and provide an approach for the noninvasive examination of the neural basis of healthy and disturbed human social behavior with minimal a priori assumptions.

Definition of Traumatic Brain Injury, Neurosurgery, Trauma Orthopedics, Neuroimaging, Psychology, and Psychiatry in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Pervez, Mubashir; Kitagawa, Ryan S; Chang, Tiffany R

2018-02-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts the normal function of the brain. This condition can adversely affect a person's quality of life with cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and physical symptoms that limit interpersonal, social, and occupational functioning. Although many systems exist, the simplest classification includes mild, moderate, and severe TBI depending on the nature of injury and the impact on the patient's clinical status. Patients with TBI require prompt evaluation and multidisciplinary management. Aside from the type and severity of the TBI, recovery is influenced by individual patient characteristics, social and environmental factors, and access to medical and rehabilitation services. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abnormal activation of the social brain during face perception in autism.

PubMed

Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Joseph, Robert M; Snyder, Josh; Tager-Flusberg, Helen

2007-05-01

ASD involves a fundamental impairment in processing social-communicative information from faces. Several recent studies have challenged earlier findings that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have no activation of the fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area, FFA) when viewing faces. In this study, we examined activation to faces in the broader network of face-processing modules that comprise what is known as the social brain. Using 3T functional resonance imaging, we measured BOLD signal changes in 10 ASD subjects and 7 healthy controls passively viewing nonemotional faces. We replicated our original findings of significant activation of face identity-processing areas (FFA and inferior occipital gyrus, IOG) in ASD. However, in addition, we identified hypoactivation in a more widely distributed network of brain areas involved in face processing [including the right amygdala, inferior frontal cortex (IFC), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and face-related somatosensory and premotor cortex]. In ASD, we found functional correlations between a subgroup of areas in the social brain that belong to the mirror neuron system (IFC, STS) and other face-processing areas. The severity of the social symptoms measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule was correlated with the right IFC cortical thickness and with functional activation in that area. When viewing faces, adults with ASD show atypical patterns of activation in regions forming the broader face-processing network and social brain, outside the core FFA and IOG regions. These patterns suggest that areas belonging to the mirror neuron system are involved in the face-processing disturbances in ASD.

Deep brain stimulation for psychiatric disorders: Is there an impact on social functioning?

PubMed Central

Saleh, Christian; Hasler, Gregor

2017-01-01

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for refractory psychiatric disorders shows promising effects on symptom-reduction, however, little is known regarding the effects of DBS on social outcome. Methods: A PubMed search based on original studies of DBS for psychiatric disorders [treatment resistant depression (TRD), Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)] was conducted. Data on social outcome following surgery were extracted and analyzed. Results: Social functioning was not a primary outcome measure in the reviewed article. The literature is incomplete and inconclusive on this variable, however from the reported data, there is some evidence that DBS has the potential to improve social functioning. Conclusions: More systematic and detailed data gathering and reporting on social outcome with longer follow-ups are needed to evaluate more exhaustively the role of DBS in refractory psychiatric disorders. PMID:28781911

A mental retardation gene, motopsin/neurotrypsin/prss12, modulates hippocampal function and social interaction

PubMed Central

Mitsui, Shinichi; Osako, Yoji; Yokoi, Fumiaki; Dang, Mai T.; Yuri, Kazunari; Li, Yuqing; Yamaguchi, Nozomi

2010-01-01

Motopsin is a mosaic serine protease secreted from neuronal cells in various brain regions including the hippocampus. The loss of motopsin function causes nonsyndromic mental retardation in humans and impairs long-term memory formation in Drosophila. To understand motopsin’s function in the mammalian brain, motopsin knockout mice were generated. Motopsin knockout mice did not have significant deficit in memory formation, as was tested using in the Morris water maze, passive avoidance, and Y-maze tests. A social recognition test showed that the motopsin knockout mice had the ability to recognize two stimulator mice, suggesting normal social memory. In a social novelty test, motopsin knockout mice spent a longer time investigating a familiar mouse than wild-type mice did. In a resident-intruder test, motopsin knockout mice showed prolonged social interaction compared to wild-type mice. Consistent with the behavioral deficit, spine density was significantly decreased on apical dendrites, but not on basal dendrites, of hippocampal pyramidal neurons of motopsin knockout mice. In contrast, pyramidal neurons at the cingulate cortex showed normal spine density. Spatial learning and social interaction induced the phosphorylation of cAMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) in hippocampal neurons of wild-type mice, whereas the phosphorylation of CREB was markedly decreased in mutant mouse brains. Our results indicate that an extracellular protease, motopsin, preferentially affects social behaviors, and modulates the functions of hippocampal neurons. PMID:20092579

A mental retardation gene, motopsin/neurotrypsin/prss12, modulates hippocampal function and social interaction.

PubMed

Mitsui, Shinichi; Osako, Yoji; Yokoi, Fumiaki; Dang, Mai T; Yuri, Kazunari; Li, Yuqing; Yamaguchi, Nozomi

2009-12-01

Motopsin is a mosaic serine protease secreted from neuronal cells in various brain regions, including the hippocampus. The loss of motopsin function causes nonsyndromic mental retardation in humans and impairs long-term memory formation in Drosophila. To understand motopsin's function in the mammalian brain, motopsin knockout (KO) mice were generated. Motopsin KO mice did not have significant deficits in memory formation, as tested using the Morris water maze, passive avoidance and Y-maze tests. A social recognition test showed that the motopsin KO mice had the ability to recognize two stimulator mice, suggesting normal social memory. In a social novelty test, motopsin KO mice spent a longer time investigating a familiar mouse than wild-type (WT) mice did. In a resident-intruder test, motopsin KO mice showed prolonged social interaction as compared with WT mice. Consistent with the behavioral deficit, spine density was significantly decreased on apical dendrites, but not on basal dendrites, of hippocampal pyramidal neurons of motopsin KO mice. In contrast, pyramidal neurons at the cingulate cortex showed normal spine density. Spatial learning and social interaction induced the phosphorylation of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB) in hippocampal neurons of WT mice, whereas the phosphorylation of CREB was markedly decreased in mutant mouse brains. Our results indicate that an extracellular protease, motopsin, preferentially affects social behaviors, and modulates the functions of hippocampal neurons.

Oxytocin enhances brain function in children with autism.

PubMed

Gordon, Ilanit; Vander Wyk, Brent C; Bennett, Randi H; Cordeaux, Cara; Lucas, Molly V; Eilbott, Jeffrey A; Zagoory-Sharon, Orna; Leckman, James F; Feldman, Ruth; Pelphrey, Kevin A

2013-12-24

Following intranasal administration of oxytocin (OT), we measured, via functional MRI, changes in brain activity during judgments of socially (Eyes) and nonsocially (Vehicles) meaningful pictures in 17 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). OT increased activity in the striatum, the middle frontal gyrus, the medial prefrontal cortex, the right orbitofrontal cortex, and the left superior temporal sulcus. In the striatum, nucleus accumbens, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and left premotor cortex, OT increased activity during social judgments and decreased activity during nonsocial judgments. Changes in salivary OT concentrations from baseline to 30 min postadministration were positively associated with increased activity in the right amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex during social vs. nonsocial judgments. OT may thus selectively have an impact on salience and hedonic evaluations of socially meaningful stimuli in children with ASD, and thereby facilitate social attunement. These findings further the development of a neurophysiological systems-level understanding of mechanisms by which OT may enhance social functioning in children with ASD.

Psychosocial Stress and Brain Function in Adolescent Psychopathology.

PubMed

Quinlan, Erin Burke; Cattrell, Anna; Jia, Tianye; Artiges, Eric; Banaschewski, Tobias; Barker, Gareth; Bokde, Arun L W; Bromberg, Uli; Büchel, Christian; Brühl, Rüdiger; Conrod, Patricia J; Desrivieres, Sylvane; Flor, Herta; Frouin, Vincent; Gallinat, Jürgen; Garavan, Hugh; Gowland, Penny; Heinz, Andreas; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Paillère Martinot, Marie-Laure; Nees, Frauke; Papadopoulos-Orfanos, Dimitri; Paus, Tomáš; Poustka, Luise; Smolka, Michael N; Vetter, Nora C; Walter, Henrik; Whelan, Robert; Glennon, Jeffrey C; Buitelaar, Jan K; Happé, Francesca; Loth, Eva; Barker, Edward D; Schumann, Gunter

2017-08-01

The authors sought to explore how conduct, hyperactivity/inattention, and emotional symptoms are associated with neural reactivity to social-emotional stimuli, and the extent to which psychosocial stress modulates these relationships. Participants were community adolescents recruited as part of the European IMAGEN study. Bilateral amygdala regions of interest were used to assess the relationship between the three symptom domains and functional MRI neural reactivity during passive viewing of dynamic angry and neutral facial expressions. Exploratory functional connectivity and whole brain multiple regression approaches were used to analyze how the symptoms and psychosocial stress relate to other brain regions. In response to the social-emotional stimuli, adolescents with high levels of conduct or hyperactivity/inattention symptoms who had also experienced a greater number of stressful life events showed hyperactivity of the amygdala and several regions across the brain. This effect was not observed with emotional symptoms. A cluster in the midcingulate was found to be common to both conduct problems and hyperactivity symptoms. Exploratory functional connectivity analyses suggested that amygdala-precuneus connectivity is associated with hyperactivity/inattention symptoms. The results link hyperactive amygdala responses and regions critical for top-down emotional processing with high levels of psychosocial stress in individuals with greater conduct and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms. This work highlights the importance of studying how psychosocial stress affects functional brain responses to social-emotional stimuli, particularly in adolescents with externalizing symptoms.

Toward a Neurology of Loneliness

PubMed Central

Cacioppo, Stephanie; Capitanio, John P.; Cacioppo, John T.

2016-01-01

Social isolation has been recognized as a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality in humans for more than a quarter century. The brain is the key organ of social connections and processes, however, and the same objective social relationship can be experienced as caring and protective or as exploitive and isolating. We review evidence that the perception of social isolation (i.e., loneliness) impacts brain and behavior and is a risk factor for broad-based morbidity and mortality. However, the causal role of loneliness on neural mechanisms and mortality is difficult to test conclusively in humans. Mechanistic animal studies provide a lens through which to evaluate the neurological effects of a member of a social species living chronically on the social perimeter. Experimental studies show that social isolation produces significant changes in brain structures and processes in adult social animals. These effects are not uniform across the brain or across species but instead are most evident in brain regions that reflect differences in the functional demands of solitary versus social living for a particular species. The human and animal literatures have developed independently, however, and significant gaps also exist. The current review underscores the importance of integrating human and animal research to delineate the mechanisms through which social relationships impact the brain, health, and well-being. PMID:25222636

Social in, social out: How the brain responds to social language with more social language

PubMed Central

O’Donnell, Matthew Brook; Falk, Emily B.; Lieberman, Matthew D.

2014-01-01

Social connection is a fundamental human need. As such, people’s brains are sensitized to social cues, such as those carried by language, and to promoting social communication. The neural mechanisms of certain key building blocks in this process, such as receptivity to and reproduction of social language, however, are not known. We combined quantitative linguistic analysis and neuroimaging to connect neural activity in brain regions used to simulate the mental states of others with exposure to, and re-transmission of, social language. Our results link findings on successful idea transmission from communication science, sociolinguistics and cognitive neuroscience to prospectively predict the degree of social language that participants utilize when re-transmitting ideas as a function of 1) initial language inputs and 2) neural activity during idea exposure. PMID:27642220

Investigating a Proposed Model of Social Competence in Children With Traumatic Brain Injuries

PubMed Central

Rubin, Kenneth H.; Dennis, Maureen; Taylor, H. Gerry; Stancin, Terry; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Vannatta, Kathryn; Bigler, Erin D.; Yeates, Keith Owen

2016-01-01

Objective The goal of the current study was to test a proposed model of social competence for children who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that both peer and teacher reports of social behavior would mediate the relation between intraindividual characteristics (e.g., executive function) and peer acceptance. Methods Participants were 52 children with TBI (M age = 10.29; M time after injury: 2.46 years). Severity of TBI ranged from complicated mild to severe. Classroom and laboratory measures were used to assess executive function, social behavior, and peer acceptance. Results Analyses revealed that peer reports of social behavior were a better mediator than teacher reports of the associations between executive function, social behaviors, and peer acceptance. Discussion The results underscore the importance of including peer reports of social behavior when developing interventions designed to improve the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of children with TBI. PMID:26374864

Social cognition and executive functioning predictors of supervisors' appraisal of interpersonal behaviour in the workplace following acquired brain injury.

PubMed

Yeates, Giles; Rowberry, Michelle; Dunne, Stephen; Goshawk, Michelle; Mahadevan, Mythreyi; Tyerman, Ruth; Salter, Mandy; Hillier, Martin; Berry, Alister; Tyerman, Andy

2016-03-23

Social cognition and executive functioning difficulties following acquired brain injury have been linked to negative employment outcomes, such as demotion and loss of vocational roles. These are very counter-intuitive and challenging difficulties for other employees and work supervisors who have little or no brain injury knowledge, whose perceptions of play a key role in their responses to these difficulties and the final outcome of such problems for vocational status. This study aimed to study the relationship between social cognition and executive functioning difficulties and the perceptions of work supervisors' appraisal of survivor interpersonal behaviour and social skills in the workplace. The performance of 73 survivors of acquired brain injury (47% TBI, 38% CVA, 15% other ABI type; 73% male; mean age 45.44 years, range 19-64 years; mean time since injury 6.36 years, range 10.5-31.33 years), currently in a vocational rehabilitation placement) on neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and social cognition was measured. Informant ratings on the Social Skills Factor subscale from the Work Personality Profile (WPP, Bolton & Roessler, 1986) were used as the primary outcome measure, a vocational functioning questionnaire assessing social and presentational aspects of workplace behaviour. The raters were non-clinical workplace informants acting in a supervisory role (supervisory placement providers and job coaches). Correlational analysis identified significant associations between the WPP and survivor goal-orientated planning and implementation, mentalising ability, recognition of positive and negative emotions, and recognition of simple sarcasm (all significant at p <  0.05). These correlates were entered into a stepwise multiple regression. The combination final of survivor mentalising ability and executive functioning explained 32 % of the variance in the WPP ratings (F (2, 52) =  12.15, p <  0.001). Certain limitations of the study withstanding, the current findings add to previous literature in highlighting the relevance of survivor executive functioning and social cognition difficulties for the perceptions and appraisal of work colleagues, consistent with other studies that have identified negative vocational outcomes associated with such neuropsychological difficulties. The implications for vocational rehabilitation are discussed.

Distributed Neural Activity Patterns during Human-to-Human Competition

PubMed Central

Piva, Matthew; Zhang, Xian; Noah, J. Adam; Chang, Steve W. C.; Hirsch, Joy

2017-01-01

Interpersonal interaction is the essence of human social behavior. However, conventional neuroimaging techniques have tended to focus on social cognition in single individuals rather than on dyads or groups. As a result, relatively little is understood about the neural events that underlie face-to-face interaction. We resolved some of the technical obstacles inherent in studying interaction using a novel imaging modality and aimed to identify neural mechanisms engaged both within and across brains in an ecologically valid instance of interpersonal competition. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was utilized to simultaneously measure hemodynamic signals representing neural activity in pairs of subjects playing poker against each other (human–human condition) or against computer opponents (human–computer condition). Previous fMRI findings concerning single subjects confirm that neural areas recruited during social cognition paradigms are individually sensitive to human–human and human–computer conditions. However, it is not known whether face-to-face interactions between opponents can extend these findings. We hypothesize distributed effects due to live processing and specific variations in across-brain coherence not observable in single-subject paradigms. Angular gyrus (AG), a component of the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) previously found to be sensitive to socially relevant cues, was selected as a seed to measure within-brain functional connectivity. Increased connectivity was confirmed between AG and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as well as a complex including the left subcentral area (SCA) and somatosensory cortex (SS) during interaction with a human opponent. These distributed findings were supported by contrast measures that indicated increased activity at the left dlPFC and frontopolar area that partially overlapped with the region showing increased functional connectivity with AG. Across-brain analyses of neural coherence between the players revealed synchrony between dlPFC and supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and SS in addition to synchrony between AG and the fusiform gyrus (FG) and SMG. These findings present the first evidence of a frontal-parietal neural complex including the TPJ, dlPFC, SCA, SS, and FG that is more active during human-to-human social cognition both within brains (functional connectivity) and across brains (across-brain coherence), supporting a model of functional integration of socially and strategically relevant information during live face-to-face competitive behaviors. PMID:29218005

Emotion Potentiated Startle in Fragile X Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballinger, Elizabeth C.; Cordeiro, Lisa; Chavez, Alyssa D.; Hagerman, Randi J.; Hessl, David

2014-01-01

Social avoidance and anxiety are prevalent in fragile X syndrome (FXS) and are potentially mediated by the amygdala, a brain region critical for social behavior. Unfortunately, functional brain resonance imaging investigation of the amygdala in FXS is limited by the difficulties experienced by intellectually impaired and anxious participants. We…

Brain Evolution: The Origins of Social and Cognitive Behaviors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacLean, Paul

1983-01-01

Argues that common anatomical and functional characteristics exist among the brains of reptiles, mammals, and man--the most significant commonality for educators being social behavior. Illustrates inherited behavior, including behavior observed in classroom and believed to be learned by placing it in context of a model "triune"…

Cognitive Task Demands and Discourse Performance after Traumatic Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byom, Lindsey; Turkstra, Lyn S.

2017-01-01

Background: Social communication problems are common in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly problems in spoken discourse. Social communication problems are thought to reflect underlying cognitive impairments. Aims: To measure the contribution of two cognitive processes, executive functioning (EF) and theory of mind (ToM), to the…

Does gender matter? Differences in social-emotional behavior among infants and toddlers before and after mild traumatic brain injury: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Kaldoja, Mari-Liis; Kolk, Anneli

2015-06-01

Traumatic brain injury is a common cause of acquired disability in childhood. While much is known about cognitive sequelae of brain trauma, gender-specific social-emotional problems in children with mild traumatic brain injury is far less understood. The aims of the study were to investigate gender differences in social-emotional behavior before and after mild traumatic brain injury. Thirty-five 3- to 65-month-old children with mild traumatic brain injury and 70 controls were assessed with Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional. Nine months later, 27 of 35 patients and 54 of 70 controls were reassessed. We found that before injury, boys had more self-regulation and autonomy difficulties and girls had problems with adaptive functioning. Nine months after injury, boys continued to struggle with self-regulation and autonomy and new difficulties with interaction had emerged, whereas in girls, problems in interaction had evolved. Even mild traumatic brain injury in early childhood disrupts normal social-emotional development having especially devastating influence on interaction skills. © The Author(s) 2014.

Listening to humans walking together activates the social brain circuitry.

PubMed

Saarela, Miiamaaria V; Hari, Riitta

2008-01-01

Human footsteps carry a vast amount of social information, which is often unconsciously noted. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we analyzed brain networks activated by footstep sounds of one or two persons walking. Listening to two persons walking together activated brain areas previously associated with affective states and social interaction, such as the subcallosal gyrus bilaterally, the right temporal pole, and the right amygdala. These areas seem to be involved in the analysis of persons' identity and complex social stimuli on the basis of auditory cues. Single footsteps activated only the biological motion area in the posterior STS region. Thus, hearing two persons walking together involved a more widespread brain network than did hearing footsteps from a single person.

White matter pathways and social cognition.

PubMed

Wang, Yin; Metoki, Athanasia; Alm, Kylie H; Olson, Ingrid R

2018-04-20

There is a growing consensus that social cognition and behavior emerge from interactions across distributed regions of the "social brain". Researchers have traditionally focused their attention on functional response properties of these gray matter networks and neglected the vital role of white matter connections in establishing such networks and their functions. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive review of prior research on structural connectivity in social neuroscience and highlight the importance of this literature in clarifying brain mechanisms of social cognition. We pay particular attention to three key social processes: face processing, embodied cognition, and theory of mind, and their respective underlying neural networks. To fully identify and characterize the anatomical architecture of these networks, we further implement probabilistic tractography on a large sample of diffusion-weighted imaging data. The combination of an in-depth literature review and the empirical investigation gives us an unprecedented, well-defined landscape of white matter pathways underlying major social brain networks. Finally, we discuss current problems in the field, outline suggestions for best practice in diffusion-imaging data collection and analysis, and offer new directions for future research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Play, ADHD, and the Construction of the Social Brain: Should the First Class Each Day Be Recess?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panksepp, Jaak

2008-01-01

Because of the role of play in the epigenetic construction of social brain functions, the young of all mammalian species need su?fficient play. For the same reason, the nature of that play becomes an important social policy issue for early childhood development and education. Animal research on this topic indicates that play can facilitate the…

Impaired social brain network for processing dynamic facial expressions in autism spectrum disorders

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Impairment of social interaction via facial expressions represents a core clinical feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the neural correlates of this dysfunction remain unidentified. Because this dysfunction is manifested in real-life situations, we hypothesized that the observation of dynamic, compared with static, facial expressions would reveal abnormal brain functioning in individuals with ASD. We presented dynamic and static facial expressions of fear and happiness to individuals with high-functioning ASD and to age- and sex-matched typically developing controls and recorded their brain activities using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Result Regional analysis revealed reduced activation of several brain regions in the ASD group compared with controls in response to dynamic versus static facial expressions, including the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), fusiform gyrus, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Dynamic causal modeling analyses revealed that bi-directional effective connectivity involving the primary visual cortex–MTG–IFG circuit was enhanced in response to dynamic as compared with static facial expressions in the control group. Group comparisons revealed that all these modulatory effects were weaker in the ASD group than in the control group. Conclusions These results suggest that weak activity and connectivity of the social brain network underlie the impairment in social interaction involving dynamic facial expressions in individuals with ASD. PMID:22889284

Perception of social synchrony induces mother-child gamma coupling in the social brain.

PubMed

Levy, Jonathan; Goldstein, Abraham; Feldman, Ruth

2017-07-01

The recent call to move from focus on one brain's functioning to two-brain communication initiated a search for mechanisms that enable two humans to coordinate brain response during social interactions. Here, we utilized the mother-child context as a developmentally salient setting to study two-brain coupling. Mothers and their 9-year-old children were videotaped at home in positive and conflictual interactions. Positive interactions were microcoded for social synchrony and conflicts for overall dialogical style. Following, mother and child underwent magnetoencephalography while observing the positive vignettes. Episodes of behavioral synchrony, compared to non-synchrony, increased gamma-band power in the superior temporal sulcus (STS), hub of social cognition, mirroring and mentalizing. This neural pattern was coupled between mother and child. Brain-to-brain coordination was anchored in behavioral synchrony; only during episodes of behavioral synchrony, but not during non-synchronous moments, mother's and child's STS gamma power was coupled. Importantly, neural synchrony was not found during observation of unfamiliar mother-child interaction Maternal empathic/dialogical conflict style predicted mothers' STS activations whereas child withdrawal predicted attenuated STS response in both partners. Results define a novel neural marker for brain-to-brain synchrony, highlight the role of rapid bottom-up oscillatory mechanisms for neural coupling and indicate that behavior-based processes may drive synchrony between two brains during social interactions. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Mindfulness Meditation Training and Self-Referential Processing in Social Anxiety Disorder: Behavioral and Neural Effects

PubMed Central

Goldin, Philippe; Ramel, Wiveka; Gross, James

2014-01-01

This study examined the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the brain-behavior mechanisms of self-referential processing in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Sixteen patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while encoding self-referential, valence, and orthographic features of social trait adjectives. Post-MBSR, 14 patients completed neuroimaging. Compared to baseline, MBSR completers showed (a) increased self-esteem and decreased anxiety, (b) increased positive and decreased negative self-endorsement, (c) increased activity in a brain network related to attention regulation, and (d) reduced activity in brain systems implicated in conceptual-linguistic self-view. MBSR-related changes in maladaptive or distorted social self-view in adults diagnosed with SAD may be related to modulation of conceptual self-processing and attention regulation. Self-referential processing may serve as a functional biobehavioral target to measure the effects of mindfulness training. PMID:25568592

Neuroimaging social emotional processing in women: fMRI study of script-driven imagery

PubMed Central

Dozois, David J. A.; Neufeld, Richard W. J.; Densmore, Maria; Stevens, Todd K.; Lanius, Ruth A.

2011-01-01

Emotion theory emphasizes the distinction between social vs non-social emotional-processing (E-P) although few functional neuroimaging studies have examined whether the neural systems that mediate social vs non-social E-P are similar or distinct. The present fMRI study of script-driven imagery in 20 women demonstrates that social E-P, independent of valence, more strongly recruits brain regions involved in social- and self-referential processing, specifically the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate/precuneus, bilateral temporal poles, bilateral temporoparietal junction and right amygdala. Functional response within brain regions involved in E-P was also significantly more pronounced during negatively relative to positively valenced E-P. Finally, the effect for social E-P was increased for positive relative to negative stimuli in many of these same regions. Future research directions for social and affective neuroscience are discussed. PMID:20525743

Intranasal oxytocin modulates neural functional connectivity during human social interaction.

PubMed

Rilling, James K; Chen, Xiangchuan; Chen, Xu; Haroon, Ebrahim

2018-02-10

Oxytocin (OT) modulates social behavior in primates and many other vertebrate species. Studies in non-primate animals have demonstrated that, in addition to influencing activity within individual brain areas, OT influences functional connectivity across networks of areas involved in social behavior. Previously, we used fMRI to image brain function in human subjects during a dyadic social interaction task following administration of either intranasal oxytocin (INOT) or placebo, and analyzed the data with a standard general linear model. Here, we conduct an extensive re-analysis of these data to explore how OT modulates functional connectivity across a neural network that animal studies implicate in social behavior. OT induced widespread increases in functional connectivity in response to positive social interactions among men and widespread decreases in functional connectivity in response to negative social interactions among women. Nucleus basalis of Meynert, an important regulator of selective attention and motivation with a particularly high density of OT receptors, had the largest number of OT-modulated connections. Regions known to receive mesolimbic dopamine projections such as the nucleus accumbens and lateral septum were also hubs for OT effects on functional connectivity. Our results suggest that the neural mechanism by which OT influences primate social cognition may include changes in patterns of activity across neural networks that regulate social behavior in other animals. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Oxytocin, brain physiology, and functional connectivity: a review of intranasal oxytocin fMRI studies.

PubMed

Bethlehem, Richard A I; van Honk, Jack; Auyeung, Bonnie; Baron-Cohen, Simon

2013-07-01

In recent years the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has become one of the most studied peptides of the human neuroendocrine system. Research has shown widespread behavioural effects and numerous potential therapeutic benefits. However, little is known about how OT triggers these effects in the brain. Here, we discuss some of the physiological properties of OT in the human brain including the long half-life of neuropeptides, the diffuse projections of OT throughout the brain and interactions with other systems such as the dopaminergic system. These properties indicate that OT acts without clear spatial and temporal specificity. Therefore, it is likely to have widespread effects on the brain's intrinsic functioning. Additionally, we review studies that have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) concurrently with OT administration. These studies reveal a specific set of 'social' brain regions that are likely to be the strongest targets for OT's potential to influence human behaviour. On the basis of the fMRI literature and the physiological properties of the neuropeptide, we argue that OT has the potential to not only modulate activity in a set of specific brain regions, but also the functional connectivity between these regions. In light of the increasing knowledge of the behavioural effects of OT in humans, studies of the effects of OT administration on brain function can contribute to our understanding of the neural networks in the social brain. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alterations in Brain Activation During Cognitive Empathy Are Related to Social Functioning in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Smith, Matthew J.; Schroeder, Matthew P.; Abram, Samantha V.; Goldman, Morris B.; Parrish, Todd B.; Wang, Xue; Derntl, Birgit; Habel, Ute; Decety, Jean; Reilly, James L.; Csernansky, John G.; Breiter, Hans C.

2015-01-01

Impaired cognitive empathy (ie, understanding the emotional experiences of others) is associated with poor social functioning in schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether the neural activity underlying cognitive empathy relates to social functioning. This study examined the neural activation supporting cognitive empathy performance and whether empathy-related activation during correctly performed trials was associated with self-reported cognitive empathy and measures of social functioning. Thirty schizophrenia outpatients and 24 controls completed a cognitive empathy paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neural activity corresponding to correct judgments about the expected emotional expression in a social interaction was compared in schizophrenia subjects relative to control subjects. Participants also completed a self-report measure of empathy and 2 social functioning measures (social competence and social attainment). Schizophrenia subjects demonstrated significantly lower accuracy in task performance and were characterized by hypoactivation in empathy-related frontal, temporal, and parietal regions as well as hyperactivation in occipital regions compared with control subjects during accurate cognitive empathy trials. A cluster with peak activation in the supplementary motor area (SMA) extending to the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) correlated with social competence and social attainment in schizophrenia subjects but not controls. These results suggest that neural correlates of cognitive empathy may be promising targets for interventions aiming to improve social functioning and that brain activation in the SMA/aMCC region could be used as a biomarker for monitoring treatment response. PMID:24583906

Teaching about the U.S. Constitution through Metaphor: Government as a Machine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Randy K.

1988-01-01

Briefly reviews theories of brain hemisphere functions and draws implications for social studies instruction. Maintains that the metaphor aids the development of understanding because it connects right and left brain functions. Provides a learning activity based on the metaphor of the U.S. government functioning as a machine. (BSR)

Environmental enrichment strengthens corticocortical interactions and reduces amyloid-β oligomers in aged mice

PubMed Central

Mainardi, Marco; Di Garbo, Angelo; Caleo, Matteo; Berardi, Nicoletta; Sale, Alessandro; Maffei, Lamberto

2013-01-01

Brain aging is characterized by global changes which are thought to underlie age-related cognitive decline. These include variations in brain activity and the progressive increase in the concentration of soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers, directly impairing synaptic function and plasticity even in the absence of any neurodegenerative disorder. Considering the high social impact of the decline in brain performance associated to aging, there is an urgent need to better understand how it can be prevented or contrasted. Lifestyle components, such as social interaction, motor exercise and cognitive activity, are thought to modulate brain physiology and its susceptibility to age-related pathologies. However, the precise functional and molecular factors that respond to environmental stimuli and might mediate their protective action again pathological aging still need to be clearly identified. To address this issue, we exploited environmental enrichment (EE), a reliable model for studying the effect of experience on the brain based on the enhancement of cognitive, social and motor experience, in aged wild-type mice. We analyzed the functional consequences of EE on aged brain physiology by performing in vivo local field potential (LFP) recordings with chronic implants. In addition, we also investigated changes induced by EE on molecular markers of neural plasticity and on the levels of soluble Aβ oligomers. We report that EE induced profound changes in the activity of the primary visual and auditory cortices and in their functional interaction. At the molecular level, EE enhanced plasticity by an upward shift of the cortical excitation/inhibition balance. In addition, EE reduced brain Aβ oligomers and increased synthesis of the Aβ-degrading enzyme neprilysin. Our findings strengthen the potential of EE procedures as a non-invasive paradigm for counteracting brain aging processes. PMID:24478697

Environmental enrichment strengthens corticocortical interactions and reduces amyloid-β oligomers in aged mice.

PubMed

Mainardi, Marco; Di Garbo, Angelo; Caleo, Matteo; Berardi, Nicoletta; Sale, Alessandro; Maffei, Lamberto

2014-01-01

Brain aging is characterized by global changes which are thought to underlie age-related cognitive decline. These include variations in brain activity and the progressive increase in the concentration of soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers, directly impairing synaptic function and plasticity even in the absence of any neurodegenerative disorder. Considering the high social impact of the decline in brain performance associated to aging, there is an urgent need to better understand how it can be prevented or contrasted. Lifestyle components, such as social interaction, motor exercise and cognitive activity, are thought to modulate brain physiology and its susceptibility to age-related pathologies. However, the precise functional and molecular factors that respond to environmental stimuli and might mediate their protective action again pathological aging still need to be clearly identified. To address this issue, we exploited environmental enrichment (EE), a reliable model for studying the effect of experience on the brain based on the enhancement of cognitive, social and motor experience, in aged wild-type mice. We analyzed the functional consequences of EE on aged brain physiology by performing in vivo local field potential (LFP) recordings with chronic implants. In addition, we also investigated changes induced by EE on molecular markers of neural plasticity and on the levels of soluble Aβ oligomers. We report that EE induced profound changes in the activity of the primary visual and auditory cortices and in their functional interaction. At the molecular level, EE enhanced plasticity by an upward shift of the cortical excitation/inhibition balance. In addition, EE reduced brain Aβ oligomers and increased synthesis of the Aβ-degrading enzyme neprilysin. Our findings strengthen the potential of EE procedures as a non-invasive paradigm for counteracting brain aging processes.

Impact of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder on the Neural Bases of Emotional Reactivity to and Regulation of Social Evaluation

PubMed Central

Goldin, Philippe R.; Ziv, Michal; Jazaieri, Hooria; Weeks, Justin; Heimberg, Richard G.; Gross, James J.

2014-01-01

We examined whether Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) would modify self-reported negative emotion and functional magnetic resonance imaging brain responses when reacting to and reappraising social evaluation, and tested whether changes would predict treatment outcome in 59 patients with SAD who completed CBT or waitlist groups. For reactivity, compared to waitlist, CBT resulted in (a) increased brain responses in right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and middle occipital gyrus (MOG) when reacting to social praise, and (b) increases in right SFG and IPL and decreases in left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) when reacting to social criticism. For reappraisal, compared to waitlist, CBT resulted in greater (c) reductions in self-reported negative emotion, and (d) increases in brain responses in right SFG and MOG, and decreases in left pSTG. A linear regression found that after controlling for CBT-induced changes in reactivity and reappraisal negative emotion ratings and brain changes in reactivity to praise and criticism, reappraisal of criticism brain response changes predicted 24% of the unique variance in CBT-related reductions in social anxiety. Thus, one mechanism underlying CBT for SAD may be changes in reappraisal-related brain responses to social criticism. PMID:25193002

Perception of social synchrony induces mother–child gamma coupling in the social brain

PubMed Central

Levy, Jonathan; Goldstein, Abraham

2017-01-01

Abstract The recent call to move from focus on one brain’s functioning to two-brain communication initiated a search for mechanisms that enable two humans to coordinate brain response during social interactions. Here, we utilized the mother–child context as a developmentally salient setting to study two-brain coupling. Mothers and their 9-year-old children were videotaped at home in positive and conflictual interactions. Positive interactions were microcoded for social synchrony and conflicts for overall dialogical style. Following, mother and child underwent magnetoencephalography while observing the positive vignettes. Episodes of behavioral synchrony, compared to non-synchrony, increased gamma-band power in the superior temporal sulcus (STS), hub of social cognition, mirroring and mentalizing. This neural pattern was coupled between mother and child. Brain-to-brain coordination was anchored in behavioral synchrony; only during episodes of behavioral synchrony, but not during non-synchronous moments, mother’s and child's STS gamma power was coupled. Importantly, neural synchrony was not found during observation of unfamiliar mother-child interaction Maternal empathic/dialogical conflict style predicted mothers’ STS activations whereas child withdrawal predicted attenuated STS response in both partners. Results define a novel neural marker for brain-to-brain synchrony, highlight the role of rapid bottom-up oscillatory mechanisms for neural coupling and indicate that behavior-based processes may drive synchrony between two brains during social interactions. PMID:28402479

Multivariate assessment of subjective and objective measures of social and family satisfaction in Veterans with history of traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Orff, Henry J; Hays, Chelsea C; Twamley, Elizabeth W

2016-01-01

Approximately 20% of current-era Veterans have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can result in persistent postconcussive symptoms. These symptoms may disrupt family and social functioning. We explored psychiatric, postconcussive, and cognitive factors as correlates of objective functioning and subjective satisfaction in family and social relationships. At entry into a supported employment study, 50 unemployed Veterans with a history of mild to moderate TBI and current cognitive impairment were administered baseline assessments. Multivariate stepwise regressions determined that higher levels of depressive symptomatology were strongly associated with less frequent social contact, as well as lower subjective satisfaction with family and social relationships. Worse verbal fluency predicted less frequent social contact, whereas worse processing speed and switching predicted higher levels of subjective satisfaction with family relationships. The pattern of results remained similar when examining those Veterans with only mild TBI. Depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning may impact Veterans' social contact and satisfaction with family and social relationships. Evidence-based interventions addressing depression and cognition may therefore aid in improving community reintegration and satisfaction with social and family relationships.

Social hierarchy modulates neural responses of empathy for pain

PubMed Central

Feng, Chunliang; Li, Zhihao; Feng, Xue; Wang, Lili; Tian, Tengxiang

2016-01-01

Recent evidence indicates that empathic responses to others’ pain are modulated by various situational and individual factors. However, few studies have examined how empathy and underlying brain functions are modulated by social hierarchies, which permeate human society with an enormous impact on social behavior and cognition. In this study, social hierarchies were established based on incidental skill in a perceptual task in which all participants were mediumly ranked. Afterwards, participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while watching inferior-status or superior-status targets receiving painful or non-painful stimulation. The results revealed that painful stimulation applied to inferior-status targets induced higher activations in the anterior insula (AI) and anterior medial cingulate cortex (aMCC), whereas these empathic brain activations were significantly attenuated in response to superior-status targets’ pain. Further, this neural empathic bias to inferior-status targets was accompanied by stronger functional couplings of AI with brain regions important in emotional processing (i.e. thalamus) and cognitive control (i.e. middle frontal gyrus). Our findings indicate that emotional sharing with others’ pain is shaped by relative positions in a social hierarchy such that underlying empathic neural responses are biased toward inferior-status compared with superior-status individuals. PMID:26516169

[Brain imaging in autism spectrum disorders. A review].

PubMed

Dziobek, I; Köhne, S

2011-05-01

In the past two decades, an increasing number of functional and structural brain imaging studies has provided insights into the neurobiological basis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This article summarizes pertinent functional brain imaging studies addressing the neuronal underpinnings of ASD symptomatology (impairments in social interaction and communication, repetitive and restrictive behavior) and associated neuropsychological deficits (theory of mind, executive functions, central coherence), complemented by relevant structural imaging findings. The results of these studies show that although cognitive functions in ASD are generally mediated by the same brain regions as in typically developed individuals, the degree and especially the patterns of brain activation often differ. Therefore, a hypothesis of aberrant network connectivity has increasingly been favored over one of focal brain dysfunction.

The coordination dynamics of social neuromarkers.

PubMed

Tognoli, Emmanuelle; Kelso, J A Scott

2015-01-01

Social behavior is a complex integrative function that entails many aspects of the brain's sensory, cognitive, emotional and movement capacities. Its neural processes are seldom simultaneous but occur according to precise spatiotemporal choreographies, manifested by the coordination of their oscillations within and between brains. Methods with good temporal resolution can help to identify so-called "neuromarkers" of social function and aid in disentangling the dynamical architecture of social brains. In our ongoing research, we have used dual-electroencephalography (EEG) to study neuromarker dynamics during synchronic interactions in which pairs of subjects coordinate behavior spontaneously and intentionally (social coordination) and during diachronic transactions that require subjects to perceive or behave in turn (action observation, delayed imitation). In this paper, after outlining our dynamical approach to the neurophysiological basis of social behavior, we examine commonalities and differences in the neuromarkers that are recruited for both kinds of tasks. We find the neuromarker landscape to be task-specific: synchronic paradigms of social coordination reveal medial mu, alpha and the phi complex as contributing neuromarkers. Diachronic tasks recruit alpha as well, in addition to lateral mu rhythms and the newly discovered nu and kappa rhythms whose functional significance is still unclear. Social coordination, observation, and delayed imitation share commonality of context: in each of our experiments, subjects exchanged information through visual perception and moved in similar ways. Nonetheless, there was little overlap between their neuromarkers, a result that hints strongly of task-specific neural mechanisms for social behavior. The only neuromarker that transcended both synchronic and diachronic social behaviors was the ubiquitous alpha rhythm, which appears to be a key signature of visually-mediated social behaviors. The present paper is both an entry point and a challenge: much work remains to determine the nature and scope of recruitment of other neuromarkers, and to create theoretical models of their within- and between-brain dynamics during social interaction.

Adolescent Condom Use and Connectivity in the Social-Planful Brain.

PubMed

Caouette, Justin D; Hudson, Karen A; Bryan, Angela D; Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W

2018-05-14

To reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy among adolescents, it is critical to investigate brain connectivity that may underlie adolescents' sexual health decision-making in the context of intercourse. This study explored relationships between adolescent condom use frequency and the brain's resting-state functional connectivity, to identify differential patterns of social-affective processing among sexually active youth. In this study, N = 143 sexually active adolescents (68.5% male, Mage = 16.2 years, SD = 1.06) completed magnetic resonance imaging and reported past 3-month frequency of condom use. Resting-state connectivity, seeded on a social region of the brain, the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), was assessed to determine its correspondence with protected sex (condom use). Condom use was associated with positive connectivity between the left TPJ and bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). This relationship was observed in adolescent males only; no connectivity differences were observed with adolescent females. This study reflects functional synchrony between nodes of the "social brain," including the TPJ, and a region of planfulness and control, the IFG. The relationship between these regions suggests that adolescents who have more coordinated systems of communication between these critical components of the brain are more likely to be successful in planning and engaging in safer sexual decision-making; for young males, this differentiated more frequent from less frequent condom use. In turn, interventions designed to reduce STIs/human immunodeficiency virus may benefit from targeting social-planfulness dimensions to help youth implement safer sex behaviors.

Surviving a brain tumor in childhood: impact on family functioning in adolescence.

PubMed

Beek, Laura; Schappin, Renske; Gooskens, Rob; Huisman, Jaap; Jongmans, Marian

2015-01-01

To investigate family functioning in families with an adolescent survivor of a pediatric brain tumor. We explored whether adolescent, parent, disease and treatment factors, and demographic characteristics predicted family functioning. In this cross-sectional study, 45 adolescent survivors of pediatric brain tumors and their parents completed self-report questionnaires on family functioning, and emotional and behavioral problems. Parents completed questionnaires on their own mental health and the burden of treatment. Compared to general population norms, adolescents reported higher levels of cohesion, expressiveness, organization, control, family values and social orientation, and absence of conflict. Parents reported higher levels of social orientation and lower levels of conflict and family values. The only predictor of family functioning was current age of the adolescent; older adolescents reported less family conflict. No relation was found between family functioning and emotional and behavioral problems, disease- or treatment factors, and demographic variables. In this exploratory study, adolescent survivors of a pediatric brain tumor characterized their families by higher levels of cohesion, expressiveness, organization, control, family values and social orientation, and absence of conflict, which differs from the more normative view held by their parents. A higher adolescent age predicted less family conflict, which may indicate deviant autonomy development in these survivors. Because of limitations of this study, conclusions should be considered provisional; they provide clues for further research in this area. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Environmental Complexity and Central Nervous System Development and Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Mark H.

2004-01-01

Environmental restriction or deprivation early in development can induce social, cognitive, affective, and motor abnormalities similar to those associated with autism. Conversely, rearing animals in larger, more complex environments results in enhanced brain structure and function, including increased brain weight, dendritic branching,…

Information flow between interacting human brains: Identification, validation, and relationship to social expertise

PubMed Central

Bilek, Edda; Ruf, Matthias; Schäfer, Axel; Akdeniz, Ceren; Calhoun, Vince D.; Schmahl, Christian; Demanuele, Charmaine; Tost, Heike; Kirsch, Peter; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas

2015-01-01

Social interactions are fundamental for human behavior, but the quantification of their neural underpinnings remains challenging. Here, we used hyperscanning functional MRI (fMRI) to study information flow between brains of human dyads during real-time social interaction in a joint attention paradigm. In a hardware setup enabling immersive audiovisual interaction of subjects in linked fMRI scanners, we characterize cross-brain connectivity components that are unique to interacting individuals, identifying information flow between the sender’s and receiver’s temporoparietal junction. We replicate these findings in an independent sample and validate our methods by demonstrating that cross-brain connectivity relates to a key real-world measure of social behavior. Together, our findings support a central role of human-specific cortical areas in the brain dynamics of dyadic interactions and provide an approach for the noninvasive examination of the neural basis of healthy and disturbed human social behavior with minimal a priori assumptions. PMID:25848050

What can music tell us about social interaction?

PubMed

D'Ausilio, Alessandro; Novembre, Giacomo; Fadiga, Luciano; Keller, Peter E

2015-03-01

Humans are innately social creatures, but cognitive neuroscience, that has traditionally focused on individual brains, is only now beginning to investigate social cognition through realistic interpersonal interaction. Music provides an ideal domain for doing so because it offers a promising solution for balancing the trade-off between ecological validity and experimental control when testing cognitive and brain functions. Musical ensembles constitute a microcosm that provides a platform for parametrically modeling the complexity of human social interaction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The structural and functional brain networks that support human social networks.

PubMed

Noonan, M P; Mars, R B; Sallet, J; Dunbar, R I M; Fellows, L K

2018-02-20

Social skills rely on a specific set of cognitive processes, raising the possibility that individual differences in social networks are related to differences in specific brain structural and functional networks. Here, we tested this hypothesis with multimodality neuroimaging. With diffusion MRI (DMRI), we showed that differences in structural integrity of particular white matter (WM) tracts, including cingulum bundle, extreme capsule and arcuate fasciculus were associated with an individual's social network size (SNS). A voxel-based morphology analysis demonstrated correlations between gray matter (GM) volume and SNS in limbic and temporal lobe regions. These structural changes co-occured with functional network differences. As a function of SNS, dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showed altered resting-state functional connectivity with the default mode network (DMN). Finally, we integrated these three complementary methods, interrogating the relationship between social GM clusters and specific WM and resting-state networks (RSNs). Probabilistic tractography seeded in these GM nodes utilized the SNS-related WM pathways. Further, the spatial and functional overlap between the social GM clusters and the DMN was significantly closer than other control RSNs. These integrative analyses provide convergent evidence of the role of specific circuits in SNS, likely supporting the adaptive behavior necessary for success in extensive social environments. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social Status in Monkeys: Effects of Social Confrontation on Brain Function and Cocaine Self-Administration.

PubMed

Gould, Robert W; Czoty, Paul W; Porrino, Linda J; Nader, Michael A

2017-04-01

Individual differences in response to social stress and environmental enrichment may contribute to variability in response to behavioral and pharmacological treatments for drug addiction. In monkeys, social status influences the reinforcing effects of cocaine and the effects of some drugs on cocaine self-administration. In this study, we used male cynomolgus macaques (n=15) living in established social groups to examine the effects of social confrontation on the reinforcing effects of cocaine using a food-drug choice procedure. On the test day, a dominant or subordinate monkey was removed from his homecage and placed into another social pen; 30 min later he was studied in a cocaine-food choice paradigm. For the group, following social confrontation, sensitivity to cocaine reinforcement was significantly greater in subordinate monkeys compared with dominant animals. Examining individual-subject data revealed that for the majority of monkeys (9/15), serving as an intruder in another social group affected cocaine self-administration and these effects were dependent on the social rank of the monkey. For subordinate monkeys, sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of cocaine increased while sensitivity decreased in dominant monkeys. To investigate potential mechanisms mediating these effects, brain glucose metabolism was studied in a subset of monkeys (n=8) using [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([ 18 F]FDG) with positron emission tomography. Dominant and subordinate monkeys displayed distinctly different patterns of brain glucose metabolism in their homecage, including areas associated with vigilance and stress/anxiety, respectively, and during social confrontation. These data demonstrate that, depending on an individual's social status, the same social experience can have divergent effects on brain function and cocaine self-administration. These phenotypic differences in response to social conditions support a personalized treatment approach to cocaine addiction.

Social Status in Monkeys: Effects of Social Confrontation on Brain Function and Cocaine Self-Administration

PubMed Central

Gould, Robert W; Czoty, Paul W; Porrino, Linda J; Nader, Michael A

2017-01-01

Individual differences in response to social stress and environmental enrichment may contribute to variability in response to behavioral and pharmacological treatments for drug addiction. In monkeys, social status influences the reinforcing effects of cocaine and the effects of some drugs on cocaine self-administration. In this study, we used male cynomolgus macaques (n=15) living in established social groups to examine the effects of social confrontation on the reinforcing effects of cocaine using a food-drug choice procedure. On the test day, a dominant or subordinate monkey was removed from his homecage and placed into another social pen; 30 min later he was studied in a cocaine-food choice paradigm. For the group, following social confrontation, sensitivity to cocaine reinforcement was significantly greater in subordinate monkeys compared with dominant animals. Examining individual-subject data revealed that for the majority of monkeys (9/15), serving as an intruder in another social group affected cocaine self-administration and these effects were dependent on the social rank of the monkey. For subordinate monkeys, sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of cocaine increased while sensitivity decreased in dominant monkeys. To investigate potential mechanisms mediating these effects, brain glucose metabolism was studied in a subset of monkeys (n=8) using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) with positron emission tomography. Dominant and subordinate monkeys displayed distinctly different patterns of brain glucose metabolism in their homecage, including areas associated with vigilance and stress/anxiety, respectively, and during social confrontation. These data demonstrate that, depending on an individual’s social status, the same social experience can have divergent effects on brain function and cocaine self-administration. These phenotypic differences in response to social conditions support a personalized treatment approach to cocaine addiction. PMID:28025974

Autism, the superior temporal sulcus and social perception.

PubMed

Zilbovicius, Monica; Meresse, Isabelle; Chabane, Nadia; Brunelle, Francis; Samson, Yves; Boddaert, Nathalie

2006-07-01

The most common clinical sign of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is social interaction impairment, which is associated with communication deficits and stereotyped behaviors. Based on recent brain-imaging results, our hypothesis is that abnormalities in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) are highly implicated in ASD. STS abnormalities are characterized by decreased gray matter concentration, rest hypoperfusion and abnormal activation during social tasks. STS anatomical and functional anomalies occurring during early brain development could constitute the first step in the cascade of neural dysfunction underlying ASD. We will focus this review on the STS, which has been highly implicated in social cognition. We will review recent data on the contribution of the STS to normal social cognition and review brain-imaging data implicating this area in ASD. This review is part of the INMED/TINS special issue "Nature and nurture in brain development and neurological disorders", based on presentations at the annual INMED/TINS symposium (http://inmednet.com/).

Reduced heart rate variability in chronic severe traumatic brain injury: Association with impaired emotional and social functioning, and potential for treatment using biofeedback.

PubMed

Francis, Heather M; Fisher, Alana; Rushby, Jacqueline A; McDonald, Skye

2016-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) may provide an index of capacity for social functioning and may be remediated by HRV biofeedback. Given reductions in HRV are found following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the present study aimed to determine whether lower HRV in TBI is associated with social function, and whether HRV biofeedback might be a useful remediation technique in this population. Resting state HRV and measures of social and emotional processing were collected in 30 individuals with severe TBI (3-34 years post-injury) and 30 controls. This was followed by a single session of HRV biofeedback. HRV was positively associated with social cognition and empathy, and negatively associated with alexithymia for the TBI group. Both TBI and control groups showed significantly increased HRV on both time-domain (i.e., SDNN, rMSSD) and frequency-domain measures (LF, HF, LF:HF ratio) during biofeedback compared to baseline. These results suggest that decreased HRV is linked to social and emotional function following severe TBI, and may be a novel target for therapy using HRV biofeedback techniques.

Network analysis reveals disrupted functional brain circuitry in drug-naive social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Yang, Xun; Liu, Jin; Meng, Yajing; Xia, Mingrui; Cui, Zaixu; Wu, Xi; Hu, Xinyu; Zhang, Wei; Gong, Gaolang; Gong, Qiyong; Sweeney, John A; He, Yong

2017-12-07

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common and disabling condition characterized by excessive fear and avoidance of public scrutiny. Psychoradiology studies have suggested that the emotional and behavior deficits in SAD are associated with abnormalities in regional brain function and functional connectivity. However, little is known about whether intrinsic functional brain networks in patients with SAD are topologically disrupted. Here, we collected resting-state fMRI data from 33 drug-naive patients with SAD and 32 healthy controls (HC), constructed functional networks with 34 predefined regions based on previous meta-analytic research with task-based fMRI in SAD, and performed network-based statistic and graph-theory analyses. The network-based statistic analysis revealed a single connected abnormal circuitry including the frontolimbic circuit (termed the "fear circuit", including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex and insula) and posterior cingulate/occipital areas supporting perceptual processing. In this single altered network, patients with SAD had higher functional connectivity than HC. At the global level, graph-theory analysis revealed that the patients exhibited a lower normalized characteristic path length than HC, which suggests a disorder-related shift of network topology toward randomized configurations. SAD-related deficits in nodal degree, efficiency and participation coefficient were detected in the parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, insula and the calcarine sulcus. Aspects of abnormal connectivity were associated with anxiety symptoms. These findings highlight the aberrant topological organization of functional brain network organization in SAD, which provides insights into the neural mechanisms underlying excessive fear and avoidance of social interactions in patients with debilitating social anxiety. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Neural circuits underlying mother’s voice perception predict social communication abilities in children

PubMed Central

Abrams, Daniel A.; Chen, Tianwen; Odriozola, Paola; Cheng, Katherine M.; Baker, Amanda E.; Padmanabhan, Aarthi; Ryali, Srikanth; Kochalka, John; Feinstein, Carl; Menon, Vinod

2016-01-01

The human voice is a critical social cue, and listeners are extremely sensitive to the voices in their environment. One of the most salient voices in a child’s life is mother's voice: Infants discriminate their mother’s voice from the first days of life, and this stimulus is associated with guiding emotional and social function during development. Little is known regarding the functional circuits that are selectively engaged in children by biologically salient voices such as mother’s voice or whether this brain activity is related to children’s social communication abilities. We used functional MRI to measure brain activity in 24 healthy children (mean age, 10.2 y) while they attended to brief (<1 s) nonsense words produced by their biological mother and two female control voices and explored relationships between speech-evoked neural activity and social function. Compared to female control voices, mother’s voice elicited greater activity in primary auditory regions in the midbrain and cortex; voice-selective superior temporal sulcus (STS); the amygdala, which is crucial for processing of affect; nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex of the reward circuit; anterior insula and cingulate of the salience network; and a subregion of fusiform gyrus associated with face perception. The strength of brain connectivity between voice-selective STS and reward, affective, salience, memory, and face-processing regions during mother’s voice perception predicted social communication skills. Our findings provide a novel neurobiological template for investigation of typical social development as well as clinical disorders, such as autism, in which perception of biologically and socially salient voices may be impaired. PMID:27185915

Neural circuits underlying mother's voice perception predict social communication abilities in children.

PubMed

Abrams, Daniel A; Chen, Tianwen; Odriozola, Paola; Cheng, Katherine M; Baker, Amanda E; Padmanabhan, Aarthi; Ryali, Srikanth; Kochalka, John; Feinstein, Carl; Menon, Vinod

2016-05-31

The human voice is a critical social cue, and listeners are extremely sensitive to the voices in their environment. One of the most salient voices in a child's life is mother's voice: Infants discriminate their mother's voice from the first days of life, and this stimulus is associated with guiding emotional and social function during development. Little is known regarding the functional circuits that are selectively engaged in children by biologically salient voices such as mother's voice or whether this brain activity is related to children's social communication abilities. We used functional MRI to measure brain activity in 24 healthy children (mean age, 10.2 y) while they attended to brief (<1 s) nonsense words produced by their biological mother and two female control voices and explored relationships between speech-evoked neural activity and social function. Compared to female control voices, mother's voice elicited greater activity in primary auditory regions in the midbrain and cortex; voice-selective superior temporal sulcus (STS); the amygdala, which is crucial for processing of affect; nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex of the reward circuit; anterior insula and cingulate of the salience network; and a subregion of fusiform gyrus associated with face perception. The strength of brain connectivity between voice-selective STS and reward, affective, salience, memory, and face-processing regions during mother's voice perception predicted social communication skills. Our findings provide a novel neurobiological template for investigation of typical social development as well as clinical disorders, such as autism, in which perception of biologically and socially salient voices may be impaired.

Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism.

PubMed

Bird, Geoffrey; Silani, Giorgia; Brindley, Rachel; White, Sarah; Frith, Uta; Singer, Tania

2010-05-01

Difficulties in social cognition are well recognized in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (henceforth 'autism'). Here we focus on one crucial aspect of social cognition: the ability to empathize with the feelings of another. In contrast to theory of mind, a capacity that has often been observed to be impaired in individuals with autism, much less is known about the capacity of individuals with autism for affect sharing. Based on previous data suggesting that empathy deficits in autism are a function of interoceptive deficits related to alexithymia, we aimed to investigate empathic brain responses in autistic and control participants with high and low degrees of alexithymia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured empathic brain responses with an 'empathy for pain' paradigm assessing empathic brain responses in a real-life social setting that does not rely on attention to, or recognition of, facial affect cues. Confirming previous findings, empathic brain responses to the suffering of others were associated with increased activation in left anterior insula and the strength of this signal was predictive of the degree of alexithymia in both autistic and control groups but did not vary as a function of group. Importantly, there was no difference in the degree of empathy between autistic and control groups after accounting for alexithymia. These findings suggest that empathy deficits observed in autism may be due to the large comorbidity between alexithymic traits and autism, rather than representing a necessary feature of the social impairments in autism.

Emotion Recognition following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Longitudinal Analysis of Emotional Prosody and Facial Emotion Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Adam T.; Hanten, Gerri R.; Li, Xiaoqi; Orsten, Kimberley D.; Levin, Harvey S.

2010-01-01

Children with closed head injuries often experience significant and persistent disruptions in their social and behavioral functioning. Studies with adults sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) indicate deficits in emotion recognition and suggest that these difficulties may underlie some of the social deficits. The goal of the current study was…

Alcoholism and the Family. Unit for Child Studies Selected Papers Number 34.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, G. C.

Alcoholism, and particularly alcoholism in the family, is an unsolved medical and social problem. Addictive drinking results in several social and psychological problems, most of which are caused by a change in brain function. Excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages operates as a stressor and produces alkaloids at the base of the brain that are…

Sharing self-related information is associated with intrinsic functional connectivity of cortical midline brain regions

PubMed Central

Meshi, Dar; Mamerow, Loreen; Kirilina, Evgeniya; Morawetz, Carmen; Margulies, Daniel S.; Heekeren, Hauke R.

2016-01-01

Human beings are social animals and they vary in the degree to which they share information about themselves with others. Although brain networks involved in self-related cognition have been identified, especially via the use of resting-state experiments, the neural circuitry underlying individual differences in the sharing of self-related information is currently unknown. Therefore, we investigated the intrinsic functional organization of the brain with respect to participants’ degree of self-related information sharing using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging and self-reported social media use. We conducted seed-based correlation analyses in cortical midline regions previously shown in meta-analyses to be involved in self-referential cognition: the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), central precuneus (CP), and caudal anterior cingulate cortex (CACC). We examined whether and how functional connectivity between these regions and the rest of the brain was associated with participants’ degree of self-related information sharing. Analyses revealed associations between the MPFC and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), as well as the CP with the right DLPFC, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and left anterior temporal pole. These findings extend our present knowledge of functional brain connectivity, specifically demonstrating how the brain’s intrinsic functional organization relates to individual differences in the sharing of self-related information. PMID:26948055

Cerebro, lenguaje y comunicacion (Brain, Language, and Communication).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strejilevich, Leonardo

1978-01-01

Discusses the relationship between the brain, language, and communication in the following sections: (1) combining words, (2) language as a system, (3) language as a function of the brain, (4) the science of communication, and (5) language as a social institution. (NCR)

Social cognition and the brain: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Van Overwalle, Frank

2009-03-01

This meta-analysis explores the location and function of brain areas involved in social cognition, or the capacity to understand people's behavioral intentions, social beliefs, and personality traits. On the basis of over 200 fMRI studies, it tests alternative theoretical proposals that attempt to explain how several brain areas process information relevant for social cognition. The results suggest that inferring temporary states such as goals, intentions, and desires of other people-even when they are false and unjust from our own perspective--strongly engages the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). Inferring more enduring dispositions of others and the self, or interpersonal norms and scripts, engages the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), although temporal states can also activate the mPFC. Other candidate tasks reflecting general-purpose brain processes that may potentially subserve social cognition are briefly reviewed, such as sequence learning, causality detection, emotion processing, and executive functioning (action monitoring, attention, dual task monitoring, episodic memory retrieval), but none of them overlaps uniquely with the regions activated during social cognition. Hence, it appears that social cognition particularly engages the TPJ and mPFC regions. The available evidence is consistent with the role of a TPJ-related mirror system for inferring temporary goals and intentions at a relatively perceptual level of representation, and the mPFC as a module that integrates social information across time and allows reflection and representation of traits and norms, and presumably also of intentionality, at a more abstract cognitive level.

Non-verbal emotion communication training induces specific changes in brain function and structure

PubMed Central

Kreifelts, Benjamin; Jacob, Heike; Brück, Carolin; Erb, Michael; Ethofer, Thomas; Wildgruber, Dirk

2013-01-01

The perception of emotional cues from voice and face is essential for social interaction. However, this process is altered in various psychiatric conditions along with impaired social functioning. Emotion communication trainings have been demonstrated to improve social interaction in healthy individuals and to reduce emotional communication deficits in psychiatric patients. Here, we investigated the impact of a non-verbal emotion communication training (NECT) on cerebral activation and brain structure in a controlled and combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and voxel-based morphometry study. NECT-specific reductions in brain activity occurred in a distributed set of brain regions including face and voice processing regions as well as emotion processing- and motor-related regions presumably reflecting training-induced familiarization with the evaluation of face/voice stimuli. Training-induced changes in non-verbal emotion sensitivity at the behavioral level and the respective cerebral activation patterns were correlated in the face-selective cortical areas in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus for valence ratings and in the temporal pole, lateral prefrontal cortex and midbrain/thalamus for the response times. A NECT-induced increase in gray matter (GM) volume was observed in the fusiform face area. Thus, NECT induces both functional and structural plasticity in the face processing system as well as functional plasticity in the emotion perception and evaluation system. We propose that functional alterations are presumably related to changes in sensory tuning in the decoding of emotional expressions. Taken together, these findings highlight that the present experimental design may serve as a valuable tool to investigate the altered behavioral and neuronal processing of emotional cues in psychiatric disorders as well as the impact of therapeutic interventions on brain function and structure. PMID:24146641

Non-verbal emotion communication training induces specific changes in brain function and structure.

PubMed

Kreifelts, Benjamin; Jacob, Heike; Brück, Carolin; Erb, Michael; Ethofer, Thomas; Wildgruber, Dirk

2013-01-01

The perception of emotional cues from voice and face is essential for social interaction. However, this process is altered in various psychiatric conditions along with impaired social functioning. Emotion communication trainings have been demonstrated to improve social interaction in healthy individuals and to reduce emotional communication deficits in psychiatric patients. Here, we investigated the impact of a non-verbal emotion communication training (NECT) on cerebral activation and brain structure in a controlled and combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and voxel-based morphometry study. NECT-specific reductions in brain activity occurred in a distributed set of brain regions including face and voice processing regions as well as emotion processing- and motor-related regions presumably reflecting training-induced familiarization with the evaluation of face/voice stimuli. Training-induced changes in non-verbal emotion sensitivity at the behavioral level and the respective cerebral activation patterns were correlated in the face-selective cortical areas in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus for valence ratings and in the temporal pole, lateral prefrontal cortex and midbrain/thalamus for the response times. A NECT-induced increase in gray matter (GM) volume was observed in the fusiform face area. Thus, NECT induces both functional and structural plasticity in the face processing system as well as functional plasticity in the emotion perception and evaluation system. We propose that functional alterations are presumably related to changes in sensory tuning in the decoding of emotional expressions. Taken together, these findings highlight that the present experimental design may serve as a valuable tool to investigate the altered behavioral and neuronal processing of emotional cues in psychiatric disorders as well as the impact of therapeutic interventions on brain function and structure.

Reduced functional connectivity within and between ‘social’ resting state networks in autism spectrum conditions

PubMed Central

Stoyanova, Raliza S.; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Calder, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) have difficulties in social interaction and communication, which is reflected in hypoactivation of brain regions engaged in social processing, such as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), amygdala and insula. Resting state studies in ASC have identified reduced connectivity of the default mode network (DMN), which includes mPFC, suggesting that other resting state networks incorporating ‘social’ brain regions may also be abnormal. Using Seed-based Connectivity and Group Independent Component Analysis (ICA) approaches, we looked at resting functional connectivity in ASC between specific ‘social’ brain regions, as well as within and between whole networks incorporating these regions. We found reduced functional connectivity within the DMN in individuals with ASC, using both ICA and seed-based approaches. Two further networks identified by ICA, the salience network, incorporating the insula and a medial temporal lobe network, incorporating the amygdala, showed reduced inter-network connectivity. This was underlined by reduced seed-based connectivity between the insula and amygdala. The results demonstrate significantly reduced functional connectivity within and between resting state networks incorporating ‘social’ brain regions. This reduced connectivity may result in difficulties in communication and integration of information across these networks, which could contribute to the impaired processing of social signals in ASC. PMID:22563003

Alterations in brain activation during cognitive empathy are related to social functioning in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Smith, Matthew J; Schroeder, Matthew P; Abram, Samantha V; Goldman, Morris B; Parrish, Todd B; Wang, Xue; Derntl, Birgit; Habel, Ute; Decety, Jean; Reilly, James L; Csernansky, John G; Breiter, Hans C

2015-01-01

Impaired cognitive empathy (ie, understanding the emotional experiences of others) is associated with poor social functioning in schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether the neural activity underlying cognitive empathy relates to social functioning. This study examined the neural activation supporting cognitive empathy performance and whether empathy-related activation during correctly performed trials was associated with self-reported cognitive empathy and measures of social functioning. Thirty schizophrenia outpatients and 24 controls completed a cognitive empathy paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neural activity corresponding to correct judgments about the expected emotional expression in a social interaction was compared in schizophrenia subjects relative to control subjects. Participants also completed a self-report measure of empathy and 2 social functioning measures (social competence and social attainment). Schizophrenia subjects demonstrated significantly lower accuracy in task performance and were characterized by hypoactivation in empathy-related frontal, temporal, and parietal regions as well as hyperactivation in occipital regions compared with control subjects during accurate cognitive empathy trials. A cluster with peak activation in the supplementary motor area (SMA) extending to the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) correlated with social competence and social attainment in schizophrenia subjects but not controls. These results suggest that neural correlates of cognitive empathy may be promising targets for interventions aiming to improve social functioning and that brain activation in the SMA/aMCC region could be used as a biomarker for monitoring treatment response. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Developments: Implications for Clinical Assessment in Traumatic Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ciccia, Angela Hein; Meulenbroek, Peter; Turkstra, Lyn S.

2009-01-01

Adolescence is a time of significant physical, social, and emotional developments, accompanied by changes in cognitive and language skills. Underlying these are significant developments in brain structures and functions including changes in cortical and subcortical gray matter and white matter tracts. Among the brain regions that develop during…

The Mechanosensory Lateral Line System Mediates Activation of Socially-Relevant Brain Regions during Territorial Interactions.

PubMed

Butler, Julie M; Maruska, Karen P

2016-01-01

Animals use multiple senses during social interactions and must integrate this information in the brain to make context-dependent behavioral decisions. For fishes, the largest group of vertebrates, the mechanosensory lateral line system provides crucial hydrodynamic information for survival behaviors, but little is known about its function in social communication. Our previous work using the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, provided the first empirical evidence that fish use their lateral line system to detect water movements from conspecifics for mutual assessment and behavioral choices. It is unknown, however, where this socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the brain to elicit adaptive behavioral responses. To examine for the first time in any fish species which brain regions receive contextual mechanosensory information, we quantified expression of the immediate early gene cfos as a proxy for neural activation in sensory and socially-relevant brain nuclei from lateral line-intact and -ablated fish following territorial interactions. Our in situ hybridization results indicate that in addition to known lateral line processing regions, socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the ATn (ventromedial hypothalamus homolog), Dl (putative hippocampus homolog), and Vs (putative medial extended amygdala homolog). In addition, we identified a functional network within the conserved social decision-making network (SDMN) whose co-activity corresponds with mutual assessment and behavioral choice. Lateral line-intact and -ablated fight winners had different patterns of co-activity of these function networks and group identity could be determined solely by activation patterns, indicating the importance of mechanoreception to co-activity of the SDMN. These data show for the first time that the mechanosensory lateral line system provides relevant information to conserved decision-making centers of the brain during territorial interactions to mediate crucial behavioral choices such as whether or not to engage in a territorial fight. To our knowledge, this is also the first evidence of a subpallial nucleus receiving mechanosensory input, providing important information for elucidating homologies of decision-making circuits across vertebrates. These novel results highlight the importance of considering multimodal sensory input in mediating context-appropriate behaviors that will provide broad insights on the evolution of decision-making networks across all taxa.

Functional mechanisms involved in the internal inhibition of taboo words.

PubMed

Severens, Els; Kühn, Simone; Hartsuiker, Robert J; Brass, Marcel

2012-04-01

The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain processes associated with the inhibition of socially undesirable speech. It is tested whether the inhibition of undesirable speech is solely related to brain areas associated with classical stop signal tasks or rather also involves brain areas involved in endogenous self-control. During the experiment, subjects had to do a SLIP task, which was designed to elicit taboo or neutral spoonerisms. Here we show that the internal inhibition of taboo words activates the right inferior frontal gyrus, an area that has previously been associated with externally triggered inhibition. This finding strongly suggests that external social rules become internalized and act as a stop-signal.

Functional mechanisms involved in the internal inhibition of taboo words

PubMed Central

Kühn, Simone; Hartsuiker, Robert J.; Brass, Marcel

2012-01-01

The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain processes associated with the inhibition of socially undesirable speech. It is tested whether the inhibition of undesirable speech is solely related to brain areas associated with classical stop signal tasks or rather also involves brain areas involved in endogenous self-control. During the experiment, subjects had to do a SLIP task, which was designed to elicit taboo or neutral spoonerisms. Here we show that the internal inhibition of taboo words activates the right inferior frontal gyrus, an area that has previously been associated with externally triggered inhibition. This finding strongly suggests that external social rules become internalized and act as a stop-signal. PMID:21609970

Neurobehavioral assessment of maternal odor in developing rat pups: implications for social buffering.

PubMed

Al Aïn, Syrina; Perry, Rosemarie E; Nuñez, Bestina; Kayser, Kassandra; Hochman, Chase; Brehman, Elizabeth; LaComb, Miranda; Wilson, Donald A; Sullivan, Regina M

2017-02-01

Social support can attenuate the behavioral and stress hormone response to threat, a phenomenon called social buffering. The mother's social buffering of the infant is one of the more robust examples; yet we understand little about the neurobiology. Using a rodent model, we explore the neurobiology of social buffering by assessing neural processing of the maternal odor, a major cue controlling social buffering in rat pups. We used pups before (postnatal day (PN) 7) and after (PN14, PN23) the functional emergence of social buffering. Pups were injected with 14 C 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) and presented with the maternal odor, a control preferred odor incapable of social buffering (acetophenone), or no odor. Brains were removed, processed for autoradiography and brain areas identified as important in adult social buffering were assessed, including the amygdala basolateral complex (Basolateral Amygdala [BLA]), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Results suggest dramatic changes in the processing of maternal odor. PN7 pups show mPFC and ACC activation, although PN14 pups showed no activation of the mPFC, ACC, or BLA. All brain areas assessed were recruited by PN23. Additional analysis suggests substantial changes in functional connectivity across development. Together, these results imply complex nonlinear transitions in the neurobiology of social buffering in early life that may provide insight into the changing role of the mother in supporting social buffering.

Social Behavior in Medulloblastoma: Functional Analysis of Tumor-Supporting Glial Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

AD_________________ Award Number: W81XWH-11-1-0557 TITLE: Social behavior in medulloblastoma ...1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Social behavior in medulloblastoma : functional analysis of tumor-supporting glial cells 5a...Unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Granule neuron precursors

Introduction: Links between Social Interaction and Executive Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Charlie; Carpendale, Jeremy I. M.

2009-01-01

The term executive function is used increasingly within developmental psychology and is often taken to refer to unfolding brain processes. We trace the origins of research on executive function to show that the link with social interaction has a long history. We suggest that a recent frenzy of research exploring methods for studying individual…

Uncovering the Social Deficits in the Autistic Brain. A Source-Based Morphometric Study

PubMed Central

Grecucci, Alessandro; Rubicondo, Danilo; Siugzdaite, Roma; Surian, Luca; Job, Remo

2016-01-01

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that mainly affects social interaction and communication. Evidence from behavioral and functional MRI studies supports the hypothesis that dysfunctional mechanisms involving social brain structures play a major role in autistic symptomatology. However, the investigation of anatomical abnormalities in the brain of people with autism has led to inconsistent results. We investigated whether specific brain regions, known to display functional abnormalities in autism, may exhibit mutual and peculiar patterns of covariance in their gray-matter concentrations. We analyzed structural MRI images of 32 young men affected by autistic disorder (AD) and 50 healthy controls. Controls were matched for sex, age, handedness. IQ scores were also monitored to avoid confounding. A multivariate Source-Based Morphometry (SBM) was applied for the first time on AD and controls to detect maximally independent networks of gray matter. Group comparison revealed a gray-matter source that showed differences in AD compared to controls. This network includes broad temporal regions involved in social cognition and high-level visual processing, but also motor and executive areas of the frontal lobe. Notably, we found that gray matter differences, as reflected by SBM, significantly correlated with social and behavioral deficits displayed by AD individuals and encoded via the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule scores. These findings provide support for current hypotheses about the neural basis of atypical social and mental states information processing in autism. PMID:27630538

Adaptive functioning following pediatric traumatic brain injury: Relationship to executive function and processing speed.

PubMed

Shultz, Emily L; Hoskinson, Kristen R; Keim, Madelaine C; Dennis, Maureen; Taylor, H Gerry; Bigler, Erin D; Rubin, Kenneth H; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2016-10-01

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) may affect children's ability to perform everyday tasks (i.e., adaptive functioning). Guided by the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) model, we explored the association between TBI and adaptive functioning at increasing levels of specificity (global, AAIDD domains, and subscales). We also examined the contributions of executive function and processing speed as mediators of TBI's effects on adaptive functioning. Children (ages 8-13) with severe TBI (STBI; n = 19), mild-moderate TBI (MTBI; n = 50), or orthopedic injury (OI; n = 60) completed measures of executive function (TEA-Ch) and processing speed (WISC-IV) an average of 2.7 years postinjury (SD = 1.2; range: 1-5.3). Parents rated children's adaptive functioning (ABAS-II, BASC-2, CASP). STBI had lower global adaptive functioning (η2 = .04-.08) than the MTBI and OI groups, which typically did not differ. Deficits in the STBI group were particularly evident in the social domain, with specific deficits in social participation, leisure, and social adjustment (η2 = .06-.09). Jointly, executive function and processing speed were mediators of STBI's effects on global adaptive functioning and in conceptual and social domains. In the STBI group, executive function mediated social functioning, and processing speed mediated social participation. Children with STBI experience deficits in adaptive functioning, particularly in social adjustment, with less pronounced deficits in conceptual and practical skills. Executive function and processing speed may mediate the effects of STBI on adaptive functioning. Targeting adaptive functioning and associated cognitive deficits for intervention may enhance quality of life for pediatric TBI survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Adaptive functioning following pediatric traumatic brain injury: Relationship to executive function and processing speed

PubMed Central

Shultz, Emily; Robinson, Kristen E.; Keim, Madelaine; Dennis, Maureen; Taylor, H. Gerry; Bigler, Erin D.; Rubin, Kenneth H.; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2016-01-01

Objective Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) may affect children’s ability to perform everyday tasks (i.e., adaptive functioning). Guided by the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) model, we explored the association between TBI and adaptive functioning at increasing levels of specificity (global, AAIDD domains, and subscales). We also examined the contributions of executive function and processing speed as mediators of TBI’s effects on adaptive functioning. Method Children (ages 8–13) with severe TBI (STBI; n=19), mild-moderate TBI (MTBI; n=50), or orthopedic injury (OI; n=60) completed measures of executive function (TEA-Ch) and processing speed (WISC-IV) an average of 2.7 years post-injury (SD = 1.2; range: 1–5.3). Parents rated children’s adaptive functioning (ABAS-II, BASC-2, CASP). Results STBI had lower global adaptive functioning (η2 = .04–.08) than the MTBI and OI groups, which typically did not differ. Deficits in the STBI group were particularly evident in the social domain, with specific deficits in social participation, leisure, and social adjustment (η2 = .06–.09). Jointly, executive function and processing speed were mediators of STBI’s effects on global adaptive functioning and in conceptual and social domains. In the STBI group, executive function mediated social functioning, and processing speed mediated social participation. Conclusions Children with STBI experience deficits in adaptive functioning, particularly in social adjustment, with less pronounced deficits in conceptual and practical skills. Executive function and processing speed may mediate the effects of STBI on adaptive functioning. Targeting adaptive functioning and associated cognitive deficits for intervention may enhance quality of life for pediatric TBI survivors. PMID:27182708

Bilingual experience and resting-state brain connectivity: Impacts of L2 age of acquisition and social diversity of language use on control networks.

PubMed

Gullifer, Jason W; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Whitford, Veronica; Pivneva, Irina; Baum, Shari; Klein, Denise; Titone, Debra

2018-05-01

We investigated the independent contributions of second language (L2) age of acquisition (AoA) and social diversity of language use on intrinsic brain organization using seed-based resting-state functional connectivity among highly proficient French-English bilinguals. There were two key findings. First, earlier L2 AoA related to greater interhemispheric functional connectivity between homologous frontal brain regions, and to decreased reliance on proactive executive control in an AX-Continuous Performance Task completed outside the scanner. Second, greater diversity in social language use in daily life related to greater connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and the putamen bilaterally, and to increased reliance on proactive control in the same task. These findings suggest that early vs. late L2 AoA links to a specialized neural framework for processing two languages that may engage a specific type of executive control (e.g., reactive control). In contrast, higher vs. lower degrees of diversity in social language use link to a broadly distributed set of brain networks implicated in proactive control and context monitoring. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social hierarchy modulates neural responses of empathy for pain.

PubMed

Feng, Chunliang; Li, Zhihao; Feng, Xue; Wang, Lili; Tian, Tengxiang; Luo, Yue-Jia

2016-03-01

Recent evidence indicates that empathic responses to others' pain are modulated by various situational and individual factors. However, few studies have examined how empathy and underlying brain functions are modulated by social hierarchies, which permeate human society with an enormous impact on social behavior and cognition. In this study, social hierarchies were established based on incidental skill in a perceptual task in which all participants were mediumly ranked. Afterwards, participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while watching inferior-status or superior-status targets receiving painful or non-painful stimulation. The results revealed that painful stimulation applied to inferior-status targets induced higher activations in the anterior insula (AI) and anterior medial cingulate cortex (aMCC), whereas these empathic brain activations were significantly attenuated in response to superior-status targets' pain. Further, this neural empathic bias to inferior-status targets was accompanied by stronger functional couplings of AI with brain regions important in emotional processing (i.e. thalamus) and cognitive control (i.e. middle frontal gyrus). Our findings indicate that emotional sharing with others' pain is shaped by relative positions in a social hierarchy such that underlying empathic neural responses are biased toward inferior-status compared with superior-status individuals. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mind the fish: zebrafish as a model in cognitive social neuroscience

PubMed Central

Oliveira, Rui F.

2013-01-01

Understanding how the brain implements social behavior on one hand, and how social processes feedback on the brain to promote fine-tuning of behavioral output according to changes in the social environment is a major challenge in contemporary neuroscience. A critical step to take this challenge successfully is finding the appropriate level of analysis when relating social to biological phenomena. Given the enormous complexity of both the neural networks of the brain and social systems, the use of a cognitive level of analysis (in an information processing perspective) is proposed here as an explanatory interface between brain and behavior. A conceptual framework for a cognitive approach to comparative social neuroscience is proposed, consisting of the following steps to be taken across different species with varying social systems: (1) identification of the functional building blocks of social skills; (2) identification of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the previously identified social skills; and (3) mapping these information processing mechanisms onto the brain. Teleost fish are presented here as a group of choice to develop this approach, given the diversity of social systems present in closely related species that allows for planned phylogenetic comparisons, and the availability of neurogenetic tools that allows the visualization and manipulation of selected neural circuits in model species such as the zebrafish. Finally, the state-of-the art of zebrafish social cognition and of the tools available to map social cognitive abilities to neural circuits in zebrafish are reviewed. PMID:23964204

Mind the fish: zebrafish as a model in cognitive social neuroscience.

PubMed

Oliveira, Rui F

2013-01-01

Understanding how the brain implements social behavior on one hand, and how social processes feedback on the brain to promote fine-tuning of behavioral output according to changes in the social environment is a major challenge in contemporary neuroscience. A critical step to take this challenge successfully is finding the appropriate level of analysis when relating social to biological phenomena. Given the enormous complexity of both the neural networks of the brain and social systems, the use of a cognitive level of analysis (in an information processing perspective) is proposed here as an explanatory interface between brain and behavior. A conceptual framework for a cognitive approach to comparative social neuroscience is proposed, consisting of the following steps to be taken across different species with varying social systems: (1) identification of the functional building blocks of social skills; (2) identification of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the previously identified social skills; and (3) mapping these information processing mechanisms onto the brain. Teleost fish are presented here as a group of choice to develop this approach, given the diversity of social systems present in closely related species that allows for planned phylogenetic comparisons, and the availability of neurogenetic tools that allows the visualization and manipulation of selected neural circuits in model species such as the zebrafish. Finally, the state-of-the art of zebrafish social cognition and of the tools available to map social cognitive abilities to neural circuits in zebrafish are reviewed.

A Child's Brain: Part III.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sylwester, Robert

1982-01-01

This article, the last in a series about the human brain, focuses on the skin and its importance for the brain. Physiological functions of the skin, concerning touch and body protection, are explained, as well as its social role in nonverbal communication. Suggestions for student discussions are given. (PP)

The Neural Basis of Social Influence in a Dictator Decision.

PubMed

Wei, Zhenyu; Zhao, Zhiying; Zheng, Yong

2017-01-01

Humans tend to reduce inequitable distributions. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that inequitable decisions are related to brain regions that associated with negative emotion and signaling conflict. In the highly complex human social environment, our opinions and behaviors can be affected by social information. In current study, we used a modified dictator game to investigate the effect of social influence on making an equitable decision. We found that the choices of participants in present task was influenced by the choices of peers. However, participants' decisions were influenced by equitable rather than inequitable group choices. fMRI results showed that brain regions that related to norm violation and social conflict were related to the inequitable social influence. The neural responses in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, rostral cingulate zone, and insula predicted subsequent conforming behavior in individuals. Additionally, psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed that the interconnectivity between the dorsal striatum and insula was elevated in advantageous inequity influence versus no-social influence conditions. We found decreased functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and insula, supplementary motor area, posterior cingulate gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in the disadvantageous inequity influence versus no-social influence conditions. This suggests that a disadvantageous inequity influence may decrease the functional connectivity among brain regions that are related to reward processes. Thus, the neural mechanisms underlying social influence in an equitable decision may be similar to those implicated in social norms and reward processing.

Impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder on the neural bases of emotional reactivity to and regulation of social evaluation.

PubMed

Goldin, Philippe R; Ziv, Michal; Jazaieri, Hooria; Weeks, Justin; Heimberg, Richard G; Gross, James J

2014-11-01

We examined whether Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) would modify self-reported negative emotion and functional magnetic resonance imaging brain responses when reacting to and reappraising social evaluation, and tested whether changes would predict treatment outcome in 59 patients with SAD who completed CBT or waitlist groups. For reactivity, compared to waitlist, CBT resulted in (a) increased brain responses in right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and middle occipital gyrus (MOG) when reacting to social praise, and (b) increases in right SFG and IPL and decreases in left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) when reacting to social criticism. For reappraisal, compared to waitlist, CBT resulted in greater (c) reductions in self-reported negative emotion, and (d) increases in brain responses in right SFG and MOG, and decreases in left pSTG. A linear regression found that after controlling for CBT-induced changes in reactivity and reappraisal negative emotion ratings and brain changes in reactivity to praise and criticism, reappraisal of criticism brain response changes predicted 24% of the unique variance in CBT-related reductions in social anxiety. Thus, one mechanism underlying CBT for SAD may be changes in reappraisal-related brain responses to social criticism. NCT00380731. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00380731?term=social+anxiety+cognitive+behavioral+therapy+Stanford&rank=1. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain structure correlates of urban upbringing, an environmental risk factor for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Haddad, Leila; Schäfer, Axel; Streit, Fabian; Lederbogen, Florian; Grimm, Oliver; Wüst, Stefan; Deuschle, Michael; Kirsch, Peter; Tost, Heike; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas

2015-01-01

Urban upbringing has consistently been associated with schizophrenia, but which specific environmental exposures are reflected by this epidemiological observation and how they impact the developing brain to increase risk is largely unknown. On the basis of prior observations of abnormal functional brain processing of social stress in urban-born humans and preclinical evidence for enduring structural brain effects of early social stress, we investigated a possible morphological correlate of urban upbringing in human brain. In a sample of 110 healthy subjects studied with voxel-based morphometry, we detected a strong inverse correlation between early-life urbanicity and gray matter (GM) volume in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, Brodmann area 9). Furthermore, we detected a negative correlation of early-life urbanicity and GM volumes in the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) in men only. Previous work has linked volume reductions in the DLPFC to the exposure to psychosocial stress, including stressful experiences in early life. Besides, anatomical and functional alterations of this region have been identified in schizophrenic patients and high-risk populations. Previous data linking functional hyperactivation of pACC during social stress to urban upbringing suggest that the present interaction effect in brain structure might contribute to an increased risk for schizophrenia in males brought up in cities. Taken together, our results suggest a neural mechanism by which early-life urbanicity could impact brain architecture to increase the risk for schizophrenia. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A quantitative and qualitative review of the effects of testosterone on the function and structure of the human social-emotional brain.

PubMed

Heany, Sarah J; van Honk, Jack; Stein, Dan J; Brooks, Samantha J

2016-02-01

Social and affective research in humans is increasingly using functional and structural neuroimaging techniques to aid the understanding of how hormones, such as testosterone, modulate a wide range of psychological processes. We conducted a meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of testosterone administration, and of fMRI studies that measured endogenous levels of the hormone, in relation to social and affective stimuli. Furthermore, we conducted a review of structural MRI i.e. voxel based morphometry (VBM) studies which considered brain volume in relation to testosterone levels in adults and in children. In the included testosterone administration fMRI studies, which consisted of female samples only, bilateral amygdala/parahippocampal regions as well as the right caudate were significantly activated by social-affective stimuli in the testosterone condition. In the studies considering endogenous levels of testosterone, stimuli-invoked activations relating to testosterone levels were noted in the bilateral amygdala/parahippocampal regions and the brainstem. When the endogenous testosterone studies were split by sex, the significant activation of the brain stem was seen in the female samples only. Significant stimuli-invoked deactivations relating to endogenous testosterone levels were also seen in the right and left amygdala/parahippocampal regions studies. The findings of the VBM studies were less consistent. In adults larger volumes in the limbic and temporal regions were associated with higher endogenous testosterone. In children, boys showed a positive correlation between testosterone and brain volume in many regions, including the amygdala, as well as global grey matter volume, while girls showed a neutral or negative association between testosterone levels and many brain volumes. In conclusion, amygdalar and parahippocampal regions appear to be key target regions for the acute actions of testosterone in response to social and affective stimuli, while neurodevelopmentally the volumes of a broader network of brain structures are associated with testosterone levels in a sexually dimorphic manner.

The relationship between puberty and social emotion processing

PubMed Central

Goddings, Anne-Lise; Burnett Heyes, Stephanie; Bird, Geoffrey; Viner, Russell M; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2012-01-01

The social brain undergoes developmental change during adolescence, and pubertal hormones are hypothesized to contribute to this development. We used fMRI to explore how pubertal indicators (salivary concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and DHEA; pubertal stage; menarcheal status) relate to brain activity during a social emotion task. Forty-two females aged 11.1 to 13.7 years underwent fMRI scanning while reading scenarios pertaining either to social emotions, which require the representation of another person’s mental states, or to basic emotions, which do not. Pubertal stage and menarcheal status were used to assign girls to early or late puberty groups. Across the entire sample, the contrast between social versus basic emotion resulted in activity within the social brain network, including dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), the posterior superior temporal sulcus, and the anterior temporal cortex (ATC) in both hemispheres. Increased hormone levels (independent of age) were associated with higher left ATC activity during social emotion processing. More advanced age (independent of hormone levels) was associated with lower DMPFC activity during social emotion processing. Our results suggest functionally dissociable effects of pubertal hormones and age on the adolescent social brain. PMID:23106734

ALTERATIONS IN BRAIN CREATINE CONCENTRATIONS UNDER LONG-TERM SOCIAL ISOLATION (EXPERIMENTAL STUDY).

PubMed

Koshoridze, N; Kuchukashvili, Z; Menabde, K; Lekiashvili, Sh; Koshoridze, M

2016-02-01

Stress represents one of the main problems of modern humanity. This study was done for understanding more clearly alterations in creatine content of the brain under psycho-emotional stress induced by long-term social isolation. It was shown that under 30 days social isolation creatine amount in the brain was arisen, while decreasing concentrations of synthesizing enzymes (AGAT, GAMT) and creatine transporter protein (CrT). Another important point was that such changes were accompanied by down-regulation of creatine kinase (CK), therefore the enzyme's concentration was lowered. In addition, it was observed that content of phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP were also reduced, thus indicating down-regulation of energy metabolism of brain that is really a crucial point for its normal functioning. To sum up the results it can be underlined that long-term social isolation has negative influence on energy metabolism of brain; and as a result reduce ATP content, while increase of free creatine concentration, supposedly maintaining maximal balance for ATP amount, but here must be also noted that up-regulated oxidative pathways might have impact on blood brain barrier, resulting on its permeability.

Perceived live interaction modulates the developing social brain.

PubMed

Rice, Katherine; Moraczewski, Dustin; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-09-01

Although children's social development is embedded in social interaction, most developmental neuroscience studies have examined responses to non-interactive social stimuli (e.g. photographs of faces). The neural mechanisms of real-world social behavior are of special interest during middle childhood (roughly ages 7-13), a time of increased social complexity and competence coinciding with structural and functional social brain development. Evidence from adult neuroscience studies suggests that social interaction may alter neural processing, but no neuroimaging studies in children have directly examined the effects of live social-interactive context on social cognition. In the current study of middle childhood, we compare the processing of two types of speech: speech that children believed was presented over a real-time audio-feed by a social partner and speech that they believed was recorded. Although in reality all speech was prerecorded, perceived live speech resulted in significantly greater neural activation in regions associated with social cognitive processing. These findings underscore the importance of using ecologically-valid and interactive methods to understand the developing social brain. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Brain architecture and social complexity in modern and ancient birds.

PubMed

Burish, Mark J; Kueh, Hao Yuan; Wang, Samuel S-H

2004-01-01

Vertebrate brains vary tremendously in size, but differences in form are more subtle. To bring out functional contrasts that are independent of absolute size, we have normalized brain component sizes to whole brain volume. The set of such volume fractions is the cerebrotype of a species. Using this approach in mammals we previously identified specific associations between cerebrotype and behavioral specializations. Among primates, cerebrotypes are linked principally to enlargement of the cerebral cortex and are associated with increases in the complexity of social structure. Here we extend this analysis to include a second major vertebrate group, the birds. In birds the telencephalic volume fraction is strongly correlated with social complexity. This correlation accounts for almost half of the observed variation in telencephalic size, more than any other behavioral specialization examined, including the ability to learn song. A prominent exception to this pattern is owls, which are not social but still have very large forebrains. Interpolating the overall correlation for Archaeopteryx, an ancient bird, suggests that its social complexity was likely to have been on a par with modern domesticated chickens. Telencephalic volume fraction outperforms residuals-based measures of brain size at separating birds by social structure. Telencephalic volume fraction may be an anatomical substrate for social complexity, and perhaps cognitive ability, that can be generalized across a range of vertebrate brains, including dinosaurs. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Chapter 18: the origins of functional brain imaging in humans.

PubMed

Raichle, Marcus E

2010-01-01

Functional brain imaging in humans as we presently know it began when the experimental strategies of cognitive psychology were combined with modern brain imaging techniques, first positron emission tomography (PET) and then functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to examine how brain function supports mental activities. This marriage of disciplines and techniques galvanized the field of cognitive neuroscience, which has rapidly expanded to include a broad range of the social sciences as well as basic scientists interested in the neurophysiology, cell biology and genetics of the imaging signals. While much of this work has transpired over the past couple of decades, its roots can be traced back more than a century.

The Brain Prize 2014: complex human functions.

PubMed

Grigaityte, Kristina; Iacoboni, Marco

2014-11-01

Giacomo Rizzolatti, Stanislas Dehaene, and Trevor Robbins were recently awarded the 2014 Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize for their 'pioneering research on higher brain mechanisms underpinning such complex human functions as literacy, numeracy, motivated behavior and social cognition, and for their effort to understand cognitive and behavioral disorders'. Why was their work highlighted? Is there anything that links together these seemingly disparate lines of research? Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical assessment of social cognitive function in neurological disorders.

PubMed

Henry, Julie D; von Hippel, William; Molenberghs, Pascal; Lee, Teresa; Sachdev, Perminder S

2016-01-01

Social cognition broadly refers to the processing of social information in the brain that underlies abilities such as the detection of others' emotions and responding appropriately to these emotions. Social cognitive skills are critical for successful communication and, consequently, mental health and wellbeing. Disturbances of social cognition are early and salient features of many neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, and often occur after acute brain injury. Its assessment in the clinic is, therefore, of paramount importance. Indeed, the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced social cognition as one of six core components of neurocognitive function, alongside memory and executive control. Failures of social cognition most often present as poor theory of mind, reduced affective empathy, impaired social perception or abnormal social behaviour. Standard neuropsychological assessments lack the precision and sensitivity needed to adequately inform treatment of these failures. In this Review, we present appropriate methods of assessment for each of the four domains, using an example disorder to illustrate the value of these approaches. We discuss the clinical applications of testing for social cognitive function, and finally suggest a five-step algorithm for the evaluation and treatment of impairments, providing quantitative evidence to guide the selection of social cognitive measures in clinical practice.

Teaching to the Brain's Natural Learning Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Given, Barbara K.

This book investigates brain structures and functions of the brain's five major systems (emotional, social, cognitive, physical, and reflective), applying findings from neuro-biology to education. It translates neuroscience into an educational framework for lesson planning and teaching. This framework can serve as a mental model for an ongoing…

Increased functional connectivity with puberty in the mentalising network involved in social emotion processing

PubMed Central

Klapwijk, Eduard T.; Goddings, Anne-Lise; Heyes, Stephanie Burnett; Bird, Geoffrey; Viner, Russell M.; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2015-01-01

There is increasing evidence that puberty plays an important role in the structural and functional brain development seen in adolescence, but little is known of the pubertal influence on changes in functional connectivity. We explored how pubertal indicators (salivary concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and DHEA; pubertal stage; menarcheal status) relate to functional connectivity between components of a mentalising network identified to be engaged in social emotion processing by our prior work, using psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. Female adolescents aged 11 to 13 years were scanned whilst silently reading scenarios designed to evoke either social emotions (guilt and embarrassment) or basic emotions (disgust and fear), of which only social compared to basic emotions require the representation of another person’s mental states. Pubertal stage and menarcheal status were used to assign participants to pre/early or mid/late puberty groups. We found increased functional connectivity between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) during social relative to basic emotion processing. Moreover, increasing oestradiol concentrations were associated with increased functional connectivity between the DMPFC and the right TPJ during social relative to basic emotion processing, independent of age. Our analysis of the PPI data by phenotypic pubertal status showed that more advanced puberty stage was associated with enhanced functional connectivity between the DMPFC and the left anterior temporal cortex (ATC) during social relative to basic emotion processing, also independent of age. Our results suggest increased functional maturation of the social brain network with the advancement of puberty in girls. PMID:23998674

Financial Exploitation Is Associated With Structural and Functional Brain Differences in Healthy Older Adults

PubMed Central

Spreng, R. Nathan; Cassidy, Benjamin N; Darboh, Bri S; DuPre, Elizabeth; Lockrow, Amber W; Setton, Roni; Turner, Gary R

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Age-related brain changes leading to altered socioemotional functioning may increase vulnerability to financial exploitation. If confirmed, this would suggest a novel mechanism leading to heightened financial exploitation risk in older adults. Development of predictive neural markers could facilitate increased vigilance and prevention. In this preliminary study, we sought to identify structural and functional brain differences associated with financial exploitation in older adults. Methods Financially exploited older adults (n = 13, 7 female) and a matched cohort of older adults who had been exposed to, but avoided, a potentially exploitative situation (n = 13, 7 female) were evaluated. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical thickness and resting state functional connectivity. Behavioral data were collected using standardized cognitive assessments, self-report measures of mood and social functioning. Results The exploited group showed cortical thinning in anterior insula and posterior superior temporal cortices, regions associated with processing affective and social information, respectively. Functional connectivity encompassing these regions, within default and salience networks, was reduced, while between network connectivity was increased. Self-reported anger and hostility was higher for the exploited group. Conclusions We observed financial exploitation associated with brain differences in regions involved in socioemotional functioning. These exploratory and preliminary findings suggest that alterations in brain regions implicated in socioemotional functioning may be a marker of financial exploitation risk. Large-scale, prospective studies are necessary to validate this neural mechanism, and develop predictive markers for use in clinical practice. PMID:28369260

Neuroimaging evidence for a role of neural social stress processing in ethnic minority-associated environmental risk.

PubMed

Akdeniz, Ceren; Tost, Heike; Streit, Fabian; Haddad, Leila; Wüst, Stefan; Schäfer, Axel; Schneider, Michael; Rietschel, Marcella; Kirsch, Peter; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas

2014-06-01

Relative risk for the brain disorder schizophrenia is more than doubled in ethnic minorities, an effect that is evident across countries and linked to socially relevant cues such as skin color, making ethnic minority status a well-established social environmental risk factor. Pathoepidemiological models propose a role for chronic social stress and perceived discrimination for mental health risk in ethnic minorities, but the neurobiology is unexplored. To study neural social stress processing, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and associations with perceived discrimination in ethnic minority individuals. Cross-sectional design in a university setting using 3 validated paradigms to challenge neural social stress processing and, to probe for specificity, emotional and cognitive brain functions. Healthy participants included those with German lineage (n = 40) and those of ethnic minority (n = 40) from different ethnic backgrounds matched for sociodemographic, psychological, and task performance characteristics. Control comparisons examined stress processing with matched ethnic background of investigators (23 Turkish vs 23 German participants) and basic emotional and cognitive tasks (24 Turkish vs 24 German participants). Blood oxygenation level-dependent response, functional connectivity, and psychological and physiological measures. There were significant increases in heart rate (P < .001), subjective emotional response (self-related emotions, P < .001; subjective anxiety, P = .006), and salivary cortisol level (P = .004) during functional magnetic resonance imaging stress induction. Ethnic minority individuals had significantly higher perceived chronic stress levels (P = .02) as well as increased activation (family-wise error-corrected [FWE] P = .005, region of interest corrected) and increased functional connectivity (PFWE = .01, region of interest corrected) of perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The effects were specific to stress and not explained by a social distance effect. Ethnic minority individuals had significant correlations between perceived group discrimination and activation in perigenual ACC (PFWE = .001, region of interest corrected) and ventral striatum (PFWE = .02, whole brain corrected) and mediation of the relationship between perceived discrimination and perigenual ACC-dorsal ACC connectivity by chronic stress (P < .05). Epidemiologists proposed a causal role of social-evaluative stress, but the neural processes that could mediate this susceptibility effect were unknown. Our data demonstrate the potential of investigating associations from epidemiology with neuroimaging, suggest brain effects of social marginalization, and highlight a neural system in which environmental and genetic risk factors for mental illness may converge.

Exploring social cognition in patients with apathy following acquired brain damage.

PubMed

Njomboro, Progress; Humphreys, Glyn W; Deb, Shoumitro

2014-01-23

Research on cognition in apathy has largely focused on executive functions. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the relationship between apathy symptoms and processes involved in social cognition. Apathy symptoms include attenuated emotional behaviour, low social engagement and social withdrawal, all of which may be linked to underlying socio-cognitive deficits. We compared patients with brain damage who also had apathy symptoms against similar patients with brain damage but without apathy symptoms. Both patient groups were also compared against normal controls on key socio-cognitive measures involving moral reasoning, social awareness related to making judgements between normative and non-normative behaviour, Theory of Mind processing, and the perception of facial expressions of emotion. We also controlled for the likely effects of executive deficits and depressive symptoms on these comparisons. Our results indicated that patients with apathy were distinctively impaired in making moral reasoning decisions and in judging the social appropriateness of behaviour. Deficits in Theory of Mind and perception of facial expressions of emotion did not distinguish patients with apathy from those without apathy. Our findings point to a possible socio-cognitive profile for apathy symptoms and provide initial insights into how socio-cognitive deficits in patients with apathy may affect social functioning.

The Effects of Attention Problems on Psychosocial Functioning in Childhood Brain Tumor Survivors: A 2-Year Postcraniospinal Irradiation Follow-up.

PubMed

Oh, Yunhye; Seo, Hyunjung; Sung, Ki Woong; Joung, Yoo Sook

2017-03-01

To examine the psychosocial outcomes and impact of attention problems in survivors of pediatric brain tumor. The survivors' cognitive functioning was measured using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. The Child Behavior Checklist-Attention Problems scale was used to screen for attention problems, and participants were classified as having attention problems (n=15) or normal attention (n=36). Psychosocial functioning was examined with the Korean Personality Rating scale for Children (K-PRC) at precraniospinal radiation and at 2-year follow-up. The attention problem group showed significantly higher depression and externalizing symptoms (delinquency, hyperactivity) and more significant impairment in family relationships than did the normal attention group at baseline. At follow-up, the attention problem group demonstrated significantly more delinquency and impaired family and social relationships. With the K-PRC scores, except for the somatization, social relationship subscale, there were significant differences between groups, but not in terms of treatment by time interaction or within time. At follow-up, multiple linear regressions showed that age at diagnosis significantly predicted K-PRC somatization (B=-1.7, P=0.004) and social relationships (B=-1.7, P=0.004), baseline full-scale intelligence quotient predicted K-PRC depression (B=-0.4, P=0.032) and somatization (B=-0.3, P=0.015), and attention problems at baseline predicted K-PRC depression (B=-15.2, P=0.036) and social relationships (B=-11.6, P=0.016). Pediatric brain tumor survivors, in particular, patients with attention problems, had worse psychosocial functioning at baseline and follow-up. Attention problems at baseline need to be carefully evaluated in assessing psychosocial functioning of pediatric brain tumor survivors.

Trying to trust: Brain activity during interpersonal social attitude change.

PubMed

Filkowski, Megan M; Anderson, Ian W; Haas, Brian W

2016-04-01

Interpersonal trust and distrust are important components of human social interaction. Although several studies have shown that brain function is associated with either trusting or distrusting others, very little is known regarding brain function during the control of social attitudes, including trust and distrust. This study was designed to investigate the neural mechanisms involved when people attempt to control their attitudes of trust or distrust toward another person. We used a novel control-of-attitudes fMRI task, which involved explicit instructions to control attitudes of interpersonal trust and distrust. Control of trust or distrust was operationally defined as changes in trustworthiness evaluations of neutral faces before and after the control-of-attitudes fMRI task. Overall, participants (n = 60) evaluated faces paired with the distrust instruction as being less trustworthy than faces paired with the trust instruction following the control-of-distrust task. Within the brain, both the control-of-trust and control-of-distrust conditions were associated with increased temporoparietal junction, precuneus (PrC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and medial prefrontal cortex activity. Individual differences in the control of trust were associated with PrC activity, and individual differences in the control of distrust were associated with IFG activity. Together, these findings identify a brain network involved in the explicit control of distrust and trust and indicate that the PrC and IFG may serve to consolidate interpersonal social attitudes.

Intranasal Oxytocin Enhances Connectivity in the Neural Circuitry Supporting Social Motivation and Social Perception in Children with Autism.

PubMed

Gordon, Ilanit; Jack, Allison; Pretzsch, Charlotte M; Vander Wyk, Brent; Leckman, James F; Feldman, Ruth; Pelphrey, Kevin A

2016-11-15

Oxytocin (OT) has become a focus in investigations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The social deficits that characterize ASD may relate to reduced connectivity between brain sites on the mesolimbic reward pathway (nucleus accumbens; amygdala) that receive OT projections and contribute to social motivation, and cortical sites involved in social perception. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, we show that OT administration in ASD increases activity in brain regions important for perceiving social-emotional information. Further, OT enhances connectivity between nodes of the brain's reward and socioemotional processing systems, and does so preferentially for social (versus nonsocial) stimuli. This effect is observed both while viewing coherent versus scrambled biological motion, and while listening to happy versus angry voices. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which intranasal OT may bolster social motivation-one that could, in future, be harnessed to augment behavioral treatments for ASD.

How do you make me feel better? Social cognitive emotion regulation and the default mode network.

PubMed

Xie, Xiyao; Mulej Bratec, Satja; Schmid, Gabriele; Meng, Chun; Doll, Anselm; Wohlschläger, Afra; Finke, Kathrin; Förstl, Hans; Zimmer, Claus; Pekrun, Reinhard; Schilbach, Leonhard; Riedl, Valentin; Sorg, Christian

2016-07-01

Socially-induced cognitive emotion regulation (Social-Reg) is crucial for emotional well-being and social functioning; however, its brain mechanisms remain poorly understood. Given that both social cognition and cognitive emotion regulation engage key regions of the default-mode network (DMN), we hypothesized that Social-Reg would rely on the DMN, and that its effectiveness would be associated with social functioning. During functional MRI, negative emotions were elicited by pictures, and - via short instructions - a psychotherapist either down-regulated participants' emotions by employing reappraisal (Reg), or asked them to simply look at the pictures (Look). Adult Attachment Scale was used to measure social functioning. Contrasting Reg versus Look, aversive emotions were successfully reduced during Social-Reg, with increased activations in the prefrontal and parietal cortices, precuneus and the left temporo-parietal junction. These activations covered key nodes of the DMN and were associated with Social-Reg success. Furthermore, participants' attachment security was positively correlated with both Social-Reg success and orbitofrontal cortex involvement during Social-Reg. In addition, specificity of the neural correlates of Social-Reg was confirmed by comparisons with participants' DMN activity at rest and their brain activations during a typical emotional self-regulation task based on the same experimental paradigm without a psychotherapist. Our results provide first evidence for the specific involvement of the DMN in Social-Reg, and the association of Social-Reg with individual differences in attachment security. The findings suggest that DMN dysfunction, found in many neuropsychiatric disorders, may impair the ability to benefit from Social-Reg. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neurobehavioral assessment of maternal odor in developing rat pups: implications for social buffering

PubMed Central

Al Aïn, Syrina; Perry, Rosemarie E.; Nuñez, Bestina; Kayser, Kassandra; Hochman, Chase; Brehman, Elizabeth; LaComb, Miranda; Wilson, Donald A.; Sullivan, Regina M.

2016-01-01

Social support can attenuate the behavioral and stress hormone response to threat, a phenomenon called social buffering. The mother’s social buffering of the infant is one of the more robust examples; yet we understand little about the neurobiology. Using a rodent model, we explore the neurobiology of social buffering by assessing neural processing of the maternal odor, a major cue controlling social buffering in rat pups. We used pups before (postnatal day (PN) 7) and after (PN14, PN23) the functional emergence of social buffering. Pups were injected with 14C 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) and presented with the maternal odor, a control preferred odor incapable of social buffering (acetophenone), or no odor. Brains were removed, processed for autoradiography and brain areas identified as important in adult social buffering were assessed, including the amygdala basolateral complex (Basolateral Amygdala [BLA]), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Results suggest dramatic changes in the processing of maternal odor. PN7 pups show mPFC and ACC activation, although PN14 pups showed no activation of the mPFC, ACC, or BLA. All brain areas assessed were recruited by PN23. Additional analysis suggests substantial changes in functional connectivity across development. Together, these results imply complex nonlinear transitions in the neurobiology of social buffering in early life that may provide insight into the changing role of the mother in supporting social buffering. PMID:26934130

Sex differences in the development of brain mechanisms for processing biological motion.

PubMed

Anderson, L C; Bolling, D Z; Schelinski, S; Coffman, M C; Pelphrey, K A; Kaiser, M D

2013-12-01

Disorders related to social functioning including autism and schizophrenia differ drastically in incidence and severity between males and females. Little is known about the neural systems underlying these sex-linked differences in risk and resiliency. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a task involving the visual perception of point-light displays of coherent and scrambled biological motion, we discovered sex differences in the development of neural systems for basic social perception. In adults, we identified enhanced activity during coherent biological motion perception in females relative to males in a network of brain regions previously implicated in social perception including amygdala, medial temporal gyrus, and temporal pole. These sex differences were less pronounced in our sample of school-age youth. We hypothesize that the robust neural circuitry supporting social perception in females, which diverges from males beginning in childhood, may underlie sex differences in disorders related to social processing. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sex Differences in the Development of Brain Mechanisms for Processing Biological Motion

PubMed Central

Anderson, L.C.; Bolling, D.Z.; Schelinski, S.; Coffman, M.C.; Pelphrey, K.A.; Kaiser, M.D.

2013-01-01

Disorders related to social functioning including autism and schizophrenia differ drastically in incidence and severity between males and females. Little is known about the neural systems underlying these sex-linked differences in risk and resiliency. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a task involving the visual perception of point-light displays of coherent and scrambled biological motion, we discovered sex differences in the development of neural systems for basic social perception. In adults, we identified enhanced activity during coherent biological motion perception in females relative to males in a network of brain regions previously implicated in social perception including amygdala, medial temporal gyrus, and temporal pole. These sex differences were less pronounced in our sample of school-age youth. We hypothesize that the robust neural circuitry supporting social perception in females, which diverges from males beginning in childhood, may underlie sex differences in disorders related to social processing. PMID:23876243

Predicting Treatment Response in Social Anxiety Disorder From Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PubMed Central

Doehrmann, Oliver; Ghosh, Satrajit S.; Polli, Frida E.; Reynolds, Gretchen O.; Horn, Franziska; Keshavan, Anisha; Triantafyllou, Christina; Saygin, Zeynep M.; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Hofmann, Stefan G.; Pollack, Mark; Gabrieli, John D.

2013-01-01

Context Current behavioral measures poorly predict treatment outcome in social anxiety disorder (SAD). To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine neuroimaging-based treatment prediction in SAD. Objective To measure brain activation in patients with SAD as a biomarker to predict subsequent response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Design Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected prior to CBT intervention. Changes in clinical status were regressed on brain responses and tested for selectivity for social stimuli. Setting Patients were treated with protocol-based CBT at anxiety disorder programs at Boston University or Massachusetts General Hospital and underwent neuroimaging data collection at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Patients Thirty-nine medication-free patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for the generalized subtype of SAD. Interventions Brain responses to angry vs neutral faces or emotional vs neutral scenes were examined with fMRI prior to initiation of CBT. Main Outcome Measures Whole-brain regression analyses with differential fMRI responses for angry vs neutral faces and changes in Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale score as the treatment outcome measure. Results Pretreatment responses significantly predicted subsequent treatment outcome of patients selectively for social stimuli and particularly in regions of higher-order visual cortex. Combining the brain measures with information on clinical severity accounted for more than 40% of the variance in treatment response and substantially exceeded predictions based on clinical measures at baseline. Prediction success was unaffected by testing for potential confounding factors such as depression severity at baseline. Conclusions The results suggest that brain imaging can provide biomarkers that substantially improve predictions for the success of cognitive behavioral interventions and more generally suggest that such biomarkers may offer evidence-based, personalized medicine approaches for optimally selecting among treatment options for a patient. PMID:22945462

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG.

PubMed

St John, Ashley M; Kao, Katie; Chita-Tegmark, Meia; Liederman, Jacqueline; Grieve, Philip G; Tarullo, Amanda R

2017-05-03

Despite the importance of social interactions for infant brain development, little research has assessed functional neural activation while infants socially interact. Electroencephalography (EEG) power is an advantageous technique to assess infant functional neural activation. However, many studies record infant EEG only during one baseline condition. This protocol describes a paradigm that is designed to comprehensively assess infant EEG activity in both social and nonsocial contexts as well as tease apart how different types of social inputs differentially relate to infant EEG. The within-subjects paradigm includes four controlled conditions. In the nonsocial condition, infants view objects on computer screens. The joint attention condition involves an experimenter directing the infant's attention to pictures. The joint attention condition includes three types of social input: language, face-to-face interaction, and the presence of joint attention. Differences in infant EEG between the nonsocial and joint attention conditions could be due to any of these three types of input. Therefore, two additional conditions (one with language input while the experimenter is hidden behind a screen and one with face-to-face interaction) were included to assess the driving contextual factors in patterns of infant neural activation. Representative results demonstrate that infant EEG power varied by condition, both overall and differentially by brain region, supporting the functional nature of infant EEG power. This technique is advantageous in that it includes conditions that are clearly social or nonsocial and allows for examination of how specific types of social input relate to EEG power. This paradigm can be used to assess how individual differences in age, affect, socioeconomic status, and parent-infant interaction quality relate to the development of the social brain. Based on the demonstrated functional nature of infant EEG power, future studies should consider the role of EEG recording context and design conditions that are clearly social or nonsocial.

Interpersonal Relatedness and Psychological Functioning Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Implications for Marital and Family Therapists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bay, Esther H.; Blow, Adrian J.; Yan, Xie

2012-01-01

Recovery from a mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a challenging process for injured persons and their families. Guided by attachment theory, we investigated whether relationship conflict, social support, or sense of belonging were associated with psychological functioning. Community-dwelling persons with TBI (N = 75) and their…

Self-regulation of brain oscillations as a treatment for aberrant brain connections in children with autism.

PubMed

Pineda, J A; Juavinett, A; Datko, M

2012-12-01

Autism is a highly varied developmental disorder typically characterized by deficits in reciprocal social interaction, difficulties with verbal and nonverbal communication, and restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Although a wide range of behavioral, pharmacological, and alternative medicine strategies have been reported to ameliorate specific symptoms for some individuals, there is at present no cure for the condition. Nonetheless, among the many incompatible observations about aspects of the development, anatomy, and functionality of the autistic brain, it is widely agreed that it is characterized by widespread aberrant connectivity. Such disordered connectivity, be it increased, decreased, or otherwise compromised, may complicate healthy synchronization and communication among and within different neural circuits, thereby producing abnormal processing of sensory inputs necessary for normal social life. It is widely accepted that the innate properties of brain electrical activity produce pacemaker elements and linked networks that oscillate synchronously or asynchronously, likely reflecting a type of functional connectivity. Using phase coherence in multiple frequency EEG bands as a measure of functional connectivity, studies have shown evidence for both global hypoconnectivity and local hyperconnectivity in individuals with ASD. However, the nature of the brain's experience-dependent structural plasticity suggests that these abnormal patterns may be reversed with the proper type of treatment. Indeed, neurofeedback (NF) training, an intervention based on operant conditioning that results in self-regulation of brain electrical oscillations, has shown promise in addressing marked abnormalities in functional and structural connectivity. It is hypothesized that neurofeedback produces positive behavioral changes in ASD children by normalizing the aberrant connections within and between neural circuits. NF exploits the brain's plasticity to normalize aberrant connectivity patterns apparent in the autistic brain. By grounding this training in known anatomical (e.g., mirror neuron system) and functional markers (e.g., mu rhythms) of autism, NF training holds promise to support current treatments for this complex disorder. The proposed hypothesis specifically states that neurofeedback-induced alpha mu (8-12Hz) rhythm suppression or desynchronization, a marker of cortical activation, should induce neuroplastic changes and lead to normalization in relevant mirroring networks that have been associated with higher-order social cognition. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contribution of Neuroimaging Studies to Understanding Development of Human Cognitive Brain Functions

PubMed Central

Morita, Tomoyo; Asada, Minoru; Naito, Eiichi

2016-01-01

Humans experience significant physical and mental changes from birth to adulthood, and a variety of perceptual, cognitive and motor functions mature over the course of approximately 20 years following birth. To deeply understand such developmental processes, merely studying behavioral changes is not sufficient; simultaneous investigation of the development of the brain may lead us to a more comprehensive understanding. Recent advances in noninvasive neuroimaging technologies largely contribute to this understanding. Here, it is very important to consider the development of the brain from the perspectives of “structure” and “function” because both structure and function of the human brain mature slowly. In this review, we first discuss the process of structural brain development, i.e., how the structure of the brain, which is crucial when discussing functional brain development, changes with age. Second, we introduce some representative studies and the latest studies related to the functional development of the brain, particularly for visual, facial recognition, and social cognition functions, all of which are important for humans. Finally, we summarize how brain science can contribute to developmental study and discuss the challenges that neuroimaging should address in the future. PMID:27695409

Classifying social anxiety disorder using multivoxel pattern analyses of brain function and structure☆

PubMed Central

Frick, Andreas; Gingnell, Malin; Marquand, Andre F.; Howner, Katarina; Fischer, Håkan; Kristiansson, Marianne; Williams, Steven C.R.; Fredrikson, Mats; Furmark, Tomas

2014-01-01

Functional neuroimaging of social anxiety disorder (SAD) support altered neural activation to threat-provoking stimuli focally in the fear network, while structural differences are distributed over the temporal and frontal cortices as well as limbic structures. Previous neuroimaging studies have investigated the brain at the voxel level using mass-univariate methods which do not enable detection of more complex patterns of activity and structural alterations that may separate SAD from healthy individuals. Support vector machine (SVM) is a supervised machine learning method that capitalizes on brain activation and structural patterns to classify individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate if it is possible to discriminate SAD patients (n = 14) from healthy controls (n = 12) using SVM based on (1) functional magnetic resonance imaging during fearful face processing and (2) regional gray matter volume. Whole brain and region of interest (fear network) SVM analyses were performed for both modalities. For functional scans, significant classifications were obtained both at whole brain level and when restricting the analysis to the fear network while gray matter SVM analyses correctly classified participants only when using the whole brain search volume. These results support that SAD is characterized by aberrant neural activation to affective stimuli in the fear network, while disorder-related alterations in regional gray matter volume are more diffusely distributed over the whole brain. SVM may thus be useful for identifying imaging biomarkers of SAD. PMID:24239689

Functional cortical network in alpha band correlates with social bargaining.

PubMed

Billeke, Pablo; Zamorano, Francisco; Chavez, Mario; Cosmelli, Diego; Aboitiz, Francisco

2014-01-01

Solving demanding tasks requires fast and flexible coordination among different brain areas. Everyday examples of this are the social dilemmas in which goals tend to clash, requiring one to weigh alternative courses of action in limited time. In spite of this fact, there are few studies that directly address the dynamics of flexible brain network integration during social interaction. To study the preceding, we carried out EEG recordings while subjects played a repeated version of the Ultimatum Game in both human (social) and computer (non-social) conditions. We found phase synchrony (inter-site-phase-clustering) modulation in alpha band that was specific to the human condition and independent of power modulation. The strength and patterns of the inter-site-phase-clustering of the cortical networks were also modulated, and these modulations were mainly in frontal and parietal regions. Moreover, changes in the individuals' alpha network structure correlated with the risk of the offers made only in social conditions. This correlation was independent of changes in power and inter-site-phase-clustering strength. Our results indicate that, when subjects believe they are participating in a social interaction, a specific modulation of functional cortical networks in alpha band takes place, suggesting that phase synchrony of alpha oscillations could serve as a mechanism by which different brain areas flexibly interact in order to adapt ongoing behavior in socially demanding contexts.

Functional Cortical Network in Alpha Band Correlates with Social Bargaining

PubMed Central

Billeke, Pablo; Zamorano, Francisco; Chavez, Mario; Cosmelli, Diego; Aboitiz, Francisco

2014-01-01

Solving demanding tasks requires fast and flexible coordination among different brain areas. Everyday examples of this are the social dilemmas in which goals tend to clash, requiring one to weigh alternative courses of action in limited time. In spite of this fact, there are few studies that directly address the dynamics of flexible brain network integration during social interaction. To study the preceding, we carried out EEG recordings while subjects played a repeated version of the Ultimatum Game in both human (social) and computer (non-social) conditions. We found phase synchrony (inter-site-phase-clustering) modulation in alpha band that was specific to the human condition and independent of power modulation. The strength and patterns of the inter-site-phase-clustering of the cortical networks were also modulated, and these modulations were mainly in frontal and parietal regions. Moreover, changes in the individuals’ alpha network structure correlated with the risk of the offers made only in social conditions. This correlation was independent of changes in power and inter-site-phase-clustering strength. Our results indicate that, when subjects believe they are participating in a social interaction, a specific modulation of functional cortical networks in alpha band takes place, suggesting that phase synchrony of alpha oscillations could serve as a mechanism by which different brain areas flexibly interact in order to adapt ongoing behavior in socially demanding contexts. PMID:25286240

Biological pathways and genetic mechanisms involved in social functioning.

PubMed

Ordoñana, Juan R; Bartels, Meike; Boomsma, Dorret I; Cella, David; Mosing, Miriam; Oliveira, Joao R; Patrick, Donald L; Veenhoven, Ruut; Wagner, Gert G; Sprangers, Mirjam A G

2013-08-01

To describe the major findings in the literature regarding associations between biological and genetic factors and social functioning, paying special attention to: (1) heritability studies on social functioning and related concepts; (2) hypothesized biological pathways and genetic variants that could be involved in social functioning, and (3) the implications of these results for quality-of-life research. A search of Web of Science and PubMed databases was conducted using combinations of the following keywords: genetics, twins, heritability, social functioning, social adjustment, social interaction, and social dysfunction. Variability in the definitions and measures of social functioning was extensive. Moderate to high heritability was reported for social functioning and related concepts, including prosocial behavior, loneliness, and extraversion. Disorders characterized by impairments in social functioning also show substantial heritability. Genetic variants hypothesized to be involved in social functioning are related to the network of brain structures and processes that are known to affect social cognition and behavior. Better knowledge and understanding about the impact of genetic factors on social functioning is needed to help us to attain a more comprehensive view of health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) and will ultimately enhance our ability to identify those patients who are vulnerable to poor social functioning.

Development of the Adolescent Brain: Implications for Executive Function and Social Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne; Choudhury, Suparna

2006-01-01

Adolescence is a time of considerable development at the level of behaviour, cognition and the brain. This article reviews histological and brain imaging studies that have demonstrated specific changes in neural architecture during puberty and adolescence, outlining trajectories of grey and white matter development. The implications of brain…

Sex- and brain region-specific patterns of gene expression associated with socially-mediated puberty in a eusocial mammal

PubMed Central

Monks, D. Ashley; Zovkic, Iva B.; Holmes, Melissa M.

2018-01-01

The social environment can alter pubertal timing through neuroendocrine mechanisms that are not fully understood; it is thought that stress hormones (e.g., glucocorticoids or corticotropin-releasing hormone) influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to inhibit puberty. Here, we use the eusocial naked mole-rat, a unique species in which social interactions in a colony (i.e. dominance of a breeding female) suppress puberty in subordinate animals. Removing subordinate naked mole-rats from this social context initiates puberty, allowing for experimental control of pubertal timing. The present study quantified gene expression for reproduction- and stress-relevant genes acting upstream of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in brain regions with reproductive and social functions in pre-pubertal, post-pubertal, and opposite sex-paired animals (which are in various stages of pubertal transition). Results indicate sex differences in patterns of neural gene expression. Known functions of genes in brain suggest stress as a key contributing factor in regulating male pubertal delay. Network analysis implicates neurokinin B (Tac3) in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus as a key node in this pathway. Results also suggest an unappreciated role for the nucleus accumbens in regulating puberty. PMID:29474488

Enactive cinema paves way for understanding complex real-time social interaction in neuroimaging experiments

PubMed Central

Tikka, Pia; Väljamäe, Aleksander; de Borst, Aline W.; Pugliese, Roberto; Ravaja, Niklas; Kaipainen, Mauri; Takala, Tapio

2012-01-01

We outline general theoretical and practical implications of what we promote as enactive cinema for the neuroscientific study of online socio-emotional interaction. In a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) setting, participants are immersed in cinematic experiences that simulate social situations. While viewing, their physiological reactions—including brain responses—are tracked, representing implicit and unconscious experiences of the on-going social situations. These reactions, in turn, are analyzed in real-time and fed back to modify the cinematic sequences they are viewing while being scanned. Due to the engaging cinematic content, the proposed setting focuses on living-by in terms of shared psycho-physiological epiphenomena of experience rather than active coping in terms of goal-oriented motor actions. It constitutes a means to parametrically modify stimuli that depict social situations and their broader environmental contexts. As an alternative to studying the variation of brain responses as a function of a priori fixed stimuli, this method can be applied to survey the range of stimuli that evoke similar responses across participants at particular brain regions of interest. PMID:23125829

Enactive cinema paves way for understanding complex real-time social interaction in neuroimaging experiments.

PubMed

Tikka, Pia; Väljamäe, Aleksander; de Borst, Aline W; Pugliese, Roberto; Ravaja, Niklas; Kaipainen, Mauri; Takala, Tapio

2012-01-01

We outline general theoretical and practical implications of what we promote as enactive cinema for the neuroscientific study of online socio-emotional interaction. In a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) setting, participants are immersed in cinematic experiences that simulate social situations. While viewing, their physiological reactions-including brain responses-are tracked, representing implicit and unconscious experiences of the on-going social situations. These reactions, in turn, are analyzed in real-time and fed back to modify the cinematic sequences they are viewing while being scanned. Due to the engaging cinematic content, the proposed setting focuses on living-by in terms of shared psycho-physiological epiphenomena of experience rather than active coping in terms of goal-oriented motor actions. It constitutes a means to parametrically modify stimuli that depict social situations and their broader environmental contexts. As an alternative to studying the variation of brain responses as a function of a priori fixed stimuli, this method can be applied to survey the range of stimuli that evoke similar responses across participants at particular brain regions of interest.

Progesterone Impairs Social Recognition in Male Rats

PubMed Central

Auger, Catherine J.

2012-01-01

The influence of progesterone in the brain and on the behavior of females is fairly well understood. However, less is known about the effect of progesterone in the male system. In male rats, receptors for progesterone are present in virtually all vasopressin (AVP) immunoreactive cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the medial amygdala (MeA). This colocalization functions to regulate AVP expression, as progesterone and/or progestin receptors (PR)s suppresses AVP expression in these same extrahypothalamic regions in the brain. These data suggest that progesterone may influence AVP-dependant behavior. While AVP is implicated in numerous behavioral and physiological functions in rodents, AVP appears essential for social recognition of conspecifics. Therefore, we examined the effects of progesterone on social recognition. We report that progesterone plays an important role in modulating social recognition in the male brain, as progesterone treatment lead to a significant impairment of social recognition in male rats. Moreover, progesterone appears to act on PRs to impair social recognition, as progesterone impairment of social recognition is blocked by a PR antagonist, RU-486. Social recognition is also impaired by a specific progestin agonist, R5020. Interestingly, we show that progesterone does not interfere with either general memory or olfactory processes, suggesting that progesterone seems critically important to social recognition memory. These data provide strong evidence that physiological levels of progesterone can have an important impact on social behavior in male rats. PMID:22366506

The Neural Basis of Social Influence in a Dictator Decision

PubMed Central

Wei, Zhenyu; Zhao, Zhiying; Zheng, Yong

2017-01-01

Humans tend to reduce inequitable distributions. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that inequitable decisions are related to brain regions that associated with negative emotion and signaling conflict. In the highly complex human social environment, our opinions and behaviors can be affected by social information. In current study, we used a modified dictator game to investigate the effect of social influence on making an equitable decision. We found that the choices of participants in present task was influenced by the choices of peers. However, participants’ decisions were influenced by equitable rather than inequitable group choices. fMRI results showed that brain regions that related to norm violation and social conflict were related to the inequitable social influence. The neural responses in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, rostral cingulate zone, and insula predicted subsequent conforming behavior in individuals. Additionally, psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed that the interconnectivity between the dorsal striatum and insula was elevated in advantageous inequity influence versus no-social influence conditions. We found decreased functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and insula, supplementary motor area, posterior cingulate gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in the disadvantageous inequity influence versus no-social influence conditions. This suggests that a disadvantageous inequity influence may decrease the functional connectivity among brain regions that are related to reward processes. Thus, the neural mechanisms underlying social influence in an equitable decision may be similar to those implicated in social norms and reward processing. PMID:29375412

Progesterone impairs social recognition in male rats.

PubMed

Bychowski, Meaghan E; Auger, Catherine J

2012-04-01

The influence of progesterone in the brain and on the behavior of females is fairly well understood. However, less is known about the effect of progesterone in the male system. In male rats, receptors for progesterone are present in virtually all vasopressin (AVP) immunoreactive cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the medial amygdala (MeA). This colocalization functions to regulate AVP expression, as progesterone and/or progestin receptors (PR)s suppress AVP expression in these same extrahypothalamic regions in the brain. These data suggest that progesterone may influence AVP-dependent behavior. While AVP is implicated in numerous behavioral and physiological functions in rodents, AVP appears essential for social recognition of conspecifics. Therefore, we examined the effects of progesterone on social recognition. We report that progesterone plays an important role in modulating social recognition in the male brain, as progesterone treatment leads to a significant impairment of social recognition in male rats. Moreover, progesterone appears to act on PRs to impair social recognition, as progesterone impairment of social recognition is blocked by a PR antagonist, RU-486. Social recognition is also impaired by a specific progestin agonist, R5020. Interestingly, we show that progesterone does not interfere with either general memory or olfactory processes, suggesting that progesterone seems critically important to social recognition memory. These data provide strong evidence that physiological levels of progesterone can have an important impact on social behavior in male rats. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The adaptive significance of adult neurogenesis: an integrative approach

PubMed Central

Konefal, Sarah; Elliot, Mick; Crespi, Bernard

2013-01-01

Adult neurogenesis in mammals is predominantly restricted to two brain regions, the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb (OB), suggesting that these two brain regions uniquely share functions that mediate its adaptive significance. Benefits of adult neurogenesis across these two regions appear to converge on increased neuronal and structural plasticity that subserves coding of novel, complex, and fine-grained information, usually with contextual components that include spatial positioning. By contrast, costs of adult neurogenesis appear to center on potential for dysregulation resulting in higher risk of brain cancer or psychological dysfunctions, but such costs have yet to be quantified directly. The three main hypotheses for the proximate functions and adaptive significance of adult neurogenesis, pattern separation, memory consolidation, and olfactory spatial, are not mutually exclusive and can be reconciled into a simple general model amenable to targeted experimental and comparative tests. Comparative analysis of brain region sizes across two major social-ecological groups of primates, gregarious (mainly diurnal haplorhines, visually-oriented, and in large social groups) and solitary (mainly noctural, territorial, and highly reliant on olfaction, as in most rodents) suggest that solitary species, but not gregarious species, show positive associations of population densities and home range sizes with sizes of both the hippocampus and OB, implicating their functions in social-territorial systems mediated by olfactory cues. Integrated analyses of the adaptive significance of adult neurogenesis will benefit from experimental studies motivated and structured by ecologically and socially relevant selective contexts. PMID:23882188

Empathy for the social suffering of friends and strangers recruits distinct patterns of brain activation

PubMed Central

Meyer, Meghan L.; Masten, Carrie L.; Ma, Yina; Wang, Chenbo; Shi, Zhenhao; Eisenberger, Naomi I.; Han, Shihui

2013-01-01

Humans observe various peoples’ social suffering throughout their lives, but it is unknown whether the same brain mechanisms respond to people we are close to and strangers’ social suffering. To address this question, we had participant’s complete functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while observing a friend and stranger experience social exclusion. Observing a friend’s exclusion activated affective pain regions associated with the direct (i.e. firsthand) experience of exclusion [dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and insula], and this activation correlated with self-reported self-other overlap with the friend. Alternatively, observing a stranger’s exclusion activated regions associated with thinking about the traits, mental states and intentions of others [‘mentalizing’; dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), precuneus, and temporal pole]. Comparing activation from observing friend’s vs stranger’s exclusion showed increased activation in brain regions associated with the firsthand experience of exclusion (dACC and anterior insula) and with thinking about the self [medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC)]. Finally, functional connectivity analyses demonstrated that MPFC and affective pain regions activated in concert during empathy for friends, but not strangers. These results suggest empathy for friends’ social suffering relies on emotion sharing and self-processing mechanisms, whereas empathy for strangers’ social suffering may rely more heavily on mentalizing systems. PMID:22355182

Cytokine variations and mood disorders: influence of social stressors and social support

PubMed Central

Audet, Marie-Claude; McQuaid, Robyn J.; Merali, Zul; Anisman, Hymie

2014-01-01

Stressful events have been implicated in the evolution of mood disorders. In addition to brain neurotransmitters and growth factors, the view has been offered that these disorders might be provoked by the activation of the inflammatory immune system as well as by de novo changes of inflammatory cytokines within the brain. The present review describes the impact of social stressors in animals and in humans on behavioral changes reminiscent of depressive states as well as on cytokine functioning. Social stressors increase pro-inflammatory cytokines in circulation as well as in brain regions that have been associated with depression, varying with the animal's social status and/or behavioral methods used to contend with social challenges. Likewise, in humans, social stressors that favor the development of depression are accompanied by elevated circulating cytokine levels and conversely, conditions that limit the cytokine elevations correlated with symptom attenuation or reversal. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the potentially powerful effects of social support, social identity, and connectedness in maintaining well-being and in diminishing symptoms of depression. PMID:25565946

The role of the right hemisphere for processing of social interactions in normal adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret; Fine, Jodene Goldenring; Zhu, David C

2011-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate whole-brain and hemispheric activation in normal adult volunteers to videos depicting positive and negative social encounters. There are few studies that have utilized dynamic social stimuli to evaluate brain activation. Twenty young adults viewed videotaped vignettes during an functional magnetic resonance imaging procedure. The vignettes included positive and negative interaction scenes of social encounters. Significant right greater than left activation for positive and negative conditions was found for the social interaction videos in the amygdaloid complex, the inferior frontal gyrus, the fusiform gyrus, and the temporal gyri (p < 0.0001). These findings support the hypothesis that the regions of the right hemisphere are more active in the interpretation of social information processing than those regions in the left hemisphere. This study is a first step in understanding processing of dynamic stimuli using ecologically appropriate stimuli that approximate the real-time social processing that is appropriate for use with populations who experience significant social problems. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Financial Exploitation Is Associated With Structural and Functional Brain Differences in Healthy Older Adults.

PubMed

Spreng, R Nathan; Cassidy, Benjamin N; Darboh, Bri S; DuPre, Elizabeth; Lockrow, Amber W; Setton, Roni; Turner, Gary R

2017-10-01

Age-related brain changes leading to altered socioemotional functioning may increase vulnerability to financial exploitation. If confirmed, this would suggest a novel mechanism leading to heightened financial exploitation risk in older adults. Development of predictive neural markers could facilitate increased vigilance and prevention. In this preliminary study, we sought to identify structural and functional brain differences associated with financial exploitation in older adults. Financially exploited older adults (n = 13, 7 female) and a matched cohort of older adults who had been exposed to, but avoided, a potentially exploitative situation (n = 13, 7 female) were evaluated. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical thickness and resting state functional connectivity. Behavioral data were collected using standardized cognitive assessments, self-report measures of mood and social functioning. The exploited group showed cortical thinning in anterior insula and posterior superior temporal cortices, regions associated with processing affective and social information, respectively. Functional connectivity encompassing these regions, within default and salience networks, was reduced, while between network connectivity was increased. Self-reported anger and hostility was higher for the exploited group. We observed financial exploitation associated with brain differences in regions involved in socioemotional functioning. These exploratory and preliminary findings suggest that alterations in brain regions implicated in socioemotional functioning may be a marker of financial exploitation risk. Large-scale, prospective studies are necessary to validate this neural mechanism, and develop predictive markers for use in clinical practice. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

Ventral anterior cingulate cortex and social decision-making.

PubMed

Lockwood, Patricia L; Wittmann, Marco K

2018-06-07

Studies in the field of social neuroscience have recently made use of computational models of decision-making to provide new insights into how we learn about the self and others during social interactions. Importantly, these studies have increasingly drawn attention to brain areas outside of classical cortical "social brain" regions that may be critical for social processing. In particular, two portions of the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC), subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, have been linked to social and self learning signals, respectively. Here we discuss the emerging parallels between these studies. Uncovering the function of vACC during social interactions could provide important new avenues to understand social decision-making in health and disease. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structural and functional connectivity changes in the brain associated with shyness but not with social anxiety.

PubMed

Yang, Xun; Kendrick, Keith Maurice; Wu, Qizhu; Chen, Taolin; Lama, Sunima; Cheng, Bochao; Li, Shiguang; Huang, Xiaoqi; Gong, Qiyong

2013-01-01

Shyness and social anxiety are correlated to some extent and both are associated with hyper-responsivity to social stimuli in the frontal cortex and limbic system. However to date no studies have investigated whether common structural and functional connectivity differences in the brain may contribute to these traits. We addressed this issue in a cohort of 61 healthy adult subjects. Subjects were first assessed for their levels of shyness (Cheek and Buss Shyness scale) and social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety scale) and trait anxiety. They were then given MRI scans and voxel-based morphometry and seed-based, resting-state functional connectivity analysis investigated correlations with shyness and anxiety scores. Shyness scores were positively correlated with gray matter density in the cerebellum, bilateral superior temporal gyri and parahippocampal gyri and right insula. Functional connectivity correlations with shyness were found between the superior temporal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus and the frontal gyri, between the insula and precentral gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, and between the cerebellum and precuneus. Additional correlations were found for amygdala connectivity with the medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, despite the absence of any structural correlation. By contrast no structural or functional connectivity measures correlated with social or trait anxiety. Our findings show that shyness is specifically associated with structural and functional connectivity changes in cortical and limbic regions involved with processing social stimuli. These associations are not found with social or trait anxiety in healthy subjects despite some behavioral correlations with shyness.

A Social-Interactive Neuroscience Approach to Understanding the Developing Brain.

PubMed

Redcay, Elizabeth; Warnell, Katherine Rice

2018-01-01

From birth onward, social interaction is central to our everyday lives. Our ability to seek out social partners, flexibly navigate and learn from social interactions, and develop social relationships is critically important for our social and cognitive development and for our mental and physical health. Despite the importance of our social interactions, the neurodevelopmental bases of such interactions are underexplored, as most research examines social processing in noninteractive contexts. We begin this chapter with evidence from behavioral work and adult neuroimaging studies demonstrating how social-interactive context fundamentally alters cognitive and neural processing. We then highlight four brain networks that play key roles in social interaction and, drawing on existing developmental neuroscience literature, posit the functional roles these networks may play in social-interactive development. We conclude by discussing how a social-interactive neuroscience approach holds great promise for advancing our understanding of both typical and atypical social development. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Arginine Vasotocin, the Social Neuropeptide of Amphibians and Reptiles

PubMed Central

Wilczynski, Walter; Quispe, Maricel; Muñoz, Matías I.; Penna, Mario

2017-01-01

Arginine vasotocin (AVT) is the non-mammalian homolog of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and, like vasopressin, serves as an important modulator of social behavior in addition to its peripheral functions related to osmoregulation, reproductive physiology, and stress hormone release. In amphibians and reptiles, the neuroanatomical organization of brain AVT cells and fibers broadly resembles that seen in mammals and other taxa. Both parvocellular and magnocellular AVT-containing neurons are present in multiple populations located mainly in the basal forebrain from the accumbens–amygdala area to the preoptic area and hypothalamus, from which originate widespread fiber connections spanning the brain with a particularly heavy innervation of areas associated with social behavior and decision-making. As for mammalian AVP, AVT is present in greater amounts in males in many brain areas, and its presence varies seasonally, with hormonal state, and in males with differing social status. AVT’s social influence is also conserved across herpetological taxa, with significant effects on social signaling and aggression, and, based on the very small number of studies investigating more complex social behaviors in amphibians and reptiles, AVT may also modulate parental care and social bonding when it is present in these vertebrates. Within this conserved pattern, however, both AVT anatomy and social behavior effects vary significantly across species. Accounting for this diversity represents a challenge to understanding the mechanisms by which AVT exerts its behavioral effects, as well are a potential tool for discerning the structure-function relationships underlying AVT’s many effects on behavior. PMID:28824546

Arginine Vasotocin, the Social Neuropeptide of Amphibians and Reptiles.

PubMed

Wilczynski, Walter; Quispe, Maricel; Muñoz, Matías I; Penna, Mario

2017-01-01

Arginine vasotocin (AVT) is the non-mammalian homolog of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and, like vasopressin, serves as an important modulator of social behavior in addition to its peripheral functions related to osmoregulation, reproductive physiology, and stress hormone release. In amphibians and reptiles, the neuroanatomical organization of brain AVT cells and fibers broadly resembles that seen in mammals and other taxa. Both parvocellular and magnocellular AVT-containing neurons are present in multiple populations located mainly in the basal forebrain from the accumbens-amygdala area to the preoptic area and hypothalamus, from which originate widespread fiber connections spanning the brain with a particularly heavy innervation of areas associated with social behavior and decision-making. As for mammalian AVP, AVT is present in greater amounts in males in many brain areas, and its presence varies seasonally, with hormonal state, and in males with differing social status. AVT's social influence is also conserved across herpetological taxa, with significant effects on social signaling and aggression, and, based on the very small number of studies investigating more complex social behaviors in amphibians and reptiles, AVT may also modulate parental care and social bonding when it is present in these vertebrates. Within this conserved pattern, however, both AVT anatomy and social behavior effects vary significantly across species. Accounting for this diversity represents a challenge to understanding the mechanisms by which AVT exerts its behavioral effects, as well are a potential tool for discerning the structure-function relationships underlying AVT's many effects on behavior.

Rethinking the role of the rTPJ in attention and social cognition in light of the opposing domains hypothesis: findings from an ALE-based meta-analysis and resting-state functional connectivity

PubMed Central

Kubit, Benjamin; Jack, Anthony I.

2013-01-01

The right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) has been associated with two apparently disparate functional roles: in attention and in social cognition. According to one account, the rTPJ initiates a “circuit-breaking” signal that interrupts ongoing attentional processes, effectively reorienting attention. It is argued this primary function of the rTPJ has been extended beyond attention, through a process of evolutionarily cooption, to play a role in social cognition. We propose an alternative account, according to which the capacity for social cognition depends on a network which is both distinct from and in tension with brain areas involved in focused attention and target detection: the default mode network (DMN). Theory characterizing the rTPJ based on the area's purported role in reorienting may be falsely guided by the co-occurrence of two distinct effects in contiguous regions: activation of the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), associated with its functional role in target detection; and the transient release, during spatial reorienting, of suppression of the angular gyrus (AG) associated with focused attention. Findings based on meta-analysis and resting functional connectivity are presented which support this alternative account. We find distinct regions, possessing anti-correlated patterns of resting connectivity, associated with social reasoning (AG) and target detection (SMG) at the rTPJ. The locus for reorienting was spatially intermediate between the AG and SMG and showed a pattern of connectivity with similarities to social reasoning and target detection seeds. These findings highlight a general methodological concern for brain imaging. Given evidence that certain tasks not only activate some areas but also suppress activity in other areas, it is suggested that researchers need to distinguish two distinct putative mechanisms, either of which may produce an increase in activity in a brain area: functional engagement in the task vs. release of suppression. PMID:23847497

The coordination dynamics of social neuromarkers

PubMed Central

Tognoli, Emmanuelle; Kelso, J. A. Scott

2015-01-01

Social behavior is a complex integrative function that entails many aspects of the brain’s sensory, cognitive, emotional and movement capacities. Its neural processes are seldom simultaneous but occur according to precise spatiotemporal choreographies, manifested by the coordination of their oscillations within and between brains. Methods with good temporal resolution can help to identify so-called “neuromarkers” of social function and aid in disentangling the dynamical architecture of social brains. In our ongoing research, we have used dual-electroencephalography (EEG) to study neuromarker dynamics during synchronic interactions in which pairs of subjects coordinate behavior spontaneously and intentionally (social coordination) and during diachronic transactions that require subjects to perceive or behave in turn (action observation, delayed imitation). In this paper, after outlining our dynamical approach to the neurophysiological basis of social behavior, we examine commonalities and differences in the neuromarkers that are recruited for both kinds of tasks. We find the neuromarker landscape to be task-specific: synchronic paradigms of social coordination reveal medial mu, alpha and the phi complex as contributing neuromarkers. Diachronic tasks recruit alpha as well, in addition to lateral mu rhythms and the newly discovered nu and kappa rhythms whose functional significance is still unclear. Social coordination, observation, and delayed imitation share commonality of context: in each of our experiments, subjects exchanged information through visual perception and moved in similar ways. Nonetheless, there was little overlap between their neuromarkers, a result that hints strongly of task-specific neural mechanisms for social behavior. The only neuromarker that transcended both synchronic and diachronic social behaviors was the ubiquitous alpha rhythm, which appears to be a key signature of visually-mediated social behaviors. The present paper is both an entry point and a challenge: much work remains to determine the nature and scope of recruitment of other neuromarkers, and to create theoretical models of their within- and between-brain dynamics during social interaction. PMID:26557067

Activation of prefrontal cortex and anterior thalamus in alcoholic subjects on exposure to alcohol-specific cues.

PubMed

George, M S; Anton, R F; Bloomer, C; Teneback, C; Drobes, D J; Lorberbaum, J P; Nahas, Z; Vincent, D J

2001-04-01

Functional imaging studies have recently demonstrated that specific brain regions become active in cocaine addicts when they are exposed to cocaine stimuli. To test whether there are regional brain activity differences during alcohol cue exposure between alcoholic subjects and social drinkers, we designed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol involving alcohol-specific cues. Ten non-treatment-seeking adult alcoholic subjects (2 women) (mean [SD] age, 29.9 [9.9] years) as well as 10 healthy social drinking controls of similar age (2 women) (mean [SD] age, 29.4 [8.9] years) were recruited, screened, and scanned. In the 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner, subjects were serially rated for alcohol craving before and after a sip of alcohol, and after a 9-minute randomized presentation of pictures of alcoholic beverages, control nonalcoholic beverages, and 2 different visual control tasks. During picture presentation, changes in regional brain activity were measured with the blood oxygen level-dependent technique. Alcoholic subjects, compared with the social drinking subjects, reported higher overall craving ratings for alcohol. After a sip of alcohol, while viewing alcohol cues compared with viewing other beverage cues, only the alcoholic subjects had increased activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior thalamus. The social drinkers exhibited specific activation only while viewing the control beverage pictures. When exposed to alcohol cues, alcoholic subjects have increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior thalamus-brain regions associated with emotion regulation, attention, and appetitive behavior.

Interbrains cooperation: Hyperscanning and self-perception in joint actions.

PubMed

Balconi, Michela; Vanutelli, Maria Elide

2017-08-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the neural bases of cooperative behaviors and social self-perception underlying the execution of joint actions by using a hyperscanning brain paradigm with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We firstly found that an artificial positive feedback on the cognitive performance was able to affect the self-perception of social position and hierarchy (higher social ranking) for the dyad, as well as the cognitive performance (decreased error rate, ER, and response times, RTs). In addition, the shared cognitive strategy was concurrently improved within the dyad after this social reinforcing. Secondly, fNIRS measures revealed an increased brain activity in the postfeedback condition for the dyad. Moreover, an interbrain similarity was found for the dyads during the task, with higher coherent prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity for the interagents in the postfeedback condition. Finally, a significant prefrontal brain lateralization effect was revealed, with the left hemisphere being more engaged during the postfeedback condition. To summarize, the self-perception, the cognitive performance, and the shared brain activity were all reinforced by the social feedback within the dyad.

Brain-to-Brain Synchrony and Learning Outcomes Vary by Student-Teacher Dynamics: Evidence from a Real-world Classroom Electroencephalography Study.

PubMed

Bevilacqua, Dana; Davidesco, Ido; Wan, Lu; Oostrik, Matthias; Chaloner, Kim; Rowland, Jess; Ding, Mingzhou; Poeppel, David; Dikker, Suzanne

2018-04-30

How does the human brain support real-world learning? We used wireless electroencephalography to collect neurophysiological data from a group of 12 senior high school students and their teacher during regular biology lessons. Six scheduled classes over the course of the semester were organized such that class materials were presented using different teaching styles (videos and lectures), and students completed a multiple-choice quiz after each class to measure their retention of that lesson's content. Both students' brain-to-brain synchrony and their content retention were higher for videos than lectures across the six classes. Brain-to-brain synchrony between the teacher and students varied as a function of student engagement as well as teacher likeability: Students who reported greater social closeness to the teacher showed higher brain-to-brain synchrony with the teacher, but this was only the case for lectures, that is, when the teacher is an integral part of the content presentation. Furthermore, students' retention of the class content correlated with student-teacher closeness, but not with brain-to-brain synchrony. These findings expand on existing social neuroscience research by showing that social factors such as perceived closeness are reflected in brain-to-brain synchrony in real-world group settings and can predict cognitive outcomes such as students' academic performance.

I remember you: a role for memory in social cognition and the functional neuroanatomy of their interaction.

PubMed

Spreng, R Nathan; Mar, Raymond A

2012-01-05

Remembering events from the personal past (autobiographical memory) and inferring the thoughts and feelings of other people (mentalizing) share a neural substrate. The shared functional neuroanatomy of these processes has been demonstrated in a meta-analysis of independent task domains (Spreng, Mar & Kim, 2009) and within subjects performing both tasks (Rabin, Gilboa, Stuss, Mar, & Rosenbaum, 2010; Spreng & Grady, 2010). Here, we examine spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations in fMRI BOLD signal during rest from two separate regions key to memory and mentalizing, the left hippocampus and right temporal parietal junction, respectively. Activity in these two regions was then correlated with the entire brain in a resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Although the left hippocampus and right temporal parietal junction were not correlated with each other, both were correlated with a distributed network of brain regions. These regions were consistent with the previously observed overlap between autobiographical memory and mentalizing evoked brain activity found in past studies. Reliable patterns of overlap included the superior temporal sulcus, anterior temporal lobe, lateral inferior parietal cortex (angular gyrus), posterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial and ventral prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, and the amygdala. We propose that the functional overlap facilitates the integration of personal and interpersonal information and provides a means for personal experiences to become social conceptual knowledge. This knowledge, in turn, informs strategic social behavior in support of personal goals. In closing, we argue for a new perspective within social cognitive neuroscience, emphasizing the importance of memory in social cognition. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

I remember you: A role for memory in social cognition and the functional neuroanatomy of their interaction

PubMed Central

Spreng, R. Nathan; Mar, Raymond A.

2011-01-01

Remembering events from the personal past (autobiographical memory) and inferring the thoughts and feelings of other people (mentalizing) share a neural substrate. The shared functional neuroanatomy of these processes has been demonstrated in a meta-analysis of independent task domains (Spreng, Mar & Kim, 2009) and within subjects performing both tasks (Rabin, Gilboa, Stuss, Mar, & Rosenbaum, 2010; Spreng & Grady, 2010). Here, we examine spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations in fMRI BOLD signal during rest from two separate regions key to memory and mentalizing, the left hippocampus and right temporal parietal junction, respectively. Activity in these two regions was then correlated with the entire brain in a resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Although the left hippocampus and right temporal parietal junction were not correlated with each other, both were correlated with a distributed network of brain regions. These regions were consistent with the previously observed overlap between autobiographical memory and mentalizing evoked brain activity found in past studies. Reliable patterns of overlap included the superior temporal sulcus, anterior temporal lobe, lateral inferior parietal cortex (angular gyrus), posterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial and ventral prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, and the amygdala. We propose that the functional overlap facilitates the integration of personal and interpersonal information and provides a means for personal experiences to become social conceptual knowledge. This knowledge, in turn, informs strategic social behavior in support of personal goals. In closing, we argue for a new perspective within social cognitive neuroscience, emphasizing the importance of memory in social cognition. PMID:21172325

Social comparison in the brain: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies on the downward and upward comparisons.

PubMed

Luo, Yi; Eickhoff, Simon B; Hétu, Sébastien; Feng, Chunliang

2018-01-01

Social comparison is ubiquitous across human societies with dramatic influence on people's well-being and decision making. Downward comparison (comparing to worse-off others) and upward comparison (comparing to better-off others) constitute two types of social comparisons that produce different neuropsychological consequences. Based on studies exploring neural signatures associated with downward and upward comparisons, the current study utilized a coordinate-based meta-analysis to provide a refinement of understanding about the underlying neural architecture of social comparison. We identified consistent involvement of the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in downward comparison and consistent involvement of the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in upward comparison. These findings fit well with the "common-currency" hypothesis that neural representations of social gain or loss resemble those for non-social reward or loss processing. Accordingly, we discussed our findings in the framework of general reinforcement learning (RL) hypothesis, arguing how social gain/loss induced by social comparisons could be encoded by the brain as a domain-general signal (i.e., prediction errors) serving to adjust people's decisions in social settings. Although the RL account may serve as a heuristic framework for the future research, other plausible accounts on the neuropsychological mechanism of social comparison were also acknowledged. Hum Brain Mapp 39:440-458, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Diminished social reward anticipation in the broad autism phenotype as revealed by event-related brain potentials

PubMed Central

Cox, Anthony; Kohls, Gregor; Naples, Adam J.; Mukerji, Cora E.; Coffman, Marika C.; Rutherford, Helena J. V.; Mayes, Linda C.

2015-01-01

Diminished responsivity to reward incentives is a key contributor to the social-communication problems seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Social motivation theories suggest that individuals with ASD do not experience social interactions as rewarding, leading to negative consequences for the development of brain circuitry subserving social information. In this study, we examined neural responses to social and non-social reward anticipation in 35 typically developing young adults, examining modulation of reward sensitivity by level of autistic traits. Using an Event-related potential incentive-delay task incorporating novel, more ecologically valid forms of reward, higher expression of autistic traits was associated with an attenuated P3 response to the anticipation of social (simulated real-time video feedback from an observer), but not non-social (candy), rewards. Exploratory analyses revealed that this was unrelated to mentalizing ability. The P3 component reflects motivated attention to reward signals, suggesting attenuated motivation allocation specific to social incentives. The study extends prior findings of atypical reward anticipation in ASD, demonstrating that attenuated social reward responsiveness extends to autistic traits in the range of typical functioning. Results support the development of innovative paradigms for investigating social and non-social reward responsiveness. Insight into vulnerabilities in reward processing is critical for understanding social function in ASD. PMID:25752905

Longitudinal functional brain imaging study in early course schizophrenia before and after cognitive enhancement therapy.

PubMed

Keshavan, Matcheri S; Eack, Shaun M; Prasad, Konasale M; Haller, Chiara S; Cho, Raymond Y

2017-05-01

Schizophrenia is characterized by impaired -social and non social cognition both of which lead to functional deficits. These deficits may benefit from cognitive remediation, but the neural underpinnings of such improvements have not been clearly delineated. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) study in early course schizophrenia patients randomly assigned to cognitive enhancement therapy (CET) or enriched supportive therapy (EST) and treated for two years. Imaging data over three time points including fMRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) data were acquired during performance of a cognitive control paradigm, the Preparing to Overcome Prepotency (POP) task, and functional connectivity data, were analyzed. During the two years of treatment, CET patients showed a continual increase in BOLD activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), whereas EST patients tended to show no change in prefrontal brain function throughout treatment. Increases in right DLPFC activity were modestly associated with improved neurocognition (β = .14, p = .041), but not social cognition. Functional connectivity analyses showed reduced connectivity between the DLPFC and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in CET compared to EST over the two years of treatment, which was associated with neurocognitive improvement. These findings suggest that CET leads to enhanced neural activity in brain regions mediating cognitive control and increased efficiency in prefrontal circuits; such changes may be related to the observed therapeutic effects of CET on neurocognitive function. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Friends with social benefits: host-microbe interactions as a driver of brain evolution and development?

PubMed Central

Stilling, Roman M.; Bordenstein, Seth R.; Dinan, Timothy G.; Cryan, John F.

2014-01-01

The tight association of the human body with trillions of colonizing microbes that we observe today is the result of a long evolutionary history. Only very recently have we started to understand how this symbiosis also affects brain function and behavior. In this hypothesis and theory article, we propose how host-microbe associations potentially influenced mammalian brain evolution and development. In particular, we explore the integration of human brain development with evolution, symbiosis, and RNA biology, which together represent a “social triangle” that drives human social behavior and cognition. We argue that, in order to understand how inter-kingdom communication can affect brain adaptation and plasticity, it is inevitable to consider epigenetic mechanisms as important mediators of genome-microbiome interactions on an individual as well as a transgenerational time scale. Finally, we unite these interpretations with the hologenome theory of evolution. Taken together, we propose a tighter integration of neuroscience fields with host-associated microbiology by taking an evolutionary perspective. PMID:25401092

Methamphetamine Abuse and Impairment of Social Functioning: A Review of the Underlying Neurophysiological Causes and Behavioral Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Homer, Bruce D.; Solomon, Todd M.; Moeller, Robert W.; Mascia, Amy; DeRaleau, Lauren; Halkitis, Perry N.

2008-01-01

The highly addictive drug methamphetamine has been associated with impairments in social cognitions as evidenced by changes in users' behaviors. Physiological changes in brain structure and functioning, particularly in the frontal lobe, have also been identified. The authors propose a biopsychosocial approach to understanding the effects of…

A neural circuit covarying with social hierarchy in macaques.

PubMed

Noonan, MaryAnn P; Sallet, Jerome; Mars, Rogier B; Neubert, Franz X; O'Reilly, Jill X; Andersson, Jesper L; Mitchell, Anna S; Bell, Andrew H; Miller, Karla L; Rushworth, Matthew F S

2014-09-01

Despite widespread interest in social dominance, little is known of its neural correlates in primates. We hypothesized that social status in primates might be related to individual variation in subcortical brain regions implicated in other aspects of social and emotional behavior in other mammals. To examine this possibility we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which affords the taking of quantitative measurements noninvasively, both of brain structure and of brain function, across many regions simultaneously. We carried out a series of tests of structural and functional MRI (fMRI) data in 25 group-living macaques. First, a deformation-based morphometric (DBM) approach was used to show that gray matter in the amygdala, brainstem in the vicinity of the raphe nucleus, and reticular formation, hypothalamus, and septum/striatum of the left hemisphere was correlated with social status. Second, similar correlations were found in the same areas in the other hemisphere. Third, similar correlations were found in a second data set acquired several months later from a subset of the same animals. Fourth, the strength of coupling between fMRI-measured activity in the same areas was correlated with social status. The network of subcortical areas, however, had no relationship with the sizes of individuals' social networks, suggesting the areas had a simple and direct relationship with social status. By contrast a second circuit in cortex, comprising the midsuperior temporal sulcus and anterior and dorsal prefrontal cortex, covaried with both individuals' social statuses and the social network sizes they experienced. This cortical circuit may be linked to the social cognitive processes that are taxed by life in more complex social networks and that must also be used if an animal is to achieve a high social status.

A Neural Circuit Covarying with Social Hierarchy in Macaques

PubMed Central

Neubert, Franz X.; O'Reilly, Jill X.; Andersson, Jesper L.; Mitchell, Anna S.; Bell, Andrew H.; Miller, Karla L.; Rushworth, Matthew F. S.

2014-01-01

Despite widespread interest in social dominance, little is known of its neural correlates in primates. We hypothesized that social status in primates might be related to individual variation in subcortical brain regions implicated in other aspects of social and emotional behavior in other mammals. To examine this possibility we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which affords the taking of quantitative measurements noninvasively, both of brain structure and of brain function, across many regions simultaneously. We carried out a series of tests of structural and functional MRI (fMRI) data in 25 group-living macaques. First, a deformation-based morphometric (DBM) approach was used to show that gray matter in the amygdala, brainstem in the vicinity of the raphe nucleus, and reticular formation, hypothalamus, and septum/striatum of the left hemisphere was correlated with social status. Second, similar correlations were found in the same areas in the other hemisphere. Third, similar correlations were found in a second data set acquired several months later from a subset of the same animals. Fourth, the strength of coupling between fMRI-measured activity in the same areas was correlated with social status. The network of subcortical areas, however, had no relationship with the sizes of individuals' social networks, suggesting the areas had a simple and direct relationship with social status. By contrast a second circuit in cortex, comprising the midsuperior temporal sulcus and anterior and dorsal prefrontal cortex, covaried with both individuals' social statuses and the social network sizes they experienced. This cortical circuit may be linked to the social cognitive processes that are taxed by life in more complex social networks and that must also be used if an animal is to achieve a high social status. PMID:25180883

On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain”

PubMed Central

Mars, Rogier B.; Neubert, Franz-Xaver; Noonan, MaryAnn P.; Sallet, Jerome; Toni, Ivan; Rushworth, Matthew F. S.

2012-01-01

The default mode network (DMN) of the brain consists of areas that are typically more active during rest than during active task performance. Recently however, this network has been shown to be activated by certain types of tasks. Social cognition, particularly higher-order tasks such as attributing mental states to others, has been suggested to activate a network of areas at least partly overlapping with the DMN. Here, we explore this claim, drawing on evidence from meta-analyses of functional MRI data and recent studies investigating the structural and functional connectivity of the social brain. In addition, we discuss recent evidence for the existence of a DMN in non-human primates. We conclude by discussing some of the implications of these observations. PMID:22737119

Effectiveness of Animal Assisted Therapy after brain injury: A bridge to improved outcomes in CRT.

PubMed

Stapleton, Mary

2016-06-18

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been widely used as a complementary therapy in mental health treatment especially to remediate social skill deficits. The goal of AAT is to improve social, emotional, and cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to draw upon the literature on AAT and explore specific applications to cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and social skills training. This study provides a systematic review of most of the available literature on ATT and assesses that potential uses of ATT for brain injury rehabilitation. Although the efficacy of AAT is not currently well documented by rigorous research, (Kazin, 2010) anecdotal evidence suggests that brain injury survivors may benefit from the combination of AAT and cognitive rehabilitation techniques. Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) survivors with cognitive impairments can benefit from AAT as part of a comprehensive and holistic rehabilitation treatment plan.

Involvement of Neuroinflammation during Brain Development in Social Cognitive Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Yutaka; Chiba, Kenji

2016-09-01

Development of social cognition, a unique and high-order function, depends on brain maturation from childhood to adulthood in humans. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia have similar social cognitive deficits, although age of onset in each disorder is different. Pathogenesis of these disorders is complex and contains several features, including genetic risk factors, environmental risk factors, and sites of abnormalities in the brain. Although several hypotheses have been postulated, they seem to be insufficient to explain how brain alterations associated with symptoms in these disorders develop at distinct developmental stages. Development of ASD appears to be related to cerebellar dysfunction and subsequent thalamic hyperactivation in early childhood. By contrast, schizophrenia seems to be triggered by thalamic hyperactivation in late adolescence, whereas hippocampal aberration has been possibly initiated in childhood. One of the possible culprits is metal homeostasis disturbances that can induce dysfunction of blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. Thalamic hyperactivation is thought to be induced by microglia-mediated neuroinflammation and abnormalities of intracerebral environment. Consequently, it is likely that the thalamic hyperactivation triggers dysregulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for lower brain regions related to social cognition. In this review, we summarize the brain aberration in ASD and schizophrenia and provide a possible mechanism underlying social cognitive deficits in these disorders based on their distinct ages of onset. Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Oxytocin receptor polymorphism and childhood social experiences shape adult personality, brain structure and neural correlates of mentalizing.

PubMed

Schneider-Hassloff, H; Straube, B; Jansen, A; Nuscheler, B; Wemken, G; Witt, S H; Rietschel, M; Kircher, T

2016-07-01

The oxytocin system is involved in human social behavior and social cognition such as attachment, emotion recognition and mentalizing (i.e. the ability to represent mental states of oneself and others). It is shaped by social experiences in early life, especially by parent-infant interactions. The single nucleotid polymorphism rs53576 in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene has been linked to social behavioral phenotypes. In 195 adult healthy subjects we investigated the interaction of OXTR rs53576 and childhood attachment security (CAS) on the personality traits "adult attachment style" and "alexithymia" (i.e. emotional self-awareness), on brain structure (voxel-based morphometry) and neural activation (fMRI) during an interactive mentalizing paradigm (prisoner's dilemma game; subgroup: n=163). We found that in GG-homozygotes, but not in A-allele carriers, insecure childhood attachment is - in adulthood - associated with a) higher attachment-related anxiety and alexithymia, b) higher brain gray matter volume of left amygdala and lower volumes in right superior parietal lobule (SPL), left temporal pole (TP), and bilateral frontal regions, and c) higher mentalizing-related neural activity in bilateral TP and precunei, and right middle and superior frontal gyri. Interaction effects of genotype and CAS on brain volume and/or function were associated with individual differences in alexithymia and attachment-related anxiety. Interactive effects were in part sexually dimorphic. The interaction of OXTR genotype and CAS modulates adult personality as well as brain structure and function of areas implicated in salience processing and mentalizing. Rs53576 GG-homozygotes are partially more susceptible to childhood attachment experiences than A-allele carriers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A new methodical approach in neuroscience: assessing inter-personal brain coupling using functional near-infrared imaging (fNIRI) hyperscanning.

PubMed

Scholkmann, Felix; Holper, Lisa; Wolf, Ursula; Wolf, Martin

2013-11-27

Since the first demonstration of how to simultaneously measure brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on two subjects about 10 years ago, a new paradigm in neuroscience is emerging: measuring brain activity from two or more people simultaneously, termed "hyperscanning". The hyperscanning approach has the potential to reveal inter-personal brain mechanisms underlying interaction-mediated brain-to-brain coupling. These mechanisms are engaged during real social interactions, and cannot be captured using single-subject recordings. In particular, functional near-infrared imaging (fNIRI) hyperscanning is a promising new method, offering a cost-effective, easy to apply and reliable technology to measure inter-personal interactions in a natural context. In this short review we report on fNIRI hyperscanning studies published so far and summarize opportunities and challenges for future studies.

Imbalance in subregional connectivity of the right temporoparietal junction in major depression.

PubMed

Poeppl, Timm B; Müller, Veronika I; Hoffstaedter, Felix; Bzdok, Danilo; Laird, Angela R; Fox, Peter T; Langguth, Berthold; Rupprecht, Rainer; Sorg, Christian; Riedl, Valentin; Goya-Maldonado, Roberto; Gruber, Oliver; Eickhoff, Simon B

2016-08-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) involves impairment in cognitive and interpersonal functioning. The right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) is a key brain region subserving cognitive-attentional and social processes. Yet, findings on the involvement of the RTPJ in the pathophysiology of MDD have so far been controversial. Recent connectivity-based parcellation data revealed a topofunctional dualism within the RTPJ, linking its anterior and posterior part (aRTPJ/pRTPJ) to antagonistic brain networks for attentional and social processing, respectively. Comparing functional resting-state connectivity of the aRTPJ and pRTPJ in 72 MDD patients and 76 well-matched healthy controls, we found a seed (aRTPJ/pRTPJ) × diagnosis (MDD/controls) interaction in functional connectivity for eight regions. Employing meta-data from a large-scale neuroimaging database, functional characterization of these regions exhibiting differentially altered connectivity with the aRTPJ/pRTPJ revealed associations with cognitive (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parahippocampus) and behavioral (posterior medial frontal cortex) control, visuospatial processing (dorsal visual cortex), reward (subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex), as well as memory retrieval and social cognition (precuneus). These findings suggest that an imbalance in connectivity of subregions, rather than disturbed connectivity of the RTPJ as a whole, characterizes the connectional disruption of the RTPJ in MDD. This imbalance may account for key symptoms of MDD in cognitive, emotional, and social domains. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2931-2942, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Functional Architecture of the Brain Underlies Strategic Deception in Impression Management

PubMed Central

Luo, Qiang; Ma, Yina; Bhatt, Meghana A.; Montague, P. Read; Feng, Jianfeng

2017-01-01

Impression management, as one of the most essential skills of social function, impacts one's survival and success in human societies. However, the neural architecture underpinning this social skill remains poorly understood. By employing a two-person bargaining game, we exposed three strategies involving distinct cognitive processes for social impression management with different levels of strategic deception. We utilized a novel adaptation of Granger causality accounting for signal-dependent noise (SDN), which captured the directional connectivity underlying the impression management during the bargaining game. We found that the sophisticated strategists engaged stronger directional connectivity from both dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex to rostral prefrontal cortex, and the strengths of these directional influences were associated with higher level of deception during the game. Using the directional connectivity as a neural signature, we identified the strategic deception with 80% accuracy by a machine-learning classifier. These results suggest that different social strategies are supported by distinct patterns of directional connectivity among key brain regions for social cognition. PMID:29163095

The Functional Architecture of the Brain Underlies Strategic Deception in Impression Management.

PubMed

Luo, Qiang; Ma, Yina; Bhatt, Meghana A; Montague, P Read; Feng, Jianfeng

2017-01-01

Impression management, as one of the most essential skills of social function, impacts one's survival and success in human societies. However, the neural architecture underpinning this social skill remains poorly understood. By employing a two-person bargaining game, we exposed three strategies involving distinct cognitive processes for social impression management with different levels of strategic deception. We utilized a novel adaptation of Granger causality accounting for signal-dependent noise (SDN), which captured the directional connectivity underlying the impression management during the bargaining game. We found that the sophisticated strategists engaged stronger directional connectivity from both dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex to rostral prefrontal cortex, and the strengths of these directional influences were associated with higher level of deception during the game. Using the directional connectivity as a neural signature, we identified the strategic deception with 80% accuracy by a machine-learning classifier. These results suggest that different social strategies are supported by distinct patterns of directional connectivity among key brain regions for social cognition.

Hearing, Cognition, and Healthy Aging: Social and Public Health Implications of the Links between Age-Related Declines in Hearing and Cognition

PubMed Central

Pichora-Fuller, M. Kathleen; Mick, Paul; Reed, Marilyn

2015-01-01

Sensory input provides the signals used by the brain when listeners understand speech and participate in social activities with other people in a range of everyday situations. When sensory inputs are diminished, there can be short-term consequences to brain functioning, and long-term deprivation can affect brain neuroplasticity. Indeed, the association between hearing loss and cognitive declines in older adults is supported by experimental and epidemiologic evidence, although the causal mechanisms remain unknown. These interactions of auditory and cognitive aging play out in the challenges confronted by people with age-related hearing problems when understanding speech and engaging in social interactions. In the present article, we use the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and the Selective Optimization with Compensation models to highlight the importance of adopting a healthy aging perspective that focuses on facilitating active social participation by older adults. First, we examine epidemiologic evidence linking ARHL to cognitive declines and other health issues. Next, we examine how social factors influence and are influenced by auditory and cognitive aging and if they may provide a possible explanation for the association between ARHL and cognitive decline. Finally, we outline how audiologists could reposition hearing health care within the broader context of healthy aging. PMID:27516713

fMRI BOLD response to the eyes task in offspring from multiplex alcohol dependence families.

PubMed

Hill, Shirley Y; Kostelnik, Bryan; Holmes, Brian; Goradia, Dhruman; McDermott, Michael; Diwadkar, Vaibhav; Keshavan, Matcheri

2007-12-01

Increased susceptibility for developing alcohol dependence (AD) may be related to structural and functional differences in brain circuits that influence social cognition and more specifically, theory of mind (ToM). Alcohol dependent individuals have a greater likelihood of having deficits in social skills and greater social alienation. These characteristics may be related to inherited differences in the neuroanatomical network that comprises the social brain. Adolescent/young adult participants from multiplex AD families and controls (n = 16) were matched for gender, age, IQ, education, and handedness and administered the Eyes Task of Baron-Cohen during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). High-risk (HR) subjects showed significantly diminished blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in comparison with low-risk control young adults in the right middle temporal gyrus (RMTG) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), areas that have previously been implicated in ToM tasks. Offspring from multiplex families for AD may manifest one aspect of their genetic susceptibility by having a diminished BOLD response in brain regions associated with performance of ToM tasks. These results suggest that those at risk for developing AD may have reduced ability to empathize with others' state of mind, possibly resulting in diminished social skill.

Reasoning about the implications of facial expressions: a behavioral and fMRI study on low and high social impact.

PubMed

Prochnow, D; Brunheim, S; Steinhäuser, L; Seitz, R J

2014-10-01

Inferring the cause of another person's emotional state is relevant for guiding behavior in social interactions. With respect to their potentially evoked behavioral reactions some emotional states like anger or happiness are considered to have high social impact while others such as fear and sadness have low social impact. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to map the brain activation patterns related to reasoning about facial expressions of emotions with high or low social impact in twenty-six healthy volunteers with good emotional competence, self-reported empathy, and explicit facial affect recognition abilities. Our data show that empathic reasoning was faster and more accurate for high impact emotional states than for low impact emotional states. Activated brain areas involved brain circuits associated with basic and higher order empathy and decision-making in the dorsomedial and dorsolateral frontal cortex. However, activation in higher order areas was less during reasoning about emotional states of high social impact. Taken together, reasoning of high and low impact emotional states relied on similar empathy-related brain areas with reasoning about emotional states of low social impact being more erroneous and requiring more cognitive resources. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Power of Secret Stories: Constructing Mental Patterns during the Reading-Writing Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krisell, Meredith; Counsell, Shelly

2017-01-01

The brain is a complex organ with an intellectual capacity that is unique to humans. For educators, it is wise to study the brain's many attributes and how it functions to help guide, inform, and improve teaching practice. Learners' brains are particularly sensitive to certain kinds of stimuli--that is social, physical, cognitive, and emotional…

Mental disorders are not brain disorders.

PubMed

Banner, Natalie F

2013-06-01

As advances in neuroscience and genetics reveal complex associations between brain structures, functions and symptoms of mental disorders, there have been calls for psychiatric classifications to be reconfigured, to conceptualize mental disorders as disorders of the brain. In this paper, I argue that this view is mistaken, and that the level at which we identify mental disorders is, and should be, the person, not the brain. This is not to deny physicalism or argue that the mental realm is somehow distinct from the physical, but rather to suggest the things that are going 'wrong' in mental disorder are picked out at the person-level: they are characterized by breaches in epistemic, rational, evaluative, emotional, social and moral norms. However, as our scientific understanding of the brain becomes advanced, what makes an identified neurobiological difference in brain structure or functioning indicative of pathology is its association with these behaviours at the person-level. Instead of collapsing psychiatry into biomedicine, biomedicine may benefit from drawing closer to the expertise of psychiatry, as it is able to accommodate social, psychological and biological explanations while focusing on the person, within their environment. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase and NADPH Oxidase Interact to Affect Cognitive, Affective, and Social Behaviors in Mice

PubMed Central

Walton, James C.; Selvakumar, Balakrishnan; Weil, Zachary M.; Snyder, Solomon H.; Nelson, Randy J.

2013-01-01

Both nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by nNOS and NADPH oxidase (NOX), respectively, in the brain have been implicated in an array of behaviors ranging from learning and memory to social interactions. Although recent work has elucidated how these separate redox pathways regulate neural function and behavior, the interaction of these two pathways in the regulation of neural function and behavior remains unspecified. Toward this end, the p47phox subunit of NOX, and nNOS were deleted to generate double knockout mice that were used to characterize the behavioral outcomes of concurrent impairment of the NO and ROS pathways in the brain. Mice were tested in a battery of behavioral tasks to evaluate learning and memory, as well as social, affective, and cognitive behaviors. p47phox deletion did not affect depressive-like behavior, whereas nNOS deletion abolished it. Both p47phox and nNOS deletion singly reduced anxiety-like behavior, increased general locomotor activity, impaired spatial learning and memory, and impaired preference for social novelty. Deletion of both genes concurrently had synergistic effects to elevate locomotor activity, impair spatial learning and memory, and disrupt prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle. Although preference for social novelty was impaired in single knockouts, double knockout mice displayed elevated levels of preference for social novelty above that of wild type littermates. These data demonstrate that, depending upon modality, deletion of p47phox and nNOS genes have dissimilar, similar, or additive effects. The current findings provide evidence that the NOX and nNOS redox signaling cascades interact in the brain to affect both cognitive function and social behavior. PMID:23948215

Anatomical connectivity influences both intra- and inter-brain synchronizations.

PubMed

Dumas, Guillaume; Chavez, Mario; Nadel, Jacqueline; Martinerie, Jacques

2012-01-01

Recent development in diffusion spectrum brain imaging combined to functional simulation has the potential to further our understanding of how structure and dynamics are intertwined in the human brain. At the intra-individual scale, neurocomputational models have already started to uncover how the human connectome constrains the coordination of brain activity across distributed brain regions. In parallel, at the inter-individual scale, nascent social neuroscience provides a new dynamical vista of the coupling between two embodied cognitive agents. Using EEG hyperscanning to record simultaneously the brain activities of subjects during their ongoing interaction, we have previously demonstrated that behavioral synchrony correlates with the emergence of inter-brain synchronization. However, the functional meaning of such synchronization remains to be specified. Here, we use a biophysical model to quantify to what extent inter-brain synchronizations are related to the anatomical and functional similarity of the two brains in interaction. Pairs of interacting brains were numerically simulated and compared to real data. Results show a potential dynamical property of the human connectome to facilitate inter-individual synchronizations and thus may partly account for our propensity to generate dynamical couplings with others.

Brain mitochondrial bioenergetics change with rapid and prolonged shifts in aggression in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.

PubMed

Rittschof, Clare C; Vekaria, Hemendra J; Palmer, Joseph H; Sullivan, Patrick G

2018-04-25

Neuronal function demands high-level energy production, and as such, a decline in mitochondrial respiration characterizes brain injury and disease. A growing number of studies, however, link brain mitochondrial function to behavioral modulation in non-diseased contexts. In the honey bee, we show for the first time that an acute social interaction, which invokes an aggressive response, may also cause a rapid decline in brain mitochondrial bioenergetics. The degree and speed of this decline has only been previously observed in the context of brain injury. Furthermore, in the honey bee, age-related increases in aggressive tendency are associated with increased baseline brain mitochondrial respiration, as well as increased plasticity in response to metabolic fuel type in vitro Similarly, diet restriction and ketone body feeding, which commonly enhance mammalian brain mitochondrial function in vivo , cause increased aggression. Thus, even in normal behavioral contexts, brain mitochondria show a surprising degree of variation in function over both rapid and prolonged time scales, with age predicting both baseline function and plasticity in function. These results suggest that mitochondrial function is integral to modulating aggression-related neuronal signaling. We hypothesize that variation in function reflects mitochondrial calcium buffering activity, and that shifts in mitochondrial function signal to the neuronal soma to regulate gene expression and neural energetic state. Modulating brain energetic state is emerging as a critical component of the regulation of behavior in non-diseased contexts. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Oxytocin influences processing of socially relevant cues in the ventral tegmental area of the human brain.

PubMed

Groppe, Sarah E; Gossen, Anna; Rademacher, Lena; Hahn, Alexa; Westphal, Luzie; Gründer, Gerhard; Spreckelmeyer, Katja N

2013-08-01

Evidence accumulates that the neuropeptide oxytocin plays an important role in mediating social interaction among humans and that a dysfunction in oxytocin-modulated brain mechanisms might lie at the core of disturbed social behavior in neuropsychiatric disease. Explanatory models suggest that oxytocin guides social approach and avoidance by modulating the perceived salience of socially meaningful cues. Animal data point toward the ventral tegmental area (VTA) as the brain site where this modulation takes place. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a social incentive delay task to test the hypothesis that oxytocin modulates the neural processing of socially relevant cues in the VTA, hereby facilitating behavioral response. Twenty-eight nulliparous women (not taking any hormones) received intranasal oxytocin or placebo in a double-blind randomized clinical trial with a parallel-group design. Oxytocin significantly enhanced VTA activation in response to cues signaling social reward (friendly face) or social punishment (angry face). Oxytocin effects on behavioral performance were modulated by individual differences in sociability with enhanced performance in women scoring low but decreased performance in women scoring high on self-reported measures of agreeableness. Our data provide evidence that the VTA is the human brain site where oxytocin attaches salience to socially relevant cues. This mechanism might play an important role in triggering motivation to react at the prospect of social reward or punishment. Copyright © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Imaging brain development: the adolescent brain.

PubMed

Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2012-06-01

The past 15 years have seen a rapid expansion in the number of studies using neuroimaging techniques to investigate maturational changes in the human brain. In this paper, I review MRI studies on structural changes in the developing brain, and fMRI studies on functional changes in the social brain during adolescence. Both MRI and fMRI studies point to adolescence as a period of continued neural development. In the final section, I discuss a number of areas of research that are just beginning and may be the subject of developmental neuroimaging in the next twenty years. Future studies might focus on complex questions including the development of functional connectivity; how gender and puberty influence adolescent brain development; the effects of genes, environment and culture on the adolescent brain; development of the atypical adolescent brain; and implications for policy of the study of the adolescent brain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Oxytocin: parallel processing in the social brain?

PubMed

Dölen, Gül

2015-06-01

Early studies attempting to disentangle the network complexity of the brain exploited the accessibility of sensory receptive fields to reveal circuits made up of synapses connected both in series and in parallel. More recently, extension of this organisational principle beyond the sensory systems has been made possible by the advent of modern molecular, viral and optogenetic approaches. Here, evidence supporting parallel processing of social behaviours mediated by oxytocin is reviewed. Understanding oxytocinergic signalling from this perspective has significant implications for the design of oxytocin-based therapeutic interventions aimed at disorders such as autism, where disrupted social function is a core clinical feature. Moreover, identification of opportunities for novel technology development will require a better appreciation of the complexity of the circuit-level organisation of the social brain. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Neuroendocrinology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Society for Neuroendocrinology.

Development of the social brain from age three to twelve years.

PubMed

Richardson, Hilary; Lisandrelli, Grace; Riobueno-Naylor, Alexa; Saxe, Rebecca

2018-03-12

Human adults recruit distinct networks of brain regions to think about the bodies and minds of others. This study characterizes the development of these networks, and tests for relationships between neural development and behavioral changes in reasoning about others' minds ('theory of mind', ToM). A large sample of children (n = 122, 3-12 years), and adults (n = 33), watched a short movie while undergoing fMRI. The movie highlights the characters' bodily sensations (often pain) and mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions), and is a feasible experiment for young children. Here we report three main findings: (1) ToM and pain networks are functionally distinct by age 3 years, (2) functional specialization increases throughout childhood, and (3) functional maturity of each network is related to increasingly anti-correlated responses between the networks. Furthermore, the most studied milestone in ToM development, passing explicit false-belief tasks, does not correspond to discontinuities in the development of the social brain.

Rethinking the thinking cap

PubMed Central

Messing, Samuel; Chatterjee, Anjan

2011-01-01

Although a growing body of evidence suggests that noninvasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation have the capacity to enhance neural function in both brain-injured and neurally intact individuals, the implications of their potential use for cosmetic self-enhancement have not been fully explored. We review 3 areas in which noninvasive brain stimulation has the potential to enhance neurologic function: cognitive skills, mood, and social cognition. We then characterize the ethical problems that affect the practice of cosmetic neurology, including safety, character, justice, and autonomy, and discuss how these problems may apply to the use of noninvasive brain stimulation for self-enhancement. PMID:21220723

Neurocognitive Basis of Racial Ingroup Bias in Empathy.

PubMed

Han, Shihui

2018-05-01

Racial discrimination in social behavior, although disapproved of by many contemporary cultures, has been widely reported. Because empathy plays a key functional role in social behavior, brain imaging researchers have extensively investigated the neurocognitive underpinnings of racial ingroup bias in empathy. This research has revealed consistent evidence for increased neural responses to the perceived pain of same-race compared with other-race individuals in multiple brain regions and across multiple time-windows. Researchers have also examined neurocognitive, sociocultural, and environmental influences on racial ingroup bias in empathic neural responses, as well as explored possible interventions to reduce racial ingroup bias in empathic brain activity. These findings have important implications for understanding racial ingroup favoritism in social behavior and for improving interracial communication. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural substrates of social facilitation effects on incentive-based performance

PubMed Central

Chib, Vikram S; Adachi, Ryo; O’Doherty, John P

2018-01-01

Abstract Throughout our lives we must perform tasks while being observed by others. Previous studies have shown that the presence of an audience can cause increases in an individual’s performance as compared to when they are not being observed—a phenomenon called ‘social facilitation’. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect, in the context of skilled-task performance for monetary incentives, are not well understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor brain activity while healthy human participants performed a skilled-task during conditions in which they were paid based on their performance and observed and not observed by an audience. We found that during social facilitation, social signals represented in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) enhanced reward value computations in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). We also found that functional connectivity between dmPFC and ventral striatum was enhanced when participants exhibited social facilitation effects, indicative of a means by which social signals serve to modulate brain regions involved in regulating behavioral motivation. These findings illustrate how neural processing of social judgments gives rise to the enhanced motivational state that results in social facilitation of incentive-based performance. PMID:29648653

Parental perspectives on recovery and social reintegration after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Prigatano, George P; Gray, Jennifer

2008-01-01

To determine the validity of parental ratings of their child's overall recovery and social reintegration after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Primary care hospital/medical center. Ninety-nine children aged 6 to 16 years (80 with TBI and 19 orthopedic trauma controls) evaluated as outpatients. Parental ratings of overall recovery and social reintegration; neuropsychological test performance. Severity of injury correlated with postacute parental ratings of the child's overall recovery (r = -0.498, N = 84, P = .001) and social reintegration (r = -0.507, N = 84, P = .001). A similar correlation was observed between TBI severity and a known "objective" marker of recovery (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III Coding subtest; r = -0.503, N = 84, P = .001). The present findings support the concurrent validity of parental perspectives of a child's overall recovery and social reintegration after pediatric TBI. Incorporating these views may assist in the rehabilitation of children following brain injury. Parental reasons for judging a child's recovery as "incomplete" may differ as a function of severity of injury.

Breastfeeding, Brain Activation to Own Infant Cry, and Maternal Sensitivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Pilyoung; Feldman, Ruth; Mayes, Linda C.; Eicher, Virginia; Thompson, Nancy; Leckman, James F.; Swain, James E.

2011-01-01

Background: Research points to the importance of breastfeeding for promoting close mother-infant contact and social-emotional development. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have identified brain regions related to maternal behaviors. However, little research has addressed the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the…

Adaptive coding of the value of social cues with oxytocin, an fMRI study in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Andari, Elissar; Richard, Nathalie; Leboyer, Marion; Sirigu, Angela

2016-03-01

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is one of the major targets of research in neuroscience, with respect to social functioning. Oxytocin promotes social skills and improves the quality of face processing in individuals with social dysfunctions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although one of OT's key functions is to promote social behavior during dynamic social interactions, the neural correlates of this function remain unknown. Here, we combined acute intranasal OT (IN-OT) administration (24 IU) and fMRI with an interactive ball game and a face-matching task in individuals with ASD (N = 20). We found that IN-OT selectively enhanced the brain activity of early visual areas in response to faces as compared to non-social stimuli. OT inhalation modulated the BOLD activity of amygdala and hippocampus in a context-dependent manner. Interestingly, IN-OT intake enhanced the activity of mid-orbitofrontal cortex in response to a fair partner, and insula region in response to an unfair partner. These OT-induced neural responses were accompanied by behavioral improvements in terms of allocating appropriate feelings of trust toward different partners' profiles. Our findings suggest that OT impacts the brain activity of key areas implicated in attention and emotion regulation in an adaptive manner, based on the value of social cues. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MRI-based Brain Healthcare Quotients: A bridge between neural and behavioral analyses for keeping the brain healthy

PubMed Central

Nemoto, Kiyotaka; Oka, Hiroki; Fukuda, Hiroki

2017-01-01

Neurological and psychiatric disorders are a burden on social and economic resources. Therefore, maintaining brain health and preventing these disorders are important. While the physiological functions of the brain are well studied, few studies have focused on keeping the brain healthy from a neuroscientific viewpoint. We propose a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based quotient for monitoring brain health, the Brain Healthcare Quotient (BHQ), which is based on the volume of gray matter (GM) and the fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter (WM). We recruited 144 healthy adults to acquire structural neuroimaging data, including T1-weighted images and diffusion tensor images, and data associated with both physical (BMI, blood pressure, and daily time use) and social (subjective socioeconomic status, subjective well-being, post-materialism and Epicureanism) factors. We confirmed that the BHQ was sensitive to an age-related decline in GM volume and WM integrity. Further analysis revealed that the BHQ was critically affected by both physical and social factors. We believe that our BHQ is a simple yet highly sensitive, valid measure for brain health research that will bridge the needs of the scientific community and society and help us lead better lives in which we stay healthy, active, and sharp. PMID:29077756

Independent Component Analysis of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Pedophiles.

PubMed

Cantor, J M; Lafaille, S J; Hannah, J; Kucyi, A; Soh, D W; Girard, T A; Mikulis, D J

2016-10-01

Neuroimaging and other studies have changed the common view that pedophilia is a result of childhood sexual abuse and instead is a neurologic phenomenon with prenatal origins. Previous research has identified differences in the structural connectivity of the brain in pedophilia. To identify analogous differences in functional connectivity. Functional magnetic resonance images were recorded from three groups of participants while they were at rest: pedophilic men with a history of sexual offenses against children (n = 37) and two control groups: non-pedophilic men who committed non-sexual offenses (n = 28) and non-pedophilic men with no criminal history (n = 39). Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were subjected to independent component analysis to identify known functional networks of the brain, and groups were compared to identify differences in connectivity with those networks (or "components"). The pedophilic group demonstrated wide-ranging increases in functional connectivity with the default mode network compared with controls and regional differences (increases and decreases) with the frontoparietal network. Of these brain regions (total = 23), 20 have been identified by meta-analytic studies to respond to sexually relevant stimuli. Conversely, of the brain areas known to be those that respond to sexual stimuli, nearly all emerged in the present data as significantly different in pedophiles. This study confirms the presence of significant differences in the functional connectivity of the brain in pedophilia consistent with previously reported differences in structural connectivity. The connectivity differences detected here and elsewhere are opposite in direction from those associated with anti-sociality, arguing against anti-sociality and for pedophilia as the source of the neuroanatomic differences detected. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neurocircuitry underlying risk and resilience to social anxiety disorder

PubMed Central

Clauss, Jacqueline A.; Avery, Suzanne N.; VanDerKlok, Ross M.; Rogers, Baxter P.; Cowan, Ronald L.; Benningfield, Margaret M.; Blackford, Jennifer Urbano

2015-01-01

Background Almost half of children with an inhibited temperament will develop social anxiety disorder by late adolescence. Importantly, this means that half of children with an inhibited temperament will not develop social anxiety disorder. Studying adults with an inhibited temperament provides a unique opportunity to identify neural signatures of both risk and resilience to social anxiety disorder. Methods Functional MRI was used to measure brain activation during the anticipation of viewing fear faces in 34 young adults (17 inhibited, 17 uninhibited). To identify neural signatures of risk, we tested for group differences in functional activation and connectivity in regions implicated in social anxiety disorder, including the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and insula. To identify neural signatures of resilience, we tested correlations between brain activation and both emotion regulation and social anxiety scores. Results Inhibited subjects had greater activation of a prefrontal network when anticipating viewing fear faces, relative to uninhibited subjects. No group differences were identified in the amygdala. Inhibited subjects had more negative connectivity between the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the bilateral amygdala. Within the inhibited group, those with fewer social anxiety symptoms and better emotion regulation skills had greater ACC activation and greater functional connectivity between the ACC and amygdala. Conclusions These finding suggest that engaging regulatory prefrontal regions during anticipation may be a protective factor, or putative neural marker of resilience, in high-risk individuals. Cognitive training targeting prefrontal cortex function may provide protection against anxiety, especially in high-risk individuals, such as those with inhibited temperament. PMID:24753211

Art and brain: insights from neuropsychology, biology and evolution.

PubMed

Zaidel, Dahlia W

2010-02-01

Art is a uniquely human activity associated fundamentally with symbolic and abstract cognition. Its practice in human societies throughout the world, coupled with seeming non-functionality, has led to three major brain theories of art. (1) The localized brain regions and pathways theory links art to multiple neural regions. (2) The display of art and its aesthetics theory is tied to the biological motivation of courtship signals and mate selection strategies in animals. (3) The evolutionary theory links the symbolic nature of art to critical pivotal brain changes in Homo sapiens supporting increased development of language and hierarchical social grouping. Collectively, these theories point to art as a multi-process cognition dependent on diverse brain regions and on redundancy in art-related functional representation.

Art and brain: insights from neuropsychology, biology and evolution

PubMed Central

Zaidel, Dahlia W

2010-01-01

Art is a uniquely human activity associated fundamentally with symbolic and abstract cognition. Its practice in human societies throughout the world, coupled with seeming non-functionality, has led to three major brain theories of art. (1) The localized brain regions and pathways theory links art to multiple neural regions. (2) The display of art and its aesthetics theory is tied to the biological motivation of courtship signals and mate selection strategies in animals. (3) The evolutionary theory links the symbolic nature of art to critical pivotal brain changes in Homo sapiens supporting increased development of language and hierarchical social grouping. Collectively, these theories point to art as a multi-process cognition dependent on diverse brain regions and on redundancy in art-related functional representation. PMID:19490399

The neural basis of responsibility attribution in decision-making.

PubMed

Li, Peng; Shen, Yue; Sui, Xue; Chen, Changming; Feng, Tingyong; Li, Hong; Holroyd, Clay

2013-01-01

Social responsibility links personal behavior with societal expectations and plays a key role in affecting an agent's emotional state following a decision. However, the neural basis of responsibility attribution remains unclear. In two previous event-related brain potential (ERP) studies we found that personal responsibility modulated outcome evaluation in gambling tasks. Here we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify particular brain regions that mediate responsibility attribution. In a context involving team cooperation, participants completed a task with their teammates and on each trial received feedback about team success and individual success sequentially. We found that brain activity differed between conditions involving team success vs. team failure. Further, different brain regions were associated with reinforcement of behavior by social praise vs. monetary reward. Specifically, right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was associated with social pride whereas dorsal striatum and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were related to reinforcement of behaviors leading to personal gain. The present study provides evidence that the RTPJ is an important region for determining whether self-generated behaviors are deserving of praise in a social context.

The Neural Basis of Responsibility Attribution in Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Li, Peng; Shen, Yue; Sui, Xue; Chen, Changming; Feng, Tingyong; Li, Hong; Holroyd, Clay

2013-01-01

Social responsibility links personal behavior with societal expectations and plays a key role in affecting an agent’s emotional state following a decision. However, the neural basis of responsibility attribution remains unclear. In two previous event-related brain potential (ERP) studies we found that personal responsibility modulated outcome evaluation in gambling tasks. Here we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify particular brain regions that mediate responsibility attribution. In a context involving team cooperation, participants completed a task with their teammates and on each trial received feedback about team success and individual success sequentially. We found that brain activity differed between conditions involving team success vs. team failure. Further, different brain regions were associated with reinforcement of behavior by social praise vs. monetary reward. Specifically, right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was associated with social pride whereas dorsal striatum and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were related to reinforcement of behaviors leading to personal gain. The present study provides evidence that the RTPJ is an important region for determining whether self-generated behaviors are deserving of praise in a social context. PMID:24224053

Diminished social reward anticipation in the broad autism phenotype as revealed by event-related brain potentials.

PubMed

Cox, Anthony; Kohls, Gregor; Naples, Adam J; Mukerji, Cora E; Coffman, Marika C; Rutherford, Helena J V; Mayes, Linda C; McPartland, James C

2015-10-01

Diminished responsivity to reward incentives is a key contributor to the social-communication problems seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Social motivation theories suggest that individuals with ASD do not experience social interactions as rewarding, leading to negative consequences for the development of brain circuitry subserving social information. In this study, we examined neural responses to social and non-social reward anticipation in 35 typically developing young adults, examining modulation of reward sensitivity by level of autistic traits. Using an Event-related potential incentive-delay task incorporating novel, more ecologically valid forms of reward, higher expression of autistic traits was associated with an attenuated P3 response to the anticipation of social (simulated real-time video feedback from an observer), but not non-social (candy), rewards. Exploratory analyses revealed that this was unrelated to mentalizing ability. The P3 component reflects motivated attention to reward signals, suggesting attenuated motivation allocation specific to social incentives. The study extends prior findings of atypical reward anticipation in ASD, demonstrating that attenuated social reward responsiveness extends to autistic traits in the range of typical functioning. Results support the development of innovative paradigms for investigating social and non-social reward responsiveness. Insight into vulnerabilities in reward processing is critical for understanding social function in ASD. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Frequency of Maternal Touch Predicts Resting Activity and Connectivity of the Developing Social Brain.

PubMed

Brauer, Jens; Xiao, Yaqiong; Poulain, Tanja; Friederici, Angela D; Schirmer, Annett

2016-08-01

Previous behavioral research points to a positive relationship between maternal touch and early social development. Here, we explored the brain correlates of this relationship. The frequency of maternal touch was recorded for 43 five-year-old children during a 10 min standardized play session. Additionally, all children completed a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Investigating the default mode network revealed a positive relation between the frequency of maternal touch and activity in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) extending into the temporo-parietal junction. Using this effect as a seed in a functional connectivity analysis identified a network including extended bilateral regions along the temporal lobe, bilateral frontal cortex, and left insula. Compared with children with low maternal touch, children with high maternal touch showed additional connectivity with the right dorso-medial prefrontal cortex. Together these results support the notion that childhood tactile experiences shape the developing "social brain" with a particular emphasis on a network involved in mentalizing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Functional analysis and intervention for perseverative verbal behaviour of an older adult with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Quearry, Amy Garcia; Lundervold, Duane A

2016-01-01

A functional analysis of behaviour was conducted to determine the controlling variables related to the perseverative verbal behaviour (PBV) of a 60-year-old female with a long-standing traumatic brain injury receiving educational assistance. Functional analyses (FA) of antecedent and consequent conditions related to PCB were conducted to determine controlling influence of: (a) content of verbal interaction and, (b) social reinforcement. After isolating the controlling variables, the functioned-based intervention was implemented in 60 minute tutoring sessions. A reversal condition was used to demonstrate experimental control of the behavior during tutoring sessions. PVB which occurred in the context of tutoring for an undergraduate course significantly interfered with the delivery of instruction. Multiple replications of the functional relation between social reinforcement and PVB duration was demonstrated using an A-B-A-B reversal design during functional analysis and tutoring conditions. PVB markedly declined, but did not extinguish over the course of weekly tutoring (extinction) sessions, most likely due to 'bootleg reinforcement' occurring in other situations. Results indicate that perseverative verbal behaviour following closed head injury may be strongly influenced by the social contingencies operating in various contexts and is amenable to applied behaviour analysis interventions.

Brain Stimulation Studies of Social Norm Compliance: Implications for Personality Disorders?

PubMed

Ruff, Christian C

2018-01-01

Several personality disorders involve pathological behaviors that violate social norms, commonly held expectations about what ought to be done in specific situations. These symptoms usually emerge early in development, are persistent and hard to treat, and are often ego-syntonic. Here I present some recent brain stimulation studies suggesting that pathological changes in different aspects of norm-compliant behavior reflect dysfunctions of brain circuits involving distinct prefrontal brain areas. One set of studies shows that transcranial direct current stimulation of the right lateral prefrontal cortex changes the behavioral sensitivity to social incentives for norm-compliant behavior. Crucially, social norm compliance in response to such incentives could even be increased during excitatory stimulation, demonstrating that the affected neural process is a biological prerequisite for appropriate reaction to social signals that trigger norm compliance. In another set of studies, we show that stimulation of a different (more dorsal) part of the right prefrontal cortex enhances honesty in a realistic setting where participants had the opportunity to cheat for real monetary gains. Interestingly, these stimulation-induced increases in both socially cued or purely voluntary norm compliance were not linked to changes in other aspects of decision- making (such as risk or impatience), and they did not reflect changes in beliefs about what is appropriate behavior. These results suggest that disorders of distinct brain circuits may causally underlie egosyntotic changes in norm-compliant behavior. This raises the tantalizing possibility that pathologies of norm-compliant behavior may be ameliorated by interventions targeting the function of these brain circuits. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Translating birdsong: songbirds as a model for basic and applied medical research.

PubMed

Brainard, Michael S; Doupe, Allison J

2013-07-08

Songbirds, long of interest to basic neuroscience, have great potential as a model system for translational neuroscience. Songbirds learn their complex vocal behavior in a manner that exemplifies general processes of perceptual and motor skill learning and, more specifically, resembles human speech learning. Song is subserved by circuitry that is specialized for vocal learning and production but that has strong similarities to mammalian brain pathways. The combination of highly quantifiable behavior and discrete neural substrates facilitates understanding links between brain and behavior, both in normal states and in disease. Here we highlight (a) behavioral and mechanistic parallels between birdsong and aspects of speech and social communication, including insights into mirror neurons, the function of auditory feedback, and genes underlying social communication disorders, and (b) contributions of songbirds to understanding cortical-basal ganglia circuit function and dysfunction, including the possibility of harnessing adult neurogenesis for brain repair.

Translating Birdsong: Songbirds as a model for basic and applied medical research

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Songbirds, long of interest to basic neuroscientists, have great potential as a model system for translational neuroscience. Songbirds learn their complex vocal behavior in a manner that exemplifies general processes of perceptual and motor skill learning, and more specifically resembles human speech learning. Song is subserved by circuitry that is specialized for vocal learning and production, but that has strong similarities to mammalian brain pathways. The combination of a highly quantifiable behavior and discrete neural substrates facilitates understanding links between brain and behavior, both normally and in disease. Here we highlight 1) behavioral and mechanistic parallels between birdsong and aspects of speech and social communication, including insights into mirror neurons, the function of auditory feedback, and genes underlying social communication disorders, and 2) contributions of songbirds to understanding cortical-basal ganglia circuit function and dysfunction, including the possibility of harnessing adult neurogenesis for brain repair. PMID:23750515

Childhood poverty and stress reactivity are associated with aberrant functional connectivity in default mode network.

PubMed

Sripada, Rebecca K; Swain, James E; Evans, Gary W; Welsh, Robert C; Liberzon, Israel

2014-08-01

Convergent research suggests that childhood poverty is associated with perturbation in the stress response system. This might extend to aberrations in the connectivity of large-scale brain networks, which subserve key cognitive and emotional functions. Resting-state brain activity was measured in adults with a documented history of childhood poverty (n=26) and matched controls from middle-income families (n=26). Participants also underwent a standard laboratory social stress test and provided saliva samples for cortisol assay. Childhood poverty was associated with reduced default mode network (DMN) connectivity. This, in turn, was associated with higher cortisol levels in anticipation of social stress. These results suggest a possible brain basis for exaggerated stress sensitivity in low-income individuals. Alterations in DMN may be associated with less efficient cognitive processing or greater risk for development of stress-related psychopathology among individuals who experienced the adversity of chronic childhood poverty.

The Personal Intelligences: Promoting Social and Emotional Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellison, Launa

This book blends two of the multiple intelligences (intrapersonal and interpersonal) with current research on the brain and learning to create a new foundation for K-8 classrooms. It shares a teacher's classroom practices linking brain functions with the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Nine chapters include (1)…

On Teaching Brains To Think: A Conversation with Robert Sylwester.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandt, Ron

2000-01-01

Sylwester says education must begin relying more on biology than social and behavioral science. All brain systems move from a slow, awkward functional level to a fast, efficient level. Contributions of metacognition, self-regulation, emotions, reflective and reflexive responses, comparison, and classification to cognitive development are…

Alexithymia decreases altruism in real social decisions.

PubMed

Feldmanhall, Oriel; Dalgleish, Tim; Mobbs, Dean

2013-03-01

Alexithymia, a sub-clinical personality construct associated with disturbances in affect regulation and social functioning, is known to be comorbid with a number of psychiatric conditions. We combined a distressing real-time altruism task with functional magnetic resonance imagining to explore the brain behaviour relationship between alexithymia and prosocial action. Here we show that individuals high on the alexithymia spectrum report less distress at seeing others in pain and behave less altruistically. This behavioural result is mirrored in the brain, where individuals who have difficulty recognizing and experiencing others' emotional distress have reduced neural activation within the anterior insula and temporoparietal junction, key regions in the experience of distress and perspective-taking. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Altered Connectivity and Action Model Formation in Autism Is Autism

PubMed Central

Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Ewen, Joshua B.

2014-01-01

Internal action models refer to sensory-motor programs that form the brain basis for a wide range of skilled behavior and for understanding others’ actions. Development of these action models, particularly those reliant on visual cues from the external world, depends on connectivity between distant brain regions. Studies of children with autism reveal anomalous patterns of motor learning and impaired execution of skilled motor gestures. These findings robustly correlate with measures of social and communicative function, suggesting that anomalous action model formation may contribute to impaired development of social and communicative (as well as motor) capacity in autism. Examination of the pattern of behavioral findings, as well as convergent data from neuroimaging techniques, further suggests that autism-associated action model formation may be related to abnormalities in neural connectivity, particularly decreased function of long-range connections. This line of study can lead to important advances in understanding the neural basis of autism and, more critically, can be used to guide effective therapies targeted at improving social, communicative, and motor function. PMID:21467306

Impulse control and underlying functions of the left DLPFC mediate age-related and age-independent individual differences in strategic social behavior.

PubMed

Steinbeis, Nikolaus; Bernhardt, Boris C; Singer, Tania

2012-03-08

Human social exchange is often characterized by conflicts of interest requiring strategic behavior for their resolution. To investigate the development of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying strategic behavior, we studied children's decisions while they played two types of economic exchange games with differing demands of strategic behavior. We show an increase of strategic behavior with age, which could not be explained by age-related changes in social preferences but instead by developmental differences in impulsivity and associated brain functions of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, observed differences in cortical thickness of lDLPFC were predictive of differences in impulsivity and strategic behavior irrespective of age. We conclude that egoistic behavior in younger children is not caused by a lack of understanding right or wrong, but by the inability to implement behavioral control when tempted to act selfishly; a function relying on brain regions maturing only late in ontogeny. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Distributed Network for Social Cognition Enriched for Oxytocin Receptors

PubMed Central

Mitre, Mariela; Marlin, Bianca J.; Schiavo, Jennifer K.; Morina, Egzona; Norden, Samantha E.; Hackett, Troy A.; Aoki, Chiye J.

2016-01-01

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide important for social behaviors such as maternal care and parent–infant bonding. It is believed that oxytocin receptor signaling in the brain is critical for these behaviors, but it is unknown precisely when and where oxytocin receptors are expressed or which neural circuits are directly sensitive to oxytocin. To overcome this challenge, we generated specific antibodies to the mouse oxytocin receptor and examined receptor expression throughout the brain. We identified a distributed network of female mouse brain regions for maternal behaviors that are especially enriched for oxytocin receptors, including the piriform cortex, the left auditory cortex, and CA2 of the hippocampus. Electron microscopic analysis of the cerebral cortex revealed that oxytocin receptors were mainly expressed at synapses, as well as on axons and glial processes. Functionally, oxytocin transiently reduced synaptic inhibition in multiple brain regions and enabled long-term synaptic plasticity in the auditory cortex. Thus modulation of inhibition may be a general mechanism by which oxytocin can act throughout the brain to regulate parental behaviors and social cognition. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Oxytocin is an important peptide hormone involved in maternal behavior and social cognition, but it has been unclear what elements of neural circuits express oxytocin receptors due to the paucity of suitable antibodies. Here, we developed new antibodies to the mouse oxytocin receptor. Oxytocin receptors were found in discrete brain regions and at cortical synapses for modulating excitatory-inhibitory balance and plasticity. These antibodies should be useful for future studies of oxytocin and social behavior. PMID:26911697

Social skills treatment for people with severe, chronic acquired brain injuries: a multicenter trial.

PubMed

McDonald, Skye; Tate, Robyn; Togher, Leanne; Bornhofen, Cristina; Long, Esther; Gertler, Paul; Bowen, Rebecca

2008-09-01

To determine whether social skills deficits including unskilled, inappropriate behavior, problems reading social cues (social perception), and mood disturbances (such as depression and anxiety) could be remediated after severe traumatic brain injuries. Randomized controlled trial comparing a social skills program with social activity alone or with waitlist control. Several participants were reassigned after randomization. Hospital outpatient and community facilities. Fifty-one outpatients from 3 brain injury units in Sydney, Australia, with severe, chronic acquired brain injuries were recruited. A total of 39 people (13 in skills training, 13 in social activity, 13 in waitlist) completed all phases of the study. Twelve-week social skills treatment program encompassing weekly 3-hour group sessions focused on shaping social behavior and remediating social perception and 1-hour individual sessions to address psychologic issues with mood, self-esteem, etc. Primary outcomes were: (1) social behavior during encounters with a confederate as rated on the Behaviorally Referenced Rating System of Intermediary Social Skills-Revised (BRISS-R), (2) social perception as measured by The Awareness of Social Inference Test, and (3) depression and anxiety as measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Secondary outcomes were: relative report on social behavior and participation using: the Katz Adjustment Scale-R1; the Social Performance Survey Schedule; the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire; and the Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale (both relative and self-report). Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that social activity alone did not lead to improved performance relative to waitlist (placebo effect) on any outcome variable. On the other hand, the skills training group improved differentially on the Partner Directed Behavior Scale of the BRISS-R, specifically the self-centered behavior and partner involvement behavior subscales. No treatment effects were found for the remaining primary outcomes (social perception, emotional adjustment) or for secondary outcome variables (relative and self-report measures of social function). This study suggested that treatment effects after social skills training in people with severe, chronic brain injuries are modest and are limited to direct measures of social behavior.

Deciphering human motion to discriminate social interactions: a developmental neuroimaging study

PubMed Central

Sapey-Triomphe, Laurie-Anne; Centelles, Laurie; Roth, Muriel; Fonlupt, Pierre; Hénaff, Marie-Anne; Assaiante, Christine

2017-01-01

Abstract Non-verbal communication plays a major role in social interaction understanding. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we explored the development of the neural networks involved in social interaction recognition based on human motion in children (8–11), adolescents (13–17), and adults (20–41). Participants watched point-light videos depicting two actors interacting or moving independently and were asked whether these agents were interacting or not. All groups successfully performed the discrimination task, but children had a lower performance and longer response times than the older groups. In all three groups, the posterior parts of the superior temporal sulci and middle temporal gyri, the inferior frontal gyri and the anterior temporal lobes showed greater activation when observing social interactions. In addition, adolescents and adults recruited the caudate nucleus and some frontal regions that are part of the mirror system. Adults showed greater activations in parietal and frontal regions (part of them belonging to the social brain) than adolescents. An increased number of regions that are part of the mirror system network or the social brain, as well as the caudate nucleus, were recruited with age. In conclusion, a shared set of brain regions enabling the discrimination of social interactions from neutral movements through human motion is already present in 8-year-old children. Developmental processes such as refinements in the social brain and mirror system would help grasping subtle cues in non-verbal aspects of social interactions. PMID:28008075

Quality of Life in Patients With Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumors in the Literature as Assessed by the FACT-Br.

PubMed

Chiu, Nicholas; Chiu, Leonard; Zeng, Liang; Zhang, Liying; Cella, David; Popovic, Marko; Chow, Ronald; Lam, Henry; Poon, Michael; Chow, Edward

2012-12-01

The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-Br) is a quality of life (QOL) assessment tool that was originally developed for use in patients with primary brain tumors. However, the tool has also been used to assess QOL in patients with metastatic brain tumors. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in QOL responses as assessed by the FACT-Br in patients with primary and metastatic brain neoplasms. A systematic literature search was conducted using the OvidSP platform in MEDLINE (1946 to July Week 2 2012) and EMBASE (1980 to 2012 Week 28). Articles in which the FACT-Br was used as a QOL assessment for patients with malignant brain tumors (both primary and metastatic) were included in the study. The weighted means of FACT-Br subscale and overall scores were calculated for the studies. To compare these scores, weighted analysis of variance was conducted and PROC GLM was performed for the data. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 23 studies (four in brain metastases, 18 in primary brain tumors and 1 in a mixed sample) using the FACT-Br for assessment of QOL were identified. Social and functional well-being were significantly better in patients with primary brain tumors (weighted mean score of 22.2 vs. 10.7, P = 0.0026, 16.9 vs. 6.2, P = 0.0025, respectively). No other scale of the FACT-Br was significantly different between the two groups and the performance status of patients included in both groups was similar. Patients with primary brain cancer seemed to have better social and functional well-being scores than those with metastatic brain tumors. Other QOL domains were similar between these two groups. However, the heterogeneity in the included studies and the low sample size of included samples in patients with metastatic brain tumors could have confounded our findings.

Brain Signature Characterizing the Body-Brain-Mind Axis of Transsexuals

PubMed Central

Chao, Hsiang-Tai; Tu, Pei-Chi; Li, Cheng-Ta; Cheng, Chou-Ming; Su, Tung-Ping; Lee, Ying-Chiao; Hsieh, Jen-Chuen

2013-01-01

Individuals with gender identity disorder (GID), who are commonly referred to as transsexuals (TXs), are afflicted by negative psychosocial stressors. Central to the psychological complex of TXs is the conviction of belonging to the opposite sex. Neuroanatomical and functional brain imaging studies have demonstrated that the GID is associated with brain alterations. In this study, we found that TXs identify, when viewing male-female couples in erotic or non-erotic (“neutral”) interactions, with the couple member of the desired gender in both situations. By means of functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that the TXs, as opposed to controls (CONs), displayed an increased functional connectivity between the ventral tegmental area, which is associated with dimorphic genital representation, and anterior cingulate cortex subregions, which play a key role in social exclusion, conflict monitoring and punishment adjustment. The neural connectivity pattern suggests a brain signature of the psychosocial distress for the gender-sex incongruity of TXs. PMID:23923023

Executive Functions in Adolescence: Inferences from Brain and Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crone, Eveline A.

2009-01-01

Despite the advances in understanding cognitive improvements in executive function in adolescence, much less is known about the influence of affective and social modulators on executive function and the biological underpinnings of these functions and sensitivities. Here, recent behavioral and neuroscientific studies are summarized that have used…

Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks.

PubMed

Zerubavel, Noam; Bearman, Peter S; Weber, Jochen; Ochsner, Kevin N

2015-12-08

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others' popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets' sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity-social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity-valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members' popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior.

Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Self- and Other-Initiated Social Interaction in Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Induced States: A Pharmacological fMRI Study.

PubMed

Preller, Katrin H; Schilbach, Leonhard; Pokorny, Thomas; Flemming, Jan; Seifritz, Erich; Vollenweider, Franz X

2018-04-04

Distortions of self-experience are critical symptoms of psychiatric disorders and have detrimental effects on social interactions. In light of the immense need for improved and targeted interventions for social impairments, it is important to better understand the neurochemical substrates of social interaction abilities. We therefore investigated the pharmacological and neural correlates of self- and other-initiated social interaction. In a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, crossover study 24 healthy human participants (18 males and 6 females) received either (1) placebo + placebo, (2) placebo + lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD; 100 μg, p.o.), or (3) ketanserin (40 mg, p.o.) + LSD (100 μg, p.o.) on three different occasions. Participants took part in an interactive task using eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging completing trials of self- and other-initiated joint and non-joint attention. Results demonstrate first, that LSD reduced activity in brain areas important for self-processing, but also social cognition; second, that change in brain activity was linked to subjective experience; and third, that LSD decreased the efficiency of establishing joint attention. Furthermore, LSD-induced effects were blocked by the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT 2A R) antagonist ketanserin, indicating that effects of LSD are attributable to 5-HT 2A R stimulation. The current results demonstrate that activity in areas of the "social brain" can be modulated via the 5-HT 2A R thereby pointing toward this system as a potential target for the treatment of social impairments associated with psychiatric disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Distortions of self-representation and, potentially related to this, dysfunctional social cognition are central hallmarks of various psychiatric disorders and critically impact disease development, progression, treatment, as well as real-world functioning. However, these deficits are insufficiently targeted by current treatment approaches. The administration of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging and real-time eye-tracking offers the unique opportunity to study alterations in self-experience, their relation to social cognition, and the underlying neuropharmacology. Results demonstrate that LSD alters self-experience as well as basic social cognition processing in areas of the "social brain". Furthermore, these alterations are attributable to 5-HT 2A receptor stimulation, thereby pinpointing toward this receptor system in the development of pharmacotherapies for sociocognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2018 the authors 0270-6474/18/383603-09$15.00/0.

[Neuropsychological models of autism spectrum disorders - behavioral evidence and functional imaging].

PubMed

Dziobek, Isabel; Bölte, Sven

2011-03-01

To review neuropsychological models of theory of mind (ToM), executive functions (EF), and central coherence (CC) as framework for cognitive abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Behavioral and functional imaging studies are described that assess social-cognitive, emotional, and executive functions as well as locally oriented perception in ASD. Impairments in ToM and EF as well as alterations in CC are frequently replicated phenomena in ASD. Especially problems concerning social perception and ToM have high explanatory value for clinical symptomatology. Brain activation patterns differ between individuals with and without ASD for ToM, EF, und CC functions. An approach focussing on reduced cortical connectivity seems to be increasingly favored over explanations focussing on single affected brain sites. A better understanding of the complexities of ASD in future research demands the integration of clinical, neuropsychological, functional imaging, and molecular genetics evidence. Weaknesses in ToM and EF as well as strengths in detail-focussed perception should be used for individual intervention planning.

A novel fiber-free technique for brain activity imaging in multiple freely behaving mice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inagaki, Shigenori; Agetsuma, Masakazu; Nagai, Takeharu

2018-02-01

Brain functions and related psychiatric disorders have been investigated by recording electrophysiological field potential. When recording it, a conventional method requires fiber-based apparatus connected to the brain, which however hampers the simultaneous measurement in multiple animals (e.g. by a tangle of fibers). Here, we propose a fiber-free recording technique in conjunction with a ratiometric bioluminescent voltage indicator. Our method allows investigation of electrophysiological filed potential dynamics in multiple freely behaving animals simultaneously over a long time period. Therefore, this fiber-free technique opens up the way to investigate a new mechanism of brain function that governs social behaviors and animal-to-animal interaction.

Suppression of NMDA receptor function in mice prenatally exposed to valproic acid improves social deficits and repetitive behaviors.

PubMed

Kang, Jaeseung; Kim, Eunjoon

2015-01-01

Animals prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA), an antiepileptic agent, have been used as a model for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Previous studies have identified enhanced NMDA receptor (NMDAR) function in the brain of VPA rats, and demonstrated that pharmacological suppression of NMDAR function normalizes social deficits in these animals. However, whether repetitive behavior, another key feature of ASDs, can be rescued by NMDAR inhibition remains unknown. We report here that memantine, an NMDAR antagonist, administered to VPA mice rescues both social deficits and repetitive behaviors such as self-grooming and jumping. These results suggest that suppression of elevated NMDAR function in VPA animals normalizes repetitive behaviors in addition to social deficits.

Effects of Oxytocin and Vasopressin on Preferential Brain Responses to Negative Social Feedback.

PubMed

Gozzi, Marta; Dashow, Erica M; Thurm, Audrey; Swedo, Susan E; Zink, Caroline F

2017-06-01

Receiving negative social feedback can be detrimental to emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being, and fear of negative social feedback is a prominent feature of mental illnesses that involve social anxiety. A large body of evidence has implicated the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin in the modulation of human neural activity underlying social cognition, including negative emotion processing; however, the influence of oxytocin and vasopressin on neural activity elicited during negative social evaluation remains unknown. Here 21 healthy men underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design to determine how intranasally administered oxytocin and vasopressin modulated neural activity when receiving negative feedback on task performance from a study investigator. We found that under placebo, a preferential response to negative social feedback compared with positive social feedback was evoked in brain regions putatively involved in theory of mind (temporoparietal junction), pain processing (anterior insula and supplementary motor area), and identification of emotionally important visual cues in social perception (right fusiform). These activations weakened with oxytocin and vasopressin administration such that neural responses to receiving negative social feedback were not significantly greater than positive social feedback. Our results show effects of both oxytocin and vasopressin on the brain network involved in negative social feedback, informing the possible use of a pharmacological approach targeting these regions in multiple disorders with impairments in social information processing.

Identification of autism spectrum disorder using deep learning and the ABIDE dataset.

PubMed

Heinsfeld, Anibal Sólon; Franco, Alexandre Rosa; Craddock, R Cameron; Buchweitz, Augusto; Meneguzzi, Felipe

2018-01-01

The goal of the present study was to apply deep learning algorithms to identify autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients from large brain imaging dataset, based solely on the patients brain activation patterns. We investigated ASD patients brain imaging data from a world-wide multi-site database known as ABIDE (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange). ASD is a brain-based disorder characterized by social deficits and repetitive behaviors. According to recent Centers for Disease Control data, ASD affects one in 68 children in the United States. We investigated patterns of functional connectivity that objectively identify ASD participants from functional brain imaging data, and attempted to unveil the neural patterns that emerged from the classification. The results improved the state-of-the-art by achieving 70% accuracy in identification of ASD versus control patients in the dataset. The patterns that emerged from the classification show an anticorrelation of brain function between anterior and posterior areas of the brain; the anticorrelation corroborates current empirical evidence of anterior-posterior disruption in brain connectivity in ASD. We present the results and identify the areas of the brain that contributed most to differentiating ASD from typically developing controls as per our deep learning model.

MET Receptor Tyrosine Kinase as an Autism Genetic Risk Factor

PubMed Central

Peng, Yun; Huentelman, Matthew; Smith, Christopher; Qiu, Shenfeng

2014-01-01

In this chapter, we will briefly discuss recent literature on the role of MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) in brain development and how perturbation of MET signaling may alter normal neurodevelopmental outcomes. Recent human genetic studies have established MET as a risk factor for autism, and the molecular and cellular underpinnings of this genetic risk are only beginning to emerge from obscurity. Unlike many autism risk genes that encode synaptic proteins, the spatial and temporal expression pattern of MET RTK indicates this signaling system is ideally situated to regulate neuronal growth, functional maturation, and establishment of functional brain circuits, particularly in those brain structures involved in higher levels of cognition, social skills, and executive functions. PMID:24290385

The future of music in therapy and medicine.

PubMed

Thaut, Michael H

2005-12-01

The understanding of music's role and function in therapy and medicine is undergoing a rapid transformation, based on neuroscientific research showing the reciprocal relationship between studying the neurobiological foundations of music in the brain and how musical behavior through learning and experience changes brain and behavior function. Through this research the theory and clinical practice of music therapy is changing more and more from a social science model, based on cultural roles and general well-being concepts, to a neuroscience-guided model based on brain function and music perception. This paradigm shift has the potential to move music therapy from an adjunct modality to a central treatment modality in rehabilitation and therapy.

Impact of Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography (SPECT/CT) and Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in the Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Case Report.

PubMed

Molina-Vicenty, Irma L; Santiago-Sánchez, Michelaldemar; Vélez-Miró, Iván; Motta-Valencia, Keryl

2016-09-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as damage to the brain resulting from an external force. TBI, a global leading cause of death and disability, is associated with serious social, economic, and health problems. In cases of mild-to-moderate brain damage, conventional anatomical imaging modalities may or may not detect the cascade of metabolic changes that have occurred or are occurring at the intracellular level. Functional nuclear medicine imaging and neurophysiological parameters can be used to characterize brain damage, as the former provides direct visualization of brain function, even in the absence of overt behavioral manifestations or anatomical findings. We report the case of a 30-year-old Hispanic male veteran who, after 2 traumatic brain injury events, developed cognitive and neuropsychological problems with no clear etiology in the presence of negative computed tomography (CT) findings.

Using personality traits to construct linear growth models of mental health in family members of individuals with severe brain injury.

PubMed

Trujillo, Michael; Perrin, Paul B; Doser, Karoline; Norup, Anne

2016-11-01

No studies have examined the impact of personality traits on mental health among caregivers of individuals with severe brain injury. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to construct linear growth models to examine whether the personality traits of family members of individuals with severe brain injury could predict the trajectories of their own mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety, and depression beginning in a neurointensive care unit through 1 year after injury. Danish family members of individuals with severe brain injury (n = 52) completed the Short Form-36 assessing mental HRQoL (vitality, social functioning, role limitations-emotional, mental health), anxiety, and depression across 5 time points during the 1st year after injury. The measure of personality was administered 3 months after the patients' discharge. All mental HRQoL, anxiety, and depression variables improved significantly over time. Caregivers who were less neurotic and less conscientious had higher vitality, social functioning, and mental health over time, whereas caregivers who were more agreeable had higher social functioning over time. Caregivers with lower neuroticism had lower anxiety and depression over time, as well as a more accelerated decrease in anxiety and depression. Caregivers' personality traits were strongly associated over time with mental HRQoL, anxiety, and depression, with neuroticism being especially important for trajectories of anxiety and depression. These results suggest that personality assessments for caregivers of individuals with severe brain injury could help identify those most at risk for poor mental health over the course of rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

ALL OUR SONS: THE DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY AND NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY OF BOYS AT RISK.

PubMed

Schore, Allan N

2017-01-01

Why are boys at risk? To address this question, I use the perspective of regulation theory to offer a model of the deeper psychoneurobiological mechanisms that underlie the vulnerability of the developing male. The central thesis of this work dictates that significant gender differences are seen between male and female social and emotional functions in the earliest stages of development, and that these result from not only differences in sex hormones and social experiences but also in rates of male and female brain maturation, specifically in the early developing right brain. I present interdisciplinary research which indicates that the stress-regulating circuits of the male brain mature more slowly than those of the female in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal critical periods, and that this differential structural maturation is reflected in normal gender differences in right-brain attachment functions. Due to this maturational delay, developing males also are more vulnerable over a longer period of time to stressors in the social environment (attachment trauma) and toxins in the physical environment (endocrine disruptors) that negatively impact right-brain development. In terms of differences in gender-related psychopathology, I describe the early developmental neuroendocrinological and neurobiological mechanisms that are involved in the increased vulnerability of males to autism, early onset schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorders as well as the epigenetic mechanisms that can account for the recent widespread increase of these disorders in U.S. culture. I also offer a clinical formulation of early assessments of boys at risk, discuss the impact of early childcare on male psychopathogenesis, and end with a neurobiological model of optimal adult male socioemotional functions. © 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Neural Signatures of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Insights into Brain Network Dynamics

PubMed Central

Hernandez, Leanna M; Rudie, Jeffrey D; Green, Shulamite A; Bookheimer, Susan; Dapretto, Mirella

2015-01-01

Neuroimaging investigations of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have advanced our understanding of atypical brain function and structure, and have recently converged on a model of altered network-level connectivity. Traditional task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and volume-based structural MRI studies have identified widespread atypicalities in brain regions involved in social behavior and other core ASD-related behavioral deficits. More recent advances in MR-neuroimaging methods allow for quantification of brain connectivity using diffusion tensor imaging, functional connectivity, and graph theoretic methods. These newer techniques have moved the field toward a systems-level understanding of ASD etiology, integrating functional and structural measures across distal brain regions. Neuroimaging findings in ASD as a whole have been mixed and at times contradictory, likely due to the vast genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity characteristic of the disorder. Future longitudinal studies of brain development will be crucial to yield insights into mechanisms of disease etiology in ASD sub-populations. Advances in neuroimaging methods and large-scale collaborations will also allow for an integrated approach linking neuroimaging, genetics, and phenotypic data. PMID:25011468

Patterns of Brain Activation when Mothers View Their Own Child and Dog: An fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Gollub, Randy L.; Niemi, Steven M.; Evins, Anne Eden

2014-01-01

Neural substrates underlying the human-pet relationship are largely unknown. We examined fMRI brain activation patterns as mothers viewed images of their own child and dog and an unfamiliar child and dog. There was a common network of brain regions involved in emotion, reward, affiliation, visual processing and social cognition when mothers viewed images of both their child and dog. Viewing images of their child resulted in brain activity in the midbrain (ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra involved in reward/affiliation), while a more posterior cortical brain activation pattern involving fusiform gyrus (visual processing of faces and social cognition) characterized a mother's response to her dog. Mothers also rated images of their child and dog as eliciting similar levels of excitement (arousal) and pleasantness (valence), although the difference in the own vs. unfamiliar child comparison was larger than the own vs. unfamiliar dog comparison for arousal. Valence ratings of their dog were also positively correlated with ratings of the attachment to their dog. Although there are similarities in the perceived emotional experience and brain function associated with the mother-child and mother-dog bond, there are also key differences that may reflect variance in the evolutionary course and function of these relationships. PMID:25279788

Patterns of brain activation when mothers view their own child and dog: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Stoeckel, Luke E; Palley, Lori S; Gollub, Randy L; Niemi, Steven M; Evins, Anne Eden

2014-01-01

Neural substrates underlying the human-pet relationship are largely unknown. We examined fMRI brain activation patterns as mothers viewed images of their own child and dog and an unfamiliar child and dog. There was a common network of brain regions involved in emotion, reward, affiliation, visual processing and social cognition when mothers viewed images of both their child and dog. Viewing images of their child resulted in brain activity in the midbrain (ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra involved in reward/affiliation), while a more posterior cortical brain activation pattern involving fusiform gyrus (visual processing of faces and social cognition) characterized a mother's response to her dog. Mothers also rated images of their child and dog as eliciting similar levels of excitement (arousal) and pleasantness (valence), although the difference in the own vs. unfamiliar child comparison was larger than the own vs. unfamiliar dog comparison for arousal. Valence ratings of their dog were also positively correlated with ratings of the attachment to their dog. Although there are similarities in the perceived emotional experience and brain function associated with the mother-child and mother-dog bond, there are also key differences that may reflect variance in the evolutionary course and function of these relationships.

Dismissing Attachment Characteristics Dynamically Modulate Brain Networks Subserving Social Aversion.

PubMed

Krause, Anna Linda; Borchardt, Viola; Li, Meng; van Tol, Marie-José; Demenescu, Liliana Ramona; Strauss, Bernhard; Kirchmann, Helmut; Buchheim, Anna; Metzger, Coraline D; Nolte, Tobias; Walter, Martin

2016-01-01

Attachment patterns influence actions, thoughts and feeling through a person's "inner working model". Speech charged with attachment-dependent content was proposed to modulate the activation of cognitive-emotional schemata in listeners. We performed a 7 Tesla rest-task-rest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-experiment, presenting auditory narratives prototypical of dismissing attachment representations to investigate their effect on 23 healthy males. We then examined effects of participants' attachment style and childhood trauma on brain state changes using seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses, and finally tested whether subjective differences in responsivity to narratives could be predicted by baseline network states. In comparison to a baseline state, we observed increased FC in a previously described "social aversion network" including dorsal anterior cingulated cortex (dACC) and left anterior middle temporal gyrus (aMTG) specifically after exposure to insecure-dismissing attachment narratives. Increased dACC-seeded FC within the social aversion network was positively related to the participants' avoidant attachment style and presence of a history of childhood trauma. Anxious attachment style on the other hand was positively correlated with FC between the dACC and a region outside of the "social aversion network", namely the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which suggests decreased network segregation as a function of anxious attachment. Finally, the extent of subjective experience of friendliness towards the dismissing narrative was predicted by low baseline FC-values between hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Taken together, our study demonstrates an activation of networks related to social aversion in terms of increased connectivity after listening to insecure-dismissing attachment narratives. A causal interrelation of brain state changes and subsequent changes in social reactivity was further supported by our observation of direct prediction of neuronal responses by individual attachment and trauma characteristics and reversely prediction of subjective experience by intrinsic functional connections. We consider these findings of activation of within-network and between-network connectivity modulated by inter-individual differences as substantial for the understanding of interpersonal processes, particularly in clinical settings.

Oxytocin and the social brain: neural mechanisms and perspectives in human research.

PubMed

Kanat, Manuela; Heinrichs, Markus; Domes, Gregor

2014-09-11

The present paper summarizes functional imaging studies investigating the effects of intranasal oxytocin (OT) on brain responses to social stimuli. We aim to integrate previous research, point to unresolved issues and highlight perspectives for future studies. The studies so far have focused on identifying neural circuits underlying social information processing which are particularly sensitive to modulations by exogenous OT. Most consistently, stimulus-related responses of the amygdala and associated areas within the prefrontal and temporal cortices have been found to be modulated by OT administration. However, there are a number of unresolved issues related to the possible role of sex differences and hormonal status, genetic variability, and individual differences in socio-cognitive functioning. Future studies focusing on these open questions are expected to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of the central OT system in humans and may provide the basis for novel treatment approaches for mental disorders characterized by social deficits. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Neural correlates of naturalistic social cognition: brain-behavior relationships in healthy adults

PubMed Central

Rademacher, L.M.; Winkler, L.; Schultz, R.T.; Gründer, G.; Lammertz, S.E.

2016-01-01

Being able to infer the thoughts, feelings and intentions of those around us is indispensable in order to function in a social world. Despite growing interest in social cognition and its neural underpinnings, the factors that contribute to successful mental state attribution remain unclear. Current knowledge is limited because the most widely used tasks suffer from two main constraints: (i) They fail to capture individual variability due to ceiling effects and (ii) they use highly simplistic, often artificial stimuli inapt to mirror real-world socio-cognitive demands. In the present study, we address these problems by employing complex depictions of naturalistic social interactions that vary in both valence (positive vs negative) and ambiguity (high vs low). Thirty-eight healthy participants (20 female) made mental state judgments while brain responses were obtained using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Accuracy varied based on valence and ambiguity conditions and women were more accurate than men with highly ambiguous social stimuli. Activity of the orbitofrontal cortex predicted performance in the high ambiguity condition. The results shed light on subtle differences in mentalizing abilities and associated neural activity. PMID:27496338

Disrupted Cerebro-cerebellar Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Young Adults with High-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Data-driven, Whole-brain, High Temporal Resolution fMRI Study.

PubMed

Arnold Anteraper, Sheeba; Guell, Xavier; D'Mello, Anila; Joshi, Neha; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Joshi, Gagan

2018-06-13

To examine the resting-state functional-connectivity (RsFc) in young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD) using state-of-the-art fMRI data acquisition and analysis techniques. Simultaneous multi-slice, high temporal resolution fMRI acquisition; unbiased whole-brain connectome-wide multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques for assessing RsFc; and post-hoc whole-brain seed-to-voxel analyses using MVPA results as seeds. MVPA revealed two clusters of abnormal connectivity in the cerebellum. Whole-brain seed-based functional connectivity analyses informed by MVPA-derived clusters showed significant under connectivity between the cerebellum and social, emotional, and language brain regions in the HF-ASD group compared to healthy controls. The results we report are coherent with existing structural, functional, and RsFc literature in autism, extend previous literature reporting cerebellar abnormalities in the neuropathology of autism, and highlight the cerebellum as a potential target for therapeutic, diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic developments in ASD. The description of functional connectivity abnormalities using whole-brain, data-driven analyses as reported in the present study may crucially advance the development of ASD biomarkers, targets for therapeutic interventions, and neural predictors for measuring treatment response.

The procyonid social club: comparison of brain volumes in the coatimundi (Nasua nasua, N. narica), kinkajou (Potos flavus), and raccoon (Procyon lotor).

PubMed

Arsznov, Bradley M; Sakai, Sharleen T

2013-01-01

The present study investigated whether increased relative brain size, including regional brain volumes, is related to differing behavioral specializations exhibited by three member species of the family Procyonidae. Procyonid species exhibit continuums of behaviors related to social and physical environmental complexities: the mostly solitary, semiarboreal and highly dexterous raccoons (Procyon lotor); the exclusively arboreal kinkajous (Potos flavus), which live either alone or in small polyandrous family groups, and the social, terrestrial coatimundi (Nasua nasua, N. narica). Computed tomographic (CT) scans of 45 adult skulls including 17 coatimundis (9 male, 8 female), 14 raccoons (7 male, 7 female), and 14 kinkajous (7 male, 7 female) were used to create three-dimensional virtual endocasts. Endocranial volume was positively correlated with two separate measures of body size: skull basal length (r = 0.78, p < 0.01) and basicranial axis length (r = 0.45, p = 0.002). However, relative brain size (total endocranial volume as a function of body size) varied by species depending on which body size measurement (skull basal length or basicranial axis length) was used. Comparisons of relative regional brain volumes revealed that the anterior cerebrum volume consisting mainly of frontal cortex and surface area was significantly larger in the social coatimundi compared to kinkajous and raccoons. The dexterous raccoon had the largest relative posterior cerebrum volume, which includes the somatosensory cortex, in comparison to the other procyonid species studied. The exclusively arboreal kinkajou had the largest relative cerebellum and brain stem volume in comparison to the semi arboreal raccoon and the terrestrial coatimundi. Finally, intraspecific comparisons failed to reveal any sex differences, except in the social coatimundi. Female coatimundis possessed a larger relative frontal cortical volume than males. Social life histories differ in male and female coatimundis but not in either kinkajous or raccoons. This difference may reflect the differing social life histories experienced by females who reside in their natal bands, and forage and engage in antipredator behavior as a group, while males disperse upon reaching adulthood and are usually solitary thereafter. This analysis in the three procyonid species supports the comparative neurology principle that behavioral specializations correspond to an expansion of neural tissue involved in that function.

Social Behavior and Impairments in Social Cognition Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

May, Michelle; Milders, Maarten; Downey, Bruce; Whyte, Maggie; Higgins, Vanessa; Wojcik, Zuzana; Amin, Sophie; O'Rourke, Suzanne

2017-05-01

The negative effect of changes in social behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) are known, but much less is known about the neuropsychological impairments that may underlie and predict these changes. The current study investigated possible associations between post-injury behavior and neuropsychological competencies of emotion recognition, understanding intentions, and response selection, that have been proposed as important for social functioning. Forty participants with TBI and 32 matched healthy participants completed a battery of tests assessing the three functions of interest. In addition, self- and proxy reports of pre- and post-injury behavior, mood, and community integration were collected. The TBI group performed significantly poorer than the comparison group on all tasks of emotion recognition, understanding intention, and on one task of response selection. Ratings of current behavior suggested significant changes in the TBI group relative to before the injury and showed significantly poorer community integration and interpersonal behavior than the comparison group. Of the three functions considered, emotion recognition was associated with both post-injury behavior and community integration and this association could not be fully explained by injury severity, time since injury, or education. The current study confirmed earlier findings of associations between emotion recognition and post-TBI behavior, providing partial evidence for models proposing emotion recognition as one of the pre-requisites for adequate social functioning. (JINS, 2017, 23, 400-411).

Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training.

PubMed

Valk, Sofie L; Bernhardt, Boris C; Trautwein, Fynn-Mathis; Böckler, Anne; Kanske, Philipp; Guizard, Nicolas; Collins, D Louis; Singer, Tania

2017-10-01

Although neuroscientific research has revealed experience-dependent brain changes across the life span in sensory, motor, and cognitive domains, plasticity relating to social capacities remains largely unknown. To investigate whether the targeted mental training of different cognitive and social skills can induce specific changes in brain morphology, we collected longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data throughout a 9-month mental training intervention from a large sample of adults between 20 and 55 years of age. By means of various daily mental exercises and weekly instructed group sessions, training protocols specifically addressed three functional domains: (i) mindfulness-based attention and interoception, (ii) socio-affective skills (compassion, dealing with difficult emotions, and prosocial motivation), and (iii) socio-cognitive skills (cognitive perspective-taking on self and others and metacognition). MRI-based cortical thickness analyses, contrasting the different training modules against each other, indicated spatially diverging changes in cortical morphology. Training of present-moment focused attention mostly led to increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions, socio-affective training induced plasticity in frontoinsular regions, and socio-cognitive training included change in inferior frontal and lateral temporal cortices. Module-specific structural brain changes correlated with training-induced behavioral improvements in the same individuals in domain-specific measures of attention, compassion, and cognitive perspective-taking, respectively, and overlapped with task-relevant functional networks. Our longitudinal findings indicate structural plasticity in well-known socio-affective and socio-cognitive brain networks in healthy adults based on targeted short daily mental practices. These findings could promote the development of evidence-based mental training interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aimed at cultivating social intelligence, prosocial motivation, and cooperation.

Mice genetically depleted of brain serotonin display social impairments, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors: possible relevance to autism.

PubMed

Kane, Michael J; Angoa-Peréz, Mariana; Briggs, Denise I; Sykes, Catherine E; Francescutti, Dina M; Rosenberg, David R; Kuhn, Donald M

2012-01-01

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired reciprocal social interaction, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. A very large number of genes have been linked to autism, many of which encode proteins involved in the development and function of synaptic circuitry. However, the manner in which these mutated genes might participate, either individually or together, to cause autism is not understood. One factor known to exert extremely broad influence on brain development and network formation, and which has been linked to autism, is the neurotransmitter serotonin. Unfortunately, very little is known about how alterations in serotonin neuronal function might contribute to autism. To test the hypothesis that serotonin dysfunction can contribute to the core symptoms of autism, we analyzed mice lacking brain serotonin (via a null mutation in the gene for tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2)) for behaviors that are relevant to this disorder. Mice lacking brain serotonin (TPH2-/-) showed substantial deficits in numerous validated tests of social interaction and communication. These mice also display highly repetitive and compulsive behaviors. Newborn TPH2-/- mutant mice show delays in the expression of key developmental milestones and their diminished preference for maternal scents over the scent of an unrelated female is a forerunner of more severe socialization deficits that emerge in weanlings and persist into adulthood. Taken together, these results indicate that a hypo-serotonin condition can lead to behavioral traits that are highly characteristic of autism. Our findings should stimulate new studies that focus on determining how brain hyposerotonemia during critical neurodevelopmental periods can alter the maturation of synaptic circuits known to be mis-wired in autism and how prevention of such deficits might prevent this disorder.

Neurocognitive and electrophysiological evidence of altered face processing in parents of children with autism: implications for a model of abnormal development of social brain circuitry in autism.

PubMed

Dawson, Geraldine; Webb, Sara Jane; Wijsman, Ellen; Schellenberg, Gerard; Estes, Annette; Munson, Jeffrey; Faja, Susan

2005-01-01

Neuroimaging and behavioral studies have shown that children and adults with autism have impaired face recognition. Individuals with autism also exhibit atypical event-related brain potentials to faces, characterized by a failure to show a negative component (N170) latency advantage to face compared to nonface stimuli and a bilateral, rather than right lateralized, pattern of N170 distribution. In this report, performance by 143 parents of children with autism on standardized verbal, visual-spatial, and face recognition tasks was examined. It was found that parents of children with autism exhibited a significant decrement in face recognition ability relative to their verbal and visual spatial abilities. Event-related brain potentials to face and nonface stimuli were examined in 21 parents of children with autism and 21 control adults. Parents of children with autism showed an atypical event-related potential response to faces, which mirrored the pattern shown by children and adults with autism. These results raise the possibility that face processing might be a functional trait marker of genetic susceptibility to autism. Discussion focuses on hypotheses regarding the neurodevelopmental and genetic basis of altered face processing in autism. A general model of the normal emergence of social brain circuitry in the first year of life is proposed, followed by a discussion of how the trajectory of normal development of social brain circuitry, including cortical specialization for face processing, is altered in individuals with autism. The hypothesis that genetic-mediated dysfunction of the dopamine reward system, especially its functioning in social contexts, might account for altered face processing in individuals with autism and their relatives is discussed.

Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training

PubMed Central

Valk, Sofie L.; Bernhardt, Boris C.; Trautwein, Fynn-Mathis; Böckler, Anne; Kanske, Philipp; Guizard, Nicolas; Collins, D. Louis; Singer, Tania

2017-01-01

Although neuroscientific research has revealed experience-dependent brain changes across the life span in sensory, motor, and cognitive domains, plasticity relating to social capacities remains largely unknown. To investigate whether the targeted mental training of different cognitive and social skills can induce specific changes in brain morphology, we collected longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data throughout a 9-month mental training intervention from a large sample of adults between 20 and 55 years of age. By means of various daily mental exercises and weekly instructed group sessions, training protocols specifically addressed three functional domains: (i) mindfulness-based attention and interoception, (ii) socio-affective skills (compassion, dealing with difficult emotions, and prosocial motivation), and (iii) socio-cognitive skills (cognitive perspective-taking on self and others and metacognition). MRI-based cortical thickness analyses, contrasting the different training modules against each other, indicated spatially diverging changes in cortical morphology. Training of present-moment focused attention mostly led to increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions, socio-affective training induced plasticity in frontoinsular regions, and socio-cognitive training included change in inferior frontal and lateral temporal cortices. Module-specific structural brain changes correlated with training-induced behavioral improvements in the same individuals in domain-specific measures of attention, compassion, and cognitive perspective-taking, respectively, and overlapped with task-relevant functional networks. Our longitudinal findings indicate structural plasticity in well-known socio-affective and socio-cognitive brain networks in healthy adults based on targeted short daily mental practices. These findings could promote the development of evidence-based mental training interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aimed at cultivating social intelligence, prosocial motivation, and cooperation. PMID:28983507

The neural correlates of reciprocity are sensitive to prior experience of reciprocity.

PubMed

Cáceda, Ricardo; Prendes-Alvarez, Stefania; Hsu, Jung-Jiin; Tripathi, Shanti P; Kilts, Clint D; James, G Andrew

2017-08-14

Reciprocity is central to human relationships and is strongly influenced by multiple factors including the nature of social exchanges and their attendant emotional reactions. Despite recent advances in the field, the neural processes involved in this modulation of reciprocal behavior by ongoing social interaction are poorly understood. We hypothesized that activity within a discrete set of neural networks including a putative moral cognitive neural network is associated with reciprocity behavior. Nineteen healthy adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning while playing the trustee role in the Trust Game. Personality traits and moral development were assessed. Independent component analysis was used to identify task-related functional brain networks and assess their relationship to behavior. The saliency network (insula and anterior cingulate) was positively correlated with reciprocity behavior. A consistent array of brain regions supports the engagement of emotional, self-referential and planning processes during social reciprocity behavior. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Loss of Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 Channel Deregulates Emotion, Learning and Memory, Cognition, and Social Behavior in Mice.

PubMed

Lee, Kuan-I; Lin, Hui-Ching; Lee, Hsueh-Te; Tsai, Feng-Chuan; Lee, Tzong-Shyuan

2017-07-01

The transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel is a non-selective cation channel that helps regulate inflammatory pain sensation and nociception and the development of inflammatory diseases. However, the potential role of the TRPA1 channel and the underlying mechanism in brain functions are not fully resolved. In this study, we demonstrated that genetic deletion of the TRPA1 channel in mice or pharmacological inhibition of its activity increased neurite outgrowth. In vivo study in mice provided evidence of the TRPA1 channel as a negative regulator in hippocampal functions; functional ablation of the TRPA1 channel in mice enhanced hippocampal functions, as evidenced by less anxiety-like behavior, and enhanced fear-related or spatial learning and memory, and novel location recognition as well as social interactions. However, the TRPA1 channel appears to be a prerequisite for motor function; functional loss of the TRPA1 channel in mice led to axonal bundle fragmentation, downregulation of myelin basic protein, and decreased mature oligodendrocyte population in the brain, for impaired motor function. The TRPA1 channel may play a crucial role in neuronal development and oligodendrocyte maturation and be a potential regulator in emotion, cognition, learning and memory, and social behavior.

Co-ordinated structural and functional covariance in the adolescent brain underlies face processing performance

PubMed Central

Joel Shaw, Daniel; Mareček, Radek; Grosbras, Marie-Helene; Leonard, Gabriel; Bruce Pike, G.

2016-01-01

Our ability to process complex social cues presented by faces improves during adolescence. Using multivariate analyses of neuroimaging data collected longitudinally from a sample of 38 adolescents (17 males) when they were 10, 11.5, 13 and 15 years old, we tested the possibility that there exists parallel variations in the structural and functional development of neural systems supporting face processing. By combining measures of task-related functional connectivity and brain morphology, we reveal that both the structural covariance and functional connectivity among ‘distal’ nodes of the face-processing network engaged by ambiguous faces increase during this age range. Furthermore, we show that the trajectory of increasing functional connectivity between the distal nodes occurs in tandem with the development of their structural covariance. This demonstrates a tight coupling between functional and structural maturation within the face-processing network. Finally, we demonstrate that increased functional connectivity is associated with age-related improvements of face-processing performance, particularly in females. We suggest that our findings reflect greater integration among distal elements of the neural systems supporting the processing of facial expressions. This, in turn, might facilitate an enhanced extraction of social information from faces during a time when greater importance is placed on social interactions. PMID:26772669

Mentalizing and motivation neural function during social interactions in autism spectrum disorders☆

PubMed Central

Assaf, Michal; Hyatt, Christopher J.; Wong, Christina G.; Johnson, Matthew R.; Schultz, Robert T.; Hendler, Talma; Pearlson, Godfrey D.

2013-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterized by core deficits in social functions. Two theories have been suggested to explain these deficits: mind-blindness theory posits impaired mentalizing processes (i.e. decreased ability for establishing a representation of others' state of mind), while social motivation theory proposes that diminished reward value for social information leads to reduced social attention, social interactions, and social learning. Mentalizing and motivation are integral to typical social interactions, and neuroimaging evidence points to independent brain networks that support these processes in healthy individuals. However, the simultaneous function of these networks has not been explored in individuals with ASDs. We used a social, interactive fMRI task, the Domino game, to explore mentalizing- and motivation-related brain activation during a well-defined interval where participants respond to rewards or punishments (i.e. motivation) and concurrently process information about their opponent's potential next actions (i.e. mentalizing). Thirteen individuals with high-functioning ASDs, ages 12–24, and 14 healthy controls played fMRI Domino games against a computer-opponent and separately, what they were led to believe was a human-opponent. Results showed that while individuals with ASDs understood the game rules and played similarly to controls, they showed diminished neural activity during the human-opponent runs only (i.e. in a social context) in bilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG) during mentalizing and right Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) during reward-related motivation (Pcluster < 0.05 FWE). Importantly, deficits were not observed in these areas when playing against a computer-opponent or in areas related to motor and visual processes. These results demonstrate that while MTG and NAcc, which are critical structures in the mentalizing and motivation networks, respectively, activate normally in a non-social context, they fail to respond in an otherwise identical social context in ASD compared to controls. We discuss implications to both the mind-blindness and social motivation theories of ASD and the importance of social context in research and treatment protocols. PMID:24273716

Sociochemosensory and Emotional Functions: Behavioral Evidence for Shared Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Zhou, Wen; Chen, Denise

2009-01-01

Olfaction and emotion are distinctively different systems. Nevertheless, there are reasons to suspect that they influence each other on the social level. Functionally, olfactory chemosensory communication is used by a wide range of animals to convey individual and group identity, as well as attraction or repulsion. Anatomically, the olfactory brain overlaps with the socioemotional brain, and is believed to have contributed to the evolution of the latter. Little is known about how the functional and anatomical links are manifested in behavior, however. Using human olfaction as a model, we demonstrate that chemosensory recognition of individuals—one of the most ubiquitous forms of social communication—is interconnected with both the cognitive and the visual processing of emotion. Our results provide the first behavioral evidence for mechanisms being shared by a sensory system and emotion. PMID:19686296

Alterations of Brain Functional Architecture Associated with Psychopathic Traits in Male Adolescents with Conduct Disorder.

PubMed

Pu, Weidan; Luo, Qiang; Jiang, Yali; Gao, Yidian; Ming, Qingsen; Yao, Shuqiao

2017-09-12

Psychopathic traits of conduct disorder (CD) have a core callous-unemotional (CU) component and an impulsive-antisocial component. Previous task-driven fMRI studies have suggested that psychopathic traits are associated with dysfunction of several brain areas involved in different cognitive functions (e.g., empathy, reward, and response inhibition etc.), but the relationship between psychopathic traits and intrinsic brain functional architecture has not yet been explored in CD. Using a holistic brain-wide functional connectivity analysis, this study delineated the alterations in brain functional networks in patients with conduct disorder. Compared with matched healthy controls, we found decreased anti-synchronization between the fronto-parietal network (FPN) and default mode network (DMN), and increased intra-network synchronization within the frontothalamic-basal ganglia, right frontoparietal, and temporal/limbic/visual networks in CD patients. Correlation analysis showed that the weakened FPN-DMN interaction was associated with CU traits, while the heightened intra-network functional connectivity was related to impulsivity traits in CD patients. Our findings suggest that decoupling of cognitive control (FPN) with social understanding of others (DMN) is associated with the CU traits, and hyper-functions of the reward and motor inhibition systems elevate impulsiveness in CD.

Default mode network in childhood autism: posteromedial cortex heterogeneity and relationship with social deficits.

PubMed

Lynch, Charles J; Uddin, Lucina Q; Supekar, Kaustubh; Khouzam, Amirah; Phillips, Jennifer; Menon, Vinod

2013-08-01

The default mode network (DMN), a brain system anchored in the posteromedial cortex, has been identified as underconnected in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, to date there have been no attempts to characterize this network and its involvement in mediating social deficits in children with ASD. Furthermore, the functionally heterogeneous profile of the posteromedial cortex raises questions regarding how altered connectivity manifests in specific functional modules within this brain region in children with ASD. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and an anatomically informed approach were used to investigate the functional connectivity of the DMN in 20 children with ASD and 19 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children. Multivariate regression analyses were used to test whether altered patterns of connectivity are predictive of social impairment severity. Compared with TD children, children with ASD demonstrated hyperconnectivity of the posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices with predominately medial and anterolateral temporal cortex. In contrast, the precuneus in ASD children demonstrated hypoconnectivity with visual cortex, basal ganglia, and locally within the posteromedial cortex. Aberrant posterior cingulate cortex hyperconnectivity was linked with severity of social impairments in ASD, whereas precuneus hypoconnectivity was unrelated to social deficits. Consistent with previous work in healthy adults, a functionally heterogeneous profile of connectivity within the posteromedial cortex in both TD and ASD children was observed. This work links hyperconnectivity of DMN-related circuits to the core social deficits in young children with ASD and highlights fundamental aspects of posteromedial cortex heterogeneity. Copyright © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brain responses to social norms: Meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

PubMed

Zinchenko, Oksana; Arsalidou, Marie

2018-02-01

Social norms have a critical role in everyday decision-making, as frequent interaction with others regulates our behavior. Neuroimaging studies show that social-based and fairness-related decision-making activates an inconsistent set of areas, which sometimes includes the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and others lateral prefrontal cortices. Social-based decision-making is complex and variability in findings may be driven by socio-cognitive activities related to social norms. To distinguish among social-cognitive activities related to social norms, we identified 36 eligible articles in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature, which we separate into two categories (a) social norm representation and (b) norm violations. The majority of original articles (>60%) used tasks associated with fairness norms and decision-making, such as ultimatum game, dictator game, or prisoner's dilemma; the rest used tasks associated to violation of moral norms, such as scenarios and sentences of moral depravity ratings. Using quantitative meta-analyses, we report common and distinct brain areas that show concordance as a function of category. Specifically, concordance in ventromedial prefrontal regions is distinct to social norm representation processing, whereas concordance in right insula, dorsolateral prefrontal, and dorsal cingulate cortices is distinct to norm violation processing. We propose a neurocognitive model of social norms for healthy adults, which could help guide future research in social norm compliance and mechanisms of its enforcement. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Liberal Bias Mediates Emotion Recognition Deficits in Frontal Traumatic Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callahan, Brandy L.; Ueda, Keita; Sakata, Daisuke; Plamondon, Andre; Murai, Toshiya

2011-01-01

It is well-known that patients having sustained frontal-lobe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are severely impaired on tests of emotion recognition. Indeed, these patients have significant difficulty recognizing facial expressions of emotion, and such deficits are often associated with decreased social functioning and poor quality of life. As of yet,…

Developing Connections for Affective Regulation: Age-Related Changes in Emotional Brain Connectivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perlman, Susan B.; Pelphrey, Kevin A.

2011-01-01

The regulation of affective arousal is a critical aspect of children's social and cognitive development. However, few studies have examined the brain mechanisms involved in the development of this aspect of "hot" executive functioning. This process has been conceptualized as involving prefrontal control of the amygdala. Here, using functional…

Five-Year Tracking of Psychosocial Changes in People with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Steven P.

1993-01-01

Interviewed 25 individuals with severe brain injury and their significant others 1, 3, and 5 years after injury. Found trend of improvement in psychological and social functioning between one and five years. Physical capabilities were significantly improved between one and three years. Many participants continued to have deficits in certain…

Training Strategies for the Twenty-First Century: Using Recent Research on Learning To Enhance Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dwyer, Brian M.

2002-01-01

Discusses a new training model that takes into account the diversity of learners and the emotional, physical and social environmental conditions essential for lifelong learning. Considers how the brain learns and functions, brain-based learning, multiple intelligence, and emotional intelligence as well as personal reflection. (LRW)

Perceived Quality of Maternal Care in Childhood and Structure and Function of Mothers' Brain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Pilyoung; Leckman, James F.; Mayes, Linda C.; Newman, Michal-Ann; Feldman, Ruth; Swain, James E.

2010-01-01

Animal studies indicate that early maternal care has long-term effects on brain areas related to social attachment and parenting, whereas neglectful mothering is linked with heightened stress reactivity in the hippocampus across the lifespan. The present study explores the possibility, using magnetic resonance imaging, that perceived quality of…

Animating Brains

PubMed Central

Borck, Cornelius

2016-01-01

A recent paper famously accused the rising field of social neuroscience of using faulty statistics under the catchy title ‘Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience’. This Special Issue invites us to take this claim as the starting point for a cross-cultural analysis: in which meaningful ways can recent research in the burgeoning field of functional imaging be described as, contrasted with, or simply compared to animistic practices? And what light does such a reading shed on the dynamics and effectiveness of a century of brain research into higher mental functions? Reviewing the heated debate from 2009 around recent trends in neuroimaging as a possible candidate for current instances of ‘soul catching’, the paper will then compare these forms of primarily image-based brain research with older regimes, revolving around the deciphering of the brain’s electrical activity. How has the move from a decoding paradigm to a representational regime affected the conceptualisation of self, psyche, mind and soul (if there still is such an entity)? And in what ways does modern technoscience provide new tools for animating brains? PMID:27292322

Neurobiological correlates of social functioning in autism.

PubMed

Neuhaus, Emily; Beauchaine, Theodore P; Bernier, Raphael

2010-08-01

Although autism is defined by deficits in three areas of functioning (social, communicative, and behavioral), impairments in social interest and restricted behavioral repertoires are central to the disorder. As a result, a detailed understanding of the neurobiological systems subserving social behavior may have implications for prevention, early identification, and intervention for affected families. In this paper, we review a number of potential neurobiological mechanisms--across several levels of analysis--that subserve normative social functioning. These include neural networks, neurotransmitters, and hormone systems. After describing the typical functioning of each system, we review available empirical findings specific to autism. Among the most promising potential mechanisms of social behavioral deficits in autism are those involving neural networks including the amygdala, the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, and the oxytocin system. Particularly compelling are explanatory models that integrate mechanisms across biological systems, such as those linking dopamine and oxytocin with brain regions critical to reward processing. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vasopressin and oxytocin receptor systems in the brain: sex differences and sex-specific regulation of social behavior

PubMed Central

Dumais, Kelly M.; Veenema, Alexa H.

2015-01-01

The neuropeptides vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) and their receptors in the brain are involved in the regulation of various social behaviors and have emerged as drug targets for the treatment of social dysfunction in several sex-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. Sex differences in the VP and OT systems may therefore be implicated in sex-specific regulation of healthy as well as impaired social behaviors. We begin this review by highlighting the sex differences, or lack of sex differences, in VP and OT synthesis in the brain. We then discuss the evidence showing the presence or absence of sex differences in VP and OT receptors in rodents and humans, as well as showing new data of sexually dimorphic V1a receptor binding in the rat brain. Importantly, we find that there is lack of comprehensive analysis of sex differences in these systems in common laboratory species, and we find that, when sex differences are present, they are highly brain region- and species- specific. Interestingly, VP system parameters (VP and V1aR) are typically higher in males, while sex differences in the OT system are not always in the same direction, often showing higher OT expression in females, but higher OT receptor expression in males. Furthermore, VP and OT receptor systems show distinct and largely non-overlapping expression in the rodent brain, which may cause these receptors to have either complementary or opposing functional roles in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior. Though still in need of further research, we close by discussing how manipulations of the VP and OT systems have given important insights into the involvement of these neuropeptide systems in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior in rodents and humans. PMID:25951955

Vasopressin and oxytocin receptor systems in the brain: Sex differences and sex-specific regulation of social behavior.

PubMed

Dumais, Kelly M; Veenema, Alexa H

2016-01-01

The neuropeptides vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) and their receptors in the brain are involved in the regulation of various social behaviors and have emerged as drug targets for the treatment of social dysfunction in several sex-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. Sex differences in the VP and OT systems may therefore be implicated in sex-specific regulation of healthy as well as impaired social behaviors. We begin this review by highlighting the sex differences, or lack of sex differences, in VP and OT synthesis in the brain. We then discuss the evidence showing the presence or absence of sex differences in VP and OT receptors in rodents and humans, as well as showing new data of sexually dimorphic V1a receptor binding in the rat brain. Importantly, we find that there is lack of comprehensive analysis of sex differences in these systems in common laboratory species, and we find that, when sex differences are present, they are highly brain region- and species-specific. Interestingly, VP system parameters (VP and V1aR) are typically higher in males, while sex differences in the OT system are not always in the same direction, often showing higher OT expression in females, but higher OT receptor expression in males. Furthermore, VP and OT receptor systems show distinct and largely non-overlapping expression in the rodent brain, which may cause these receptors to have either complementary or opposing functional roles in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior. Though still in need of further research, we close by discussing how manipulations of the VP and OT systems have given important insights into the involvement of these neuropeptide systems in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior in rodents and humans. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Function

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Andrea N.; Walker, Matthew P.

2014-01-01

Rapidly emerging evidence continues to describe an intimate and causal relationship between sleep and emotional brain function. These findings are mirrored by longstanding clinical observations demonstrating that nearly all mood and anxiety disorders co-occur with one or more sleep abnormalities. This review aims to (1) provide a synthesis of recent findings describing the emotional brain and behavioral benefits triggered by sleep, and conversely, the detrimental impairments following a lack of sleep, (2) outline a proposed framework in which sleep, and specifically rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, supports a process of affective brain homeostasis, optimally preparing the organism for next-day social and emotional functioning, and (3) describe how this hypothesized framework can explain the prevalent relationships between sleep and psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression. PMID:24499013

Narcissists’ social pain seen only in the brain

PubMed Central

Konrath, Sara H.; Falk, Emily B.

2015-01-01

Narcissism is a complex phenomenon, involving a level of defensive self-enhancement. Narcissists have avoidant attachment styles, maintain distance in relationships and claim not to need others. However, they are especially sensitive to others’ evaluations, needing positive reflected appraisals to maintain their inflated self-views, and showing extreme responses (e.g. aggression) when rejected. The current study tested the hypothesis that narcissists also show hypersensitivity in brain systems associated with distress during exclusion. We measured individual differences in narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory) and monitored neural responses to social exclusion (Cyberball). Narcissism was significantly associated with activity in an a priori anatomically defined social pain network (anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex) during social exclusion. Results suggest hypersensitivity to exclusion in narcissists may be a function of hypersensitivity in brain systems associated with distress, and suggests a potential pathway that connects narcissism to negative consequences for longer-term physical and mental health—findings not apparent with self-report alone. PMID:24860084

Dog experts' brains distinguish socially relevant body postures similarly in dogs and humans.

PubMed

Kujala, Miiamaaria V; Kujala, Jan; Carlson, Synnöve; Hari, Riitta

2012-01-01

We read conspecifics' social cues effortlessly, but little is known about our abilities to understand social gestures of other species. To investigate the neural underpinnings of such skills, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of experts and non-experts of dog behavior while they observed humans or dogs either interacting with, or facing away from a conspecific. The posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) of both subject groups dissociated humans facing toward each other from humans facing away, and in dog experts, a distinction also occurred for dogs facing toward vs. away in a bilateral area extending from the pSTS to the inferior temporo-occipital cortex: the dissociation of dog behavior was significantly stronger in expert than control group. Furthermore, the control group had stronger pSTS responses to humans than dogs facing toward a conspecific, whereas in dog experts, the responses were of similar magnitude. These findings suggest that dog experts' brains distinguish socially relevant body postures similarly in dogs and humans.

Fear processing and social networking in the absence of a functional amygdala.

PubMed

Becker, Benjamin; Mihov, Yoan; Scheele, Dirk; Kendrick, Keith M; Feinstein, Justin S; Matusch, Andreas; Aydin, Merve; Reich, Harald; Urbach, Horst; Oros-Peusquens, Ana-Maria; Shah, Nadim J; Kunz, Wolfram S; Schlaepfer, Thomas E; Zilles, Karl; Maier, Wolfgang; Hurlemann, René

2012-07-01

The human amygdala plays a crucial role in processing social signals, such as face expressions, particularly fearful ones, and facilitates responses to them in face-sensitive cortical regions. This contributes to social competence and individual amygdala size correlates with that of social networks. While rare patients with focal bilateral amygdala lesion typically show impaired recognition of fearful faces, this deficit is variable, and an intriguing possibility is that other brain regions can compensate to support fear and social signal processing. To investigate the brain's functional compensation of selective bilateral amygdala damage, we performed a series of behavioral, psychophysiological, and functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments in two adult female monozygotic twins (patient 1 and patient 2) with equivalent, extensive bilateral amygdala pathology as a sequela of lipoid proteinosis due to Urbach-Wiethe disease. Patient 1, but not patient 2, showed preserved recognition of fearful faces, intact modulation of acoustic startle responses by fear-eliciting scenes, and a normal-sized social network. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that patient 1 showed potentiated responses to fearful faces in her left premotor cortex face area and bilaterally in the inferior parietal lobule. The premotor cortex face area and inferior parietal lobule are both implicated in the cortical mirror-neuron system, which mediates learning of observed actions and may thereby promote both imitation and empathy. Taken together, our findings suggest that despite the pre-eminent role of the amygdala in processing social information, the cortical mirror-neuron system may sometimes adaptively compensate for its pathology. Copyright © 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Human interaction, social cognition, and the superior temporal sulcus].

PubMed

Brunelle, Francis; Saitovitch, Anna; Boddaert, Nathalie; Grevent, David; Cambier, Jean; Lelord, Gilbert; Samson, Yves; Zilbovicius, Monica

2013-01-01

Human beings are social animals. This ability to live together is ensured by cognitive functions, the neuroanatomical bases of which are starting to be unraveled by MRI-based studies. The regions and network engaged in this process are known as the "social brain ". The core of this network is the superior temporal sulcus (STS), which integrates sensory and emotional inputs. Modeling studies of healthy volunteers have shown the role of the STS.in recognizing others as biological beings, as well as facial and eye-gaze recognition, intentionality and emotions. This cognitive capacity has been described as the "theory of mind ". Pathological models such as autism, in which the main clinical abnormality is altered social abilities and communication, have confirmed the role of the STS in the social brain. Conceptualisation of this empathic capacity has been described as "meta cognition ", which forms the basis of human social organizationand culture.

Abnormal Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders during Face Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinhans, Natalia M.; Richards, Todd; Sterling, Lindsey; Stegbauer, Keith C.; Mahurin, Roderick; Johnson, L. Clark; Greenson, Jessica; Dawson, Geraldine; Aylward, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Abnormalities in the interactions between functionally linked brain regions have been suggested to be associated with the clinical impairments observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated functional connectivity within the limbic system during face identification; a primary component of social cognition, in 19 high-functioning…

Perception of Emotional Facial Expressions in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at Behavioural and Brain Metabolic Level.

PubMed

Aho-Özhan, Helena E A; Keller, Jürgen; Heimrath, Johanna; Uttner, Ingo; Kassubek, Jan; Birbaumer, Niels; Ludolph, Albert C; Lulé, Dorothée

2016-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) primarily impairs motor abilities but also affects cognition and emotional processing. We hypothesise that subjective ratings of emotional stimuli depicting social interactions and facial expressions is changed in ALS. It was found that recognition of negative emotions and ability to mentalize other's intentions is reduced. Processing of emotions in faces was investigated. A behavioural test of Ekman faces expressing six basic emotions was presented to 30 ALS patients and 29 age-, gender and education matched healthy controls. Additionally, a subgroup of 15 ALS patients that were able to lie supine in the scanner and 14 matched healthy controls viewed the Ekman faces during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Affective state and a number of daily social contacts were measured. ALS patients recognized disgust and fear less accurately than healthy controls. In fMRI, reduced brain activity was seen in areas involved in processing of negative emotions replicating our previous results. During processing of sad faces, increased brain activity was seen in areas associated with social emotions in right inferior frontal gyrus and reduced activity in hippocampus bilaterally. No differences in brain activity were seen for any of the other emotional expressions. Inferior frontal gyrus activity for sad faces was associated with increased amount of social contacts of ALS patients. ALS patients showed decreased brain and behavioural responses in processing of disgust and fear and an altered brain response pattern for sadness. The negative consequences of neurodegenerative processes in the course of ALS might be counteracted by positive emotional activity and positive social interactions.

Neural basis of preference for human social hierarchy versus egalitarianism.

PubMed

Chiao, Joan Y; Mathur, Vani A; Harada, Tokiko; Lipke, Trixie

2009-06-01

A fundamental way that individuals differ is in the degree to which they prefer social dominance hierarchy over egalitarianism as a guiding principle of societal structure, a phenomenon known as social dominance orientation. Here we show that preference for hierarchical rather than egalitarian social relations varies as a function of neural responses within left anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortices. Our findings provide novel evidence that preference for social dominance hierarchy is associated with neural functioning within brain regions that are associated with the ability to share and feel concern for the pain of others; this suggests a neurobiological basis for social and political attitudes. Implications of these findings for research on the social neuroscience of fairness, justice, and intergroup relations are discussed.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Diet

MedlinePlus

... affects brain function, particularly in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Classic symptoms include delayed talking, ... plenty of fluids and regular physical activity. Medication interactions. Some stimulant medications used with autism, such as Ritalin, ... on its usage. Marketing Cookies We use some social sharing plugins, to allow you to share certain ...

Tracking Social Motivation Systems Deficits: The Affective Neuroscience View of Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carré, Arnaud; Chevallier, Coralie; Robel, Laurence; Barry, Caroline; Maria, Anne-Solène; Pouga, Lydia; Philippe, Anne; Pinabel, François; Berthoz, Sylvie

2015-01-01

Abnormal functioning of primary brain systems that express and modulate basic emotional drives are increasingly considered to underlie mental disorders including autism spectrum disorders. We hypothesized that ASD are characterized by disruptions in the primary systems involved in the motivation for social bonding. Twenty adults with ASD were…

Resting Cortical Brain Activity and Social Behavior in Higher Functioning Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Steven K.; Burnette, Courtney P.; Mundy, Peter C.; Meyer, Jessica; Vaughan, Amy; Sanders, Chris; Yale, Marygrace

2005-01-01

Background: Psychophysiological measurement of processes related to social behavior may be valuable for research on individual differences and subgroups among children with autism spectrum disorders (Coleman, 1987; Dawson, Klinger, Panagiotides, Lewy, & Castelloe, 1995; Modahl et al., 1998). In particular, recent research and theory suggests that…

MEG dual scanning: a procedure to study real-time auditory interaction between two persons

PubMed Central

Baess, Pamela; Zhdanov, Andrey; Mandel, Anne; Parkkonen, Lauri; Hirvenkari, Lotta; Mäkelä, Jyrki P.; Jousmäki, Veikko; Hari, Riitta

2012-01-01

Social interactions fill our everyday life and put strong demands on our brain function. However, the possibilities for studying the brain basis of social interaction are still technically limited, and even modern brain imaging studies of social cognition typically monitor just one participant at a time. We present here a method to connect and synchronize two faraway neuromagnetometers. With this method, two participants at two separate sites can interact with each other through a stable real-time audio connection with minimal delay and jitter. The magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and audio recordings of both laboratories are accurately synchronized for joint offline analysis. The concept can be extended to connecting multiple MEG devices around the world. As a proof of concept of the MEG-to-MEG link, we report the results of time-sensitive recordings of cortical evoked responses to sounds delivered at laboratories separated by 5 km. PMID:22514530

The two-brain approach: how can mutually interacting brains teach us something about social interaction?

PubMed Central

Konvalinka, Ivana; Roepstorff, Andreas

2012-01-01

Measuring brain activity simultaneously from two people interacting is intuitively appealing if one is interested in putative neural markers of social interaction. However, given the complex nature of interactions, it has proven difficult to carry out two-person brain imaging experiments in a methodologically feasible and conceptually relevant way. Only a small number of recent studies have put this into practice, using fMRI, EEG, or NIRS. Here, we review two main two-brain methodological approaches, each with two conceptual strategies. The first group has employed two-brain fMRI recordings, studying (1) turn-based interactions on the order of seconds, or (2) pseudo-interactive scenarios, where only one person is scanned at a time, investigating the flow of information between brains. The second group of studies has recorded dual EEG/NIRS from two people interacting, in (1) face-to-face turn-based interactions, investigating functional connectivity between theory-of-mind regions of interacting partners, or in (2) continuous mutual interactions on millisecond timescales, to measure coupling between the activity in one person's brain and the activity in the other's brain. We discuss the questions these approaches have addressed, and consider scenarios when simultaneous two-brain recordings are needed. Furthermore, we suggest that (1) quantification of inter-personal neural effects via measures of emergence, and (2) multivariate decoding models that generalize source-specific features of interaction, may provide novel tools to study brains in interaction. This may allow for a better understanding of social cognition as both representation and participation. PMID:22837744

Origin of hyperbolicity in brain-to-brain coordination networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tadić, Bosiljka; Andjelković, Miroslav; Šuvakov, Milovan

2018-02-01

Hyperbolicity or negative curvature of complex networks is the intrinsic geometric proximity of nodes in the graph metric space, which implies an improved network function. Here, we investigate hidden combinatorial geometries in brain-to-brain coordination networks arising through social communications. The networks originate from correlations among EEG signals previously recorded during spoken communications comprising of 14 individuals with 24 speaker-listener pairs. We find that the corresponding networks are delta-hyperbolic with delta_max=1 and the graph diameter D=3 in each brain. While the emergent hyperbolicity in the two-brain networks satisfies delta_max/D/2 < 1 and can be attributed to the topology of the subgraph formed around the cross-brains linking channels. We identify these subgraphs in each studied two-brain network and decompose their structure into simple geometric descriptors (triangles, tetrahedra and cliques of higher orders) that contribute to hyperbolicity. Considering topologies that exceed two separate brain networks as a measure of coordination synergy between the brains, we identify different neuronal correlation patterns ranging from weak coordination to super-brain structure. These topology features are in qualitative agreement with the listener’s self-reported ratings of own experience and quality of the speaker, suggesting that studies of the cross-brain connector networks can reveal new insight into the neural mechanisms underlying human social behavior.

Functional and structural brain correlates of theory of mind and empathy deficits in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Benedetti, Francesco; Bernasconi, Alessandro; Bosia, Marta; Cavallaro, Roberto; Dallaspezia, Sara; Falini, Andrea; Poletti, Sara; Radaelli, Daniele; Riccaboni, Roberta; Scotti, Giuseppe; Smeraldi, Enrico

2009-10-01

Patients affected by schizophrenia show deficits in social cognition, with abnormal performance on tasks targeting theory of mind (ToM) and empathy (Emp). Brain imaging studies suggested that ToM and Emp depend on the activation of brain networks mainly localized at the superior temporal lobe and temporo-parietal junction. Participants included 24 schizophrenia patients and 20 control subjects. We used brain blood oxygen level dependent fMRI to study the neural responses to tasks targeting ToM and Emp. We then studied voxel-based morphometry of grey matter in areas where diagnosis influenced functional activation to both tasks. Outcomes were analyzed in the context of the general linear model, with global grey matter volume as nuisance covariate for structural MRI. Patients showed worse performance on both tasks. We found significant effects of diagnosis on neural responses to the tasks in a wide cluster in right posterior superior temporal lobe (encompassing BA 22-42), in smaller clusters in left temporo-parietal junction and temporal pole (BA 38 and 39), and in a white matter region adjacent to medial prefrontal cortex (BA 10). A pattern of double dissociation of the effects of diagnosis and task on neural responses emerged. Among these areas, grey matter volume was found to be reduced in right superior temporal lobe regions of patients. Functional and structural abnormalities were observed in areas affected by the schizophrenic process early in the illness course, and known to be crucial for social cognition, suggesting a biological basis for social cognition deficits in schizophrenia.

Proneness to social anxiety modulates neural complexity in the absence of exposure: A resting state fMRI study using Hurst exponent.

PubMed

Gentili, Claudio; Vanello, Nicola; Cristea, Ioana; David, Daniel; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Pietrini, Pietro

2015-05-30

To test the hypothesis that brain activity is modulated by trait social anxiety, we measured the Hurst Exponent (HE), an index of complexity in time series, in healthy individuals at rest in the absence of any social trigger. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series were recorded in 36 subjects at rest. All volunteers were healthy without any psychiatric, medical or neurological disorder. Subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation (BFNE) to assess social anxiety and thoughts in social contexts. We also obtained the fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuations (fALFF) of the BOLD signal as an independent control measure for HE data. BFNE scores correlated positively with HE in the posterior cingulate/precuneus, while LSAS scores correlated positively with HE in the precuneus, in the inferior parietal sulci and in the parahippocamus. Results from fALFF were highly consistent with those obtained using LSAS and BFNE to predict HE. Overall our data indicate that spontaneous brain activity is influenced by the degree of social anxiety, on a continuum and in the absence of social stimuli. These findings suggest that social anxiety is a trait characteristic that shapes brain activity and predisposes to different reactions in social contexts. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

MET receptor tyrosine kinase as an autism genetic risk factor.

PubMed

Peng, Yun; Huentelman, Matthew; Smith, Christopher; Qiu, Shenfeng

2013-01-01

In this chapter, we will briefly discuss recent literature on the role of MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) in brain development and how perturbation of MET signaling may alter normal neurodevelopmental outcomes. Recent human genetic studies have established MET as a risk factor for autism, and the molecular and cellular underpinnings of this genetic risk are only beginning to emerge from obscurity. Unlike many autism risk genes that encode synaptic proteins, the spatial and temporal expression pattern of MET RTK indicates this signaling system is ideally situated to regulate neuronal growth, functional maturation, and establishment of functional brain circuits, particularly in those brain structures involved in higher levels of cognition, social skills, and executive functions. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resting state brain networks in the prairie vole.

PubMed

Ortiz, Juan J; Portillo, Wendy; Paredes, Raul G; Young, Larry J; Alcauter, Sarael

2018-01-19

Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) has shown the hierarchical organization of the human brain into large-scale complex networks, referred as resting state networks. This technique has turned into a promising translational research tool after the finding of similar resting state networks in non-human primates, rodents and other animal models of great value for neuroscience. Here, we demonstrate and characterize the presence of resting states networks in Microtus ochrogaster, the prairie vole, an extraordinary animal model to study complex human-like social behavior, with potential implications for the research of normal social development, addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders. Independent component analysis of rsfMRI data from isoflurane-anestethized prairie voles resulted in cortical and subcortical networks, including primary motor and sensory networks, but also included putative salience and default mode networks. We further discuss how future research could help to close the gap between the properties of the large scale functional organization and the underlying neurobiology of several aspects of social cognition. These results contribute to the evidence of preserved resting state brain networks across species and provide the foundations to explore the use of rsfMRI in the prairie vole for basic and translational research.

The Psycho-Neurology of Cross-Species Affective/Social Neuroscience: Understanding Animal Affective States as a Guide to Development of Novel Psychiatric Treatments.

PubMed

Panksepp, Jaak

During the past half century of research with preclinical animal models, affective neuroscience has helped identify and illuminate the functional neuroanatomies and neurochemistries of seven primary process, i.e., genetically provided emotional systems of mammalian brains. All are subcortically localized, allowing animal models to guide the needed behavioral and neuroscientific analyses at levels of detail that cannot be achieved through human research, including modern brain imaging. They consist of the following neuronal processes: SEEKING/Enthusiasm, RAGE/Anger, FEAR/Anxiety, sexual LUST/Passion, maternal CARE/Nurturance, separation-distress PANIC/Grief and PLAY/Social Joy. Several of these systems figure heavily in social bonding. I will focus here especially on the genesis of depression. Its genesis is significantly influenced by (i) sustained overactivity of the separation-distress PANIC system reflecting severed social bonds and the excessive "psychological pain" of loneliness that can, if sustained, lead to a downward cascade known as psychological despair, and (ii) the despair phase that follows the acute PANIC response, which is characterized by abnormally low activity of the SEEKING, the so-called brain reward networks, leading to amotivational states that characterize depression. Depressive affect is promoted by such brain affective mechanisms of social attachments and social loss as well as diminished arousability of the SEEKING system, leading to chronic dysphoria. To understand why depression feels so bad, we must understand the neural mechanisms that mediate such social feelings.

Mirror Neuron System and Mentalizing System connect during online social interaction.

PubMed

Sperduti, Marco; Guionnet, Sophie; Fossati, Philippe; Nadel, Jacqueline

2014-08-01

Two sets of brain areas are repeatedly reported in neuroimaging studies on social cognition: the Mirror Neuron System and the Mentalizing System. The Mirror System is involved in goal understanding and has been associated with several emotional and cognitive functions central to social interaction, ranging from empathy to gestural communication and imitation. The Mentalizing System is recruited in tasks requiring cognitive processes such as self-reference and understanding of other's intentions. Although theoretical accounts for an interaction between the two systems have been proposed, little is known about their synergy during social exchanges. In order to explore this question, we have recorded brain activity by means of functional MRI during live social exchanges based on reciprocal imitation of hand gestures. Here, we investigate, using the method of psychophysiological interaction, the changes in functional connectivity of the Mirror System due to the conditions of interest (being imitated, imitating) compared with passive observation of hand gestures. We report a strong coupling between the Mirror System and the Mentalizing System during the imitative exchanges. Our findings suggest a complementary role of the two networks during social encounters. The Mirror System would engage in the preparation of own actions and the simulation of other's actions, while the Mentalizing System would engage in the anticipation of the other's intention and thus would participate to the co-regulation of reciprocal actions. Beyond a specific effect of imitation, the design used offers the opportunity to tackle the role of role-switching in an interpersonal account of social cognition.

Research Review: Constraining Heterogeneity--The Social Brain and Its Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelphrey, Kevin A.; Shultz, Sarah; Hudac, Caitlin M.; Vander Wyk, Brent C.

2011-01-01

The expression of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is highly heterogeneous, owing to the complex interactions between genes, the brain, and behavior throughout development. Here we present a model of ASD that implicates an early and initial failure to develop the specialized functions of one or more of the set of neuroanatomical structures involved…

Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks

PubMed Central

Zerubavel, Noam; Bearman, Peter S.; Weber, Jochen; Ochsner, Kevin N.

2015-01-01

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others’ popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets’ sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity–social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity–valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members’ popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior. PMID:26598684

Sex differences in neural activation following different routes of oxytocin administration in awake adult rats.

PubMed

Dumais, Kelly M; Kulkarni, Praveen P; Ferris, Craig F; Veenema, Alexa H

2017-07-01

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) regulates social behavior in sex-specific ways across species. OT has promising effects on alleviating social deficits in sex-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. However little is known about potential sexually dimorphic effects of OT on brain function. Using the rat as a model organism, we determined whether OT administered centrally or peripherally induces sex differences in brain activation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal intensity changes in the brains of awake rats during the 20min following intracerebroventricular (ICV; 1μg/5μl) or intraperitoneal (IP; 0.1mg/kg) OT administration as compared to baseline. ICV OT induced sex differences in BOLD activation in 26 out of 172 brain regions analyzed, with 20 regions showing a greater volume of activation in males (most notably the nucleus accumbens and insular cortex), and 6 regions showing a greater volume of activation in females (including the lateral and central amygdala). IP OT also elicited sex differences in BOLD activation with a greater volume of activation in males, but this activation was found in different and fewer (10) brain regions compared to ICV OT. In conclusion, exogenous OT modulates neural activation differently in male versus female rats with the pattern and magnitude, but not the direction, of sex differences depending on the route of administration. These findings highlight the need to include both sexes in basic and clinical studies to fully understand the role of OT on brain function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotions promote social interaction by synchronizing brain activity across individuals

PubMed Central

Nummenmaa, Lauri; Glerean, Enrico; Viinikainen, Mikko; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Hari, Riitta; Sams, Mikko

2012-01-01

Sharing others’ emotional states may facilitate understanding their intentions and actions. Here we show that networks of brain areas “tick together” in participants who are viewing similar emotional events in a movie. Participants’ brain activity was measured with functional MRI while they watched movies depicting unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant emotions. After scanning, participants watched the movies again and continuously rated their experience of pleasantness–unpleasantness (i.e., valence) and of arousal–calmness. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to derive multisubject voxelwise similarity measures [intersubject correlations (ISCs)] of functional MRI data. Valence and arousal time series were used to predict the moment-to-moment ISCs computed using a 17-s moving average. During movie viewing, participants' brain activity was synchronized in lower- and higher-order sensory areas and in corticolimbic emotion circuits. Negative valence was associated with increased ISC in the emotion-processing network (thalamus, ventral striatum, insula) and in the default-mode network (precuneus, temporoparietal junction, medial prefrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus). High arousal was associated with increased ISC in the somatosensory cortices and visual and dorsal attention networks comprising the visual cortex, bilateral intraparietal sulci, and frontal eye fields. Seed-voxel–based correlation analysis confirmed that these sets of regions constitute dissociable, functional networks. We propose that negative valence synchronizes individuals’ brain areas supporting emotional sensations and understanding of another’s actions, whereas high arousal directs individuals’ attention to similar features of the environment. By enhancing the synchrony of brain activity across individuals, emotions may promote social interaction and facilitate interpersonal understanding. PMID:22623534

Paradoxical Expectation: Oscillatory Brain Activity Reveals Social Interaction Impairment in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Billeke, Pablo; Armijo, Alejandra; Castillo, Daniel; López, Tamara; Zamorano, Francisco; Cosmelli, Diego; Aboitiz, Francisco

2015-09-15

People with schizophrenia show social impairments that are related to functional outcomes. We tested the hypothesis that social interaction impairments in people with schizophrenia are related to alterations in the predictions of others' behavior and explored their underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Electroencephalography was performed in 20 patients with schizophrenia and 25 well-matched control subjects. Participants played as proposers in the repeated version of the Ultimatum Game believing that they were playing with another human or with a computer. The power of oscillatory brain activity was obtained by means of the wavelet transform. We performed a trial-by-trial correlation between the oscillatory activity and the risk of the offer. Control subjects adapted their offers when playing with computers and tended to maintain their offers when playing with humans, as such revealing learning and bargaining strategies, respectively. People with schizophrenia presented the opposite pattern of behavior in both games. During the anticipation of others' responses, the power of alpha oscillations correlated with the risk of the offers made, in a different way in both games. Patients with schizophrenia presented a greater correlation in computer games than in human games; control subjects showed the opposite pattern. The alpha activity correlated with positive symptoms. Our results reveal an alteration in social interaction in patients with schizophrenia that is related to oscillatory brain activity, suggesting maladjustment of expectation when patients face social and nonsocial agents. This alteration is related to psychotic symptoms and could guide further therapies for improving social functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brain-based treatment-A new approach or a well-forgotten old one?

PubMed

Matanova, Vanya; Kostova, Zlatomira; Kolev, Martin

2018-04-24

For a relatively long period of time, mental functioning was mainly associated with personal profile while brain functioning went by the wayside. After the 90s of the 20th century, or the so called "Decade of the Brain", today, contemporary specialists work on the boundary between fundamental science and medicine. This brings neuroscience, neuropsychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy closer to each other. Today, we definitely know that brain structures are being built and altered thanks to experience. Psychotherapy can be more effective when based on a neuropsychological approach-this implies identification of the neural foundations of various disorders and will lead to specific psychotherapeutic conclusions. The knowledge about the brain is continually enriched, which leads to periodic rethinking and updating of the therapeutic approaches to various diseases of the nervous system and brain dysfunctions. The aim of translational studies is to match and combine scientific areas, resources, experience and techniques to improve prevention, diagnosis and therapies, and "transformation" of scientific discoveries into potential treatments of various diseases done in laboratory conditions. Neuropsychological studies prove that cognition is a key element that links together brain functioning and behaviour. According to Dr. Kandel, all experimental events, including psychotherapeutic interventions, affect the structure and function of neuronal synapses. The story of why psychotherapy works is a story of understanding the brain mechanisms of psychic processes, a story of how the brain has been evolving to ensure learning, forgetting, and the mechanisms of permanent psychological change. The new evidence on brain functioning necessitates the integration of neuropsychological achievements in the psychotherapeutic process. An integrative approach is needed to take into account the dynamic interaction between brain functioning, psyche, soul, spirit, and social interaction, ie, development of a model of psychotherapeutic work based on cerebral plasticity! Brain-based psychotherapy aims at changing brain functioning not directly, but through experiences. This is neuro-psychologically informed psychotherapy. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Methods to measure olfactory behavior in mice

PubMed Central

Zou, Junhui; Wang, Wenbin; Pan, Yung-Wei; Lu, Song; Xia, Zhengui

2015-01-01

Mice rely on the sense of olfaction to detect food sources, recognize social and mating partners, and avoid predators. Many behaviors of mice including learning and memory, social interaction, fear, and anxiety are closely associated with their function of olfaction, and behavior tasks designed to evaluate those brain functions may use odors as cues. Accurate assessment of olfaction is not only essential for the study of olfactory system but also critical for proper interpretation of various mouse behaviors especially learning and memory, emotionality and affect, and sociality. Here we describe a series of behavior experiments that offer multidimensional and quantitative assessments for mouse’s olfactory function, including olfactory habituation, discrimination, odor preference, odor detection sensitivity, and olfactory memory, to both social and nonsocial odors. PMID:25645244

Cultural differences in human brain activity: a quantitative meta-analysis.

PubMed

Han, Shihui; Ma, Yina

2014-10-01

Psychologists have been trying to understand differences in cognition and behavior between East Asian and Western cultures within a single cognitive framework such as holistic versus analytic or interdependent versus independent processes. However, it remains unclear whether cultural differences in multiple psychological processes correspond to the same or different neural networks. We conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of 35 functional MRI studies to examine cultural differences in brain activity engaged in social and non-social processes. We showed that social cognitive processes are characterized by stronger activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, lateral frontal cortex and temporoparietal junction in East Asians but stronger activity in the anterior cingulate, ventral medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral insula in Westerners. Social affective processes are associated with stronger activity in the right dorsal lateral frontal cortex in East Asians but greater activity in the left insula and right temporal pole in Westerners. Non-social processes induce stronger activity in the left inferior parietal cortex, left middle occipital and left superior parietal cortex in East Asians but greater activations in the right lingual gyrus, right inferior parietal cortex and precuneus in Westerners. The results suggest that cultural differences in social and non-social processes are mediated by distinct neural networks. Moreover, East Asian cultures are associated with increased neural activity in the brain regions related to inference of others' mind and emotion regulation whereas Western cultures are associated with enhanced neural activity in the brain areas related to self-relevance encoding and emotional responses during social cognitive/affective processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Metastable Brain

PubMed Central

Tognoli, Emmanuelle; Kelso, J. A. Scott

2014-01-01

Neural ensembles oscillate across a broad range of frequencies and are transiently coupled or “bound” together when people attend to a stimulus, perceive, think and act. This is a dynamic, self-assembling process, with parts of the brain engaging and disengaging in time. But how is it done? The theory of Coordination Dynamics proposes a mechanism called metastability, a subtle blend of integration and segregation. Tendencies for brain regions to express their individual autonomy and specialized functions (segregation, modularity) coexist with tendencies to couple and coordinate globally for multiple functions (integration). Although metastability has garnered increasing attention, it has yet to be demonstrated and treated within a fully spatiotemporal perspective. Here, we illustrate metastability in continuous neural and behavioral recordings, and we discuss theory and experiments at multiple scales suggesting that metastable dynamics underlie the real-time coordination necessary for the brain's dynamic cognitive, behavioral and social functions. PMID:24411730

Neuropeptides and the social brain: potential rodent models of autism.

PubMed

Lim, Miranda M; Bielsky, Isadora F; Young, Larry J

2005-01-01

Conducting basic scientific research on a complex psychiatric disorder, such as autism, is a challenging prospect. It is difficult to dissociate the fundamental neurological and psychological processes that are disturbed in autism and, therefore, it is a challenge to discover accurate and reliable animal models of the disease. Because of their role in animal models of social processing and social bonding, the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are strong candidates for dysregulation in autism. In this review, we discuss the current animal models which have investigated oxytocin and vasopressin systems in the brain and their effects on social behavior. For example, mice lacking the oxytocin gene have profound deficits in social processing and social recognition, as do rats lacking vasopressin or mice lacking the vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR). In another rodent model, monogamous prairie voles are highly social and form strong pair bonds with their mates. Pair bonds can be facilitated or disrupted by perturbing the oxytocin and vasopressin systems. Non-monogamous vole species that do not pair bond have different oxytocin and V1aR distribution patterns in the brain than monogamous vole species. Potential ties from these rodent models to the human autistic condition are then discussed. Given the hallmark disturbances in social function, the study of animal models of social behavior may provide novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of autism.

Neurodevelopment and executive function in autism.

PubMed

O'Hearn, Kirsten; Asato, Miya; Ordaz, Sarah; Luna, Beatriz

2008-01-01

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits, and repetitive behavior. Studies investigating the integrity of brain systems in autism suggest a wide range of gray and white matter abnormalities that are present early in life and change with development. These abnormalities predominantly affect association areas and undermine functional integration. Executive function, which has a protracted development into adolescence and reflects the integration of complex widely distributed brain function, is also affected in autism. Evidence from studies probing response inhibition and working memory indicate impairments in these core components of executive function, as well as compensatory mechanisms that permit normative function in autism. Studies also demonstrate age-related improvements in executive function from childhood to adolescence in autism, indicating the presence of plasticity and suggesting a prolonged window for effective treatment. Despite developmental gains, mature executive functioning is limited in autism, reflecting abnormalities in wide-spread brain networks that may lead to impaired processing of complex information across all domains.

Development of structure and function in the infant brain: Implications for cognition, language and social behaviour

PubMed Central

Paterson, Sarah J.; Heim, Sabine; Friedman, Jennifer Thomas; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April A.

2007-01-01

Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have allowed us to begin investigating the development of both structure and function in the infant brain. However, despite the rapid evolution of technology, surprisingly few studies have examined the intersection between brain and behaviour over the first years of life. Even fewer have done so in the context of a particular research question. This paper aims to provide an overview of four domains that have been studied using techniques amenable to elucidating the brain/behaviour interface: language, face processing, object permanence, and joint attention, with particular emphasis on studies focusing on early development. The importance of the unique role of development and the interplay between structure and function is stressed throughout. It is hoped that this review will serve as a catalyst for further thinking about the substantial gaps in our understanding of the relationship between brain and behaviour across development. Further, our aim is to provide ideas about candidate brain areas that are likely to be implicated in particular behaviours or cognitive domains. PMID:16890291

Diminished Medial Prefrontal Activity behind Autistic Social Judgments of Incongruent Information

PubMed Central

Watanabe, Takamitsu; Yahata, Noriaki; Abe, Osamu; Kuwabara, Hitoshi; Inoue, Hideyuki; Takano, Yosuke; Iwashiro, Norichika; Natsubori, Tatsunobu; Aoki, Yuta; Takao, Hidemasa; Sasaki, Hiroki; Gonoi, Wataru; Murakami, Mizuho; Katsura, Masaki; Kunimatsu, Akira; Kawakubo, Yuki; Matsuzaki, Hideo; Tsuchiya, Kenji J.; Kato, Nobumasa; Kano, Yukiko; Miyashita, Yasushi; Kasai, Kiyoto; Yamasue, Hidenori

2012-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to make inadequate social judgments, particularly when the nonverbal and verbal emotional expressions of other people are incongruent. Although previous behavioral studies have suggested that ASD individuals have difficulty in using nonverbal cues when presented with incongruent verbal-nonverbal information, the neural mechanisms underlying this symptom of ASD remain unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we compared brain activity in 15 non-medicated adult males with high-functioning ASD to that of 17 age-, parental-background-, socioeconomic-, and intelligence-quotient-matched typically-developed (TD) male participants. Brain activity was measured while each participant made friend or foe judgments of realistic movies in which professional actors spoke with conflicting nonverbal facial expressions and voice prosody. We found that the ASD group made significantly less judgments primarily based on the nonverbal information than the TD group, and they exhibited significantly less brain activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/vmPFC), and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) than the TD group. Among these five regions, the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC were most involved in nonverbal-information-biased judgments in the TD group. Furthermore, the degree of decrease of the brain activity in these two brain regions predicted the severity of autistic communication deficits. The findings indicate that diminished activity in the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC underlies the impaired abilities of individuals with ASD to use nonverbal content when making judgments regarding other people based on incongruent social information. PMID:22745788

Cognitive accuracy and intelligent executive function in the brain and in business.

PubMed

Bailey, Charles E

2007-11-01

This article reviews research on cognition, language, organizational culture, brain, behavior, and evolution to posit the value of operating with a stable reference point based on cognitive accuracy and a rational bias. Drawing on rational-emotive behavioral science, social neuroscience, and cognitive organizational science on the one hand and a general model of brain and frontal lobe executive function on the other, I suggest implications for organizational success. Cognitive thought processes depend on specific brain structures functioning as effectively as possible under conditions of cognitive accuracy. However, typical cognitive processes in hierarchical business structures promote the adoption and application of subjective organizational beliefs and, thus, cognitive inaccuracies. Applying informed frontal lobe executive functioning to cognition, emotion, and organizational behavior helps minimize the negative effects of indiscriminate application of personal and cultural belief systems to business. Doing so enhances cognitive accuracy and improves communication and cooperation. Organizations operating with cognitive accuracy will tend to respond more nimbly to market pressures and achieve an overall higher level of performance and employee satisfaction.

Audience Effects in Territorial Defense of Male Cichlid Fish Are Associated with Differential Patterns of Activation of the Brain Social Decision-Making Network.

PubMed

Roleira, António; Oliveira, Gonçalo A; Lopes, João S; Oliveira, Rui F

2017-01-01

Animals communicate by exchanging signals frequently in the proximity of other conspecifics that may detect and intercept signals not directed to them. There is evidence that the presence of these bystanders modulates the signaling behavior of interacting individuals, a phenomenon that has been named audience effect. Research on the audience effect has predominantly focused on its function rather than on its proximate mechanisms. Here, we have investigated the physiological and neuromolecular correlates of the audience effect in a cichlid fish (Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus ). A male was exposed to a territorial intrusion in the presence or absence of a female audience. Results showed that the presence of the female audience increased territorial defense, but elicited a lower androgen and cortisol response to the territorial intrusion. Furthermore, analysis of the expression of immediate early genes, used as markers of neuronal activity, in brain areas belonging to the social decision-making network (SDMN) revealed different patterns of network activity and connectivity across the different social contexts (i.e., audience × intrusion). Overall, these results suggest that socially driven plasticity in the expression of territorial behavior is accommodated in the central nervous system by rapid changes in functional connectivity between nodes of relevant networks (SDMN) rather than by localized changes of activity in specific brain nuclei.

Audience Effects in Territorial Defense of Male Cichlid Fish Are Associated with Differential Patterns of Activation of the Brain Social Decision-Making Network

PubMed Central

Roleira, António; Oliveira, Gonçalo A.; Lopes, João S.; Oliveira, Rui F.

2017-01-01

Animals communicate by exchanging signals frequently in the proximity of other conspecifics that may detect and intercept signals not directed to them. There is evidence that the presence of these bystanders modulates the signaling behavior of interacting individuals, a phenomenon that has been named audience effect. Research on the audience effect has predominantly focused on its function rather than on its proximate mechanisms. Here, we have investigated the physiological and neuromolecular correlates of the audience effect in a cichlid fish (Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus). A male was exposed to a territorial intrusion in the presence or absence of a female audience. Results showed that the presence of the female audience increased territorial defense, but elicited a lower androgen and cortisol response to the territorial intrusion. Furthermore, analysis of the expression of immediate early genes, used as markers of neuronal activity, in brain areas belonging to the social decision-making network (SDMN) revealed different patterns of network activity and connectivity across the different social contexts (i.e., audience × intrusion). Overall, these results suggest that socially driven plasticity in the expression of territorial behavior is accommodated in the central nervous system by rapid changes in functional connectivity between nodes of relevant networks (SDMN) rather than by localized changes of activity in specific brain nuclei. PMID:28620286

A systematic review and meta-analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging studies investigating cognitive and social activity levels in older adults.

PubMed

Anatürk, M; Demnitz, N; Ebmeier, K P; Sexton, C E

2018-06-22

Population aging has prompted considerable interest in identifying modifiable factors that may help protect the brain and its functions. Collectively, epidemiological studies show that leisure activities with high mental and social demands are linked with better cognition in old age. The extent to which socio-intellectual activities relate to the brain's structure is, however, not yet fully understood. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarizes magnetic resonance imaging studies that have investigated whether cognitive and social activities correlate with measures of gray and white matter volume, white matter microstructure and white matter lesions. Across eighteen included studies (total n = 8429), activity levels were associated with whole-brain white matter volume, white matter lesions and regional gray matter volume, although effect sizes were small. No associations were found for global gray matter volume and the evidence concerning white matter microstructure was inconclusive. While the causality of the reviewed associations needs to be established, our findings implicate socio-intellectual activity levels as promising targets for interventions aimed at promoting healthy brain aging. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Brain Activation while Thinking about the Self from Another Person’s Perspective after Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents

PubMed Central

Newsome, Mary R.; Scheibel, Randall S.; Hanten, Gerri; Chu, Z.; Steinberg, Joel L.; Hunter, Jill V.; Lu, Hanzhang; Vasquez, Ana C.; Li, Xiaoqi; Lin, Xiaodi; Cook, Lori; Levin, Harvey S.

2011-01-01

Deficits in self awareness and taking the perspective of others are often observed following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Nine adolescents (ages 12–19 years) who had sustained moderate to severe TBI after an average interval of 2.6 years and nine typically developing (TD) adolescents underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a perspective taking task (D’Argembeau et al., 2007). Participants made trait attributions either from their own perspective or from that of the significant other. The groups did not differ in reaction time or on a consistency criterion. When thinking of the self from a third-person perspective, adolescents with TBI demonstrated greater activation in posterior brain regions implicated in social cognition, the left lingual gyrus (BA 18) and posterior cingulate (BA 31), extending into neighboring regions not generally associated with social cognition, i.e., cuneus (BA 31) and parahippocampal gyrus, relative to TD adolescents. We postulate that adolescents with moderate to severe TBI recruited alternative neural pathways during perspective-taking because traumatic axonal injury disrupted their fronto-parietal networks mediating social cognition. PMID:20230107

Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vul, Edward; Harris, Christine; Winkielman, Piotr; Pashler, Harold

2009-01-01

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition have drawn much attention in recent years, with high-profile studies frequently reporting extremely high (e.g., > 8) correlations between behavioral and self-report measures of personality or emotion and measures of brain activation. We show…

Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles

PubMed Central

Amadei, Elizabeth A.; Johnson, Zachary V.; Kwon, Yong Jun; Shpiner, Aaron C.; Saravanan, Varun; Mays, Wittney D.; Ryan, Steven J.; Walum, Hasse; Rainnie, Donald G.; Young, Larry J.; Liu, Robert C.

2017-01-01

Summary paragraph Adult pair bonding involves dramatic changes in the perception and valuation of another individual1. One key change is that partners come to reliably activate the brain's reward system2-6, though the precise neural mechanisms by which partners become rewarding during sociosexual interactions leading to a bond remain unclear. Using a prairie vole model of social bonding7, we show how a functional circuit from medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is dynamically modulated to enhance females' affiliative behavior towards a partner. Individual variation in the strength of this functional connectivity, particularly after the first mating encounter, predicts how quickly animals begin affiliative huddling with their partner. Rhythmically activating this circuit in a social context without mating biases later preference towards a partner, indicating that this circuit's activity is not just correlated with how quickly animals become affiliative but causally accelerates it. These results provide the first dynamic view of corticostriatal activity during bond formation, revealing how social interactions can recruit brain reward systems to drive changes in affiliative behavior. PMID:28562592

Co-ordinated structural and functional covariance in the adolescent brain underlies face processing performance.

PubMed

Shaw, Daniel Joel; Mareček, Radek; Grosbras, Marie-Helene; Leonard, Gabriel; Pike, G Bruce; Paus, Tomáš

2016-04-01

Our ability to process complex social cues presented by faces improves during adolescence. Using multivariate analyses of neuroimaging data collected longitudinally from a sample of 38 adolescents (17 males) when they were 10, 11.5, 13 and 15 years old, we tested the possibility that there exists parallel variations in the structural and functional development of neural systems supporting face processing. By combining measures of task-related functional connectivity and brain morphology, we reveal that both the structural covariance and functional connectivity among 'distal' nodes of the face-processing network engaged by ambiguous faces increase during this age range. Furthermore, we show that the trajectory of increasing functional connectivity between the distal nodes occurs in tandem with the development of their structural covariance. This demonstrates a tight coupling between functional and structural maturation within the face-processing network. Finally, we demonstrate that increased functional connectivity is associated with age-related improvements of face-processing performance, particularly in females. We suggest that our findings reflect greater integration among distal elements of the neural systems supporting the processing of facial expressions. This, in turn, might facilitate an enhanced extraction of social information from faces during a time when greater importance is placed on social interactions. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neural and Behavioral Responses During Self-Evaluative Processes Differ in Youth With and Without Autism

PubMed Central

Merchant, Junaid S.; Colich, Natalie L.; Hernandez, Leanna M.; Rudie, Jeff D.; Dapretto, Mirella

2012-01-01

This fMRI study investigated neural responses while making appraisals of self and other, across the social and academic domains, in children and adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Compared to neurotypical youth, those with ASD exhibited hypoactivation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex during self-appraisals. Responses in middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and anterior insula (AI) also distinguished between groups. Stronger activity in MCC and AI during self-appraisals was associated with better social functioning in the ASD group. Although self-appraisals were significantly more positive in the neurotypical group, positivity was unrelated to brain activity in these regions. Together, these results suggest that multiple brain regions support making self-appraisals in neurotypical development, and function atypically in youth with ASD. PMID:22760337

Algebraic Topology of Multi-Brain Connectivity Networks Reveals Dissimilarity in Functional Patterns during Spoken Communications

PubMed Central

Tadić, Bosiljka; Andjelković, Miroslav; Boshkoska, Biljana Mileva; Levnajić, Zoran

2016-01-01

Human behaviour in various circumstances mirrors the corresponding brain connectivity patterns, which are suitably represented by functional brain networks. While the objective analysis of these networks by graph theory tools deepened our understanding of brain functions, the multi-brain structures and connections underlying human social behaviour remain largely unexplored. In this study, we analyse the aggregate graph that maps coordination of EEG signals previously recorded during spoken communications in two groups of six listeners and two speakers. Applying an innovative approach based on the algebraic topology of graphs, we analyse higher-order topological complexes consisting of mutually interwoven cliques of a high order to which the identified functional connections organise. Our results reveal that the topological quantifiers provide new suitable measures for differences in the brain activity patterns and inter-brain synchronisation between speakers and listeners. Moreover, the higher topological complexity correlates with the listener’s concentration to the story, confirmed by self-rating, and closeness to the speaker’s brain activity pattern, which is measured by network-to-network distance. The connectivity structures of the frontal and parietal lobe consistently constitute distinct clusters, which extend across the listener’s group. Formally, the topology quantifiers of the multi-brain communities exceed the sum of those of the participating individuals and also reflect the listener’s rated attributes of the speaker and the narrated subject. In the broader context, the presented study exposes the relevance of higher topological structures (besides standard graph measures) for characterising functional brain networks under different stimuli. PMID:27880802

Neural correlates of naturalistic social cognition: brain-behavior relationships in healthy adults.

PubMed

Deuse, L; Rademacher, L M; Winkler, L; Schultz, R T; Gründer, G; Lammertz, S E

2016-11-01

Being able to infer the thoughts, feelings and intentions of those around us is indispensable in order to function in a social world. Despite growing interest in social cognition and its neural underpinnings, the factors that contribute to successful mental state attribution remain unclear. Current knowledge is limited because the most widely used tasks suffer from two main constraints: (i) They fail to capture individual variability due to ceiling effects and (ii) they use highly simplistic, often artificial stimuli inapt to mirror real-world socio-cognitive demands. In the present study, we address these problems by employing complex depictions of naturalistic social interactions that vary in both valence (positive vs negative) and ambiguity (high vs low). Thirty-eight healthy participants (20 female) made mental state judgments while brain responses were obtained using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Accuracy varied based on valence and ambiguity conditions and women were more accurate than men with highly ambiguous social stimuli. Activity of the orbitofrontal cortex predicted performance in the high ambiguity condition. The results shed light on subtle differences in mentalizing abilities and associated neural activity. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neural Integration in Body Perception.

PubMed

Ramsey, Richard

2018-06-19

The perception of other people is instrumental in guiding social interactions. For example, the appearance of the human body cues a wide range of inferences regarding sex, age, health, and personality, as well as emotional state and intentions, which influence social behavior. To date, most neuroscience research on body perception has aimed to characterize the functional contribution of segregated patches of cortex in the ventral visual stream. In light of the growing prominence of network architectures in neuroscience, the current article reviews neuroimaging studies that measure functional integration between different brain regions during body perception. The review demonstrates that body perception is not restricted to processing in the ventral visual stream but instead reflects a functional alliance between the ventral visual stream and extended neural systems associated with action perception, executive functions, and theory of mind. Overall, these findings demonstrate how body percepts are constructed through interactions in distributed brain networks and underscore that functional segregation and integration should be considered together when formulating neurocognitive theories of body perception. Insight from such an updated model of body perception generalizes to inform the organizational structure of social perception and cognition more generally and also informs disorders of body image, such as anorexia nervosa, which may rely on atypical integration of body-related information.

Neural networks underlying language and social cognition during self-other processing in Autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Sartin, Emma B; Stevens, Carl; Deshpande, Hrishikesh D; Klein, Christopher; Klinger, Mark R; Klinger, Laura Grofer

2017-07-28

The social communication impairments defining autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be built upon core deficits in perspective-taking, language processing, and self-other representation. Self-referential processing entails the ability to incorporate self-awareness, self-judgment, and self-memory in information processing. Very few studies have examined the neural bases of integrating self-other representation and semantic processing in individuals with ASD. The main objective of this functional MRI study is to examine the role of language and social brain networks in self-other processing in young adults with ASD. Nineteen high-functioning male adults with ASD and 19 age-sex-and-IQ-matched typically developing (TD) control participants made "yes" or "no" judgments of whether an adjective, presented visually, described them (self) or their favorite teacher (other). Both ASD and TD participants showed significantly increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) during self and other processing relative to letter search. Analyses of group differences revealed significantly reduced activity in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), and left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) in ASD participants, relative to TD controls. ASD participants also showed significantly weaker functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with several brain areas while processing self-related words. The LIFG and IPL are important regions functionally at the intersection of language and social roles; reduced recruitment of these regions in ASD participants may suggest poor level of semantic and social processing. In addition, poor connectivity of the ACC may suggest the difficulty in meeting the linguistic and social demands of this task in ASD. Overall, this study provides new evidence of the altered recruitment of the neural networks underlying language and social cognition in ASD. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Neural dynamics of social tie formation in economic decision-making.

PubMed

Bault, Nadège; Pelloux, Benjamin; Fahrenfort, Johannes J; Ridderinkhof, K Richard; van Winden, Frans

2015-06-01

The disposition for prosocial conduct, which contributes to cooperation as arising during social interaction, requires cortical network dynamics responsive to the development of social ties, or care about the interests of specific interaction partners. Here, we formulate a dynamic computational model that accurately predicted how tie formation, driven by the interaction history, influences decisions to contribute in a public good game. We used model-driven functional MRI to test the hypothesis that brain regions key to social interactions keep track of dynamics in tie strength. Activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex tracked the individual's public good contributions. Activation in the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and temporo-parietal junction was modulated parametrically by the dynamically developing social tie-as estimated by our model-supporting a role of these regions in social tie formation. Activity in these two regions further reflected inter-individual differences in tie persistence and sensitivity to behavior of the interaction partner. Functional connectivity between pSTS and mPFC activations indicated that the representation of social ties is integrated in the decision process. These data reveal the brain mechanisms underlying the integration of interaction dynamics into a social tie representation which in turn influenced the individual's prosocial decisions. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Regional gray matter volumetric changes in autism associated with social and repetitive behavior symptoms

PubMed Central

Rojas, Donald C; Peterson, Eric; Winterrowd, Erin; Reite, Martin L; Rogers, Sally J; Tregellas, Jason R

2006-01-01

Background Although differences in brain anatomy in autism have been difficult to replicate using manual tracing methods, automated whole brain analyses have begun to find consistent differences in regions of the brain associated with the social cognitive processes that are often impaired in autism. We attempted to replicate these whole brain studies and to correlate regional volume changes with several autism symptom measures. Methods We performed MRI scans on 24 individuals diagnosed with DSM-IV autistic disorder and compared those to scans from 23 healthy comparison subjects matched on age. All participants were male. Whole brain, voxel-wise analyses of regional gray matter volume were conducted using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Results Controlling for age and total gray matter volume, the volumes of the medial frontal gyri, left pre-central gyrus, right post-central gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, caudate nuclei and the left hippocampus were larger in the autism group relative to controls. Regions exhibiting smaller volumes in the autism group were observed exclusively in the cerebellum. Significant partial correlations were found between the volumes of the caudate nuclei, multiple frontal and temporal regions, the cerebellum and a measure of repetitive behaviors, controlling for total gray matter volume. Social and communication deficits in autism were also associated with caudate, cerebellar, and precuneus volumes, as well as with frontal and temporal lobe regional volumes. Conclusion Gray matter enlargement was observed in areas that have been functionally identified as important in social-cognitive processes, such as the medial frontal gyri, sensorimotor cortex and middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, we have shown that VBM is sensitive to associations between social and repetitive behaviors and regional brain volumes in autism. PMID:17166273

Perception of Emotional Facial Expressions in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at Behavioural and Brain Metabolic Level

PubMed Central

Aho-Özhan, Helena E. A.; Keller, Jürgen; Heimrath, Johanna; Uttner, Ingo; Kassubek, Jan; Birbaumer, Niels; Ludolph, Albert C.; Lulé, Dorothée

2016-01-01

Introduction Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) primarily impairs motor abilities but also affects cognition and emotional processing. We hypothesise that subjective ratings of emotional stimuli depicting social interactions and facial expressions is changed in ALS. It was found that recognition of negative emotions and ability to mentalize other’s intentions is reduced. Methods Processing of emotions in faces was investigated. A behavioural test of Ekman faces expressing six basic emotions was presented to 30 ALS patients and 29 age-, gender and education matched healthy controls. Additionally, a subgroup of 15 ALS patients that were able to lie supine in the scanner and 14 matched healthy controls viewed the Ekman faces during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Affective state and a number of daily social contacts were measured. Results ALS patients recognized disgust and fear less accurately than healthy controls. In fMRI, reduced brain activity was seen in areas involved in processing of negative emotions replicating our previous results. During processing of sad faces, increased brain activity was seen in areas associated with social emotions in right inferior frontal gyrus and reduced activity in hippocampus bilaterally. No differences in brain activity were seen for any of the other emotional expressions. Inferior frontal gyrus activity for sad faces was associated with increased amount of social contacts of ALS patients. Conclusion ALS patients showed decreased brain and behavioural responses in processing of disgust and fear and an altered brain response pattern for sadness. The negative consequences of neurodegenerative processes in the course of ALS might be counteracted by positive emotional activity and positive social interactions. PMID:27741285

Long-Term Ability to Interpret Facial Expression after Traumatic Brain Injury and Its Relation to Social Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knox, Lucy; Douglas, Jacinta

2009-01-01

There is considerable evidence that individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience problems interpreting the emotional state of others. However, the functional implications of these changes have not been fully investigated. A study of 13 individuals with severe TBI and an equal number of matched controls found that TBI participants had…

Active Bodies/Active Brains: Practical Applications Using Physical Engagement to Enhance Brain Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens-Smith, Deborah A.

2016-01-01

The word "play" has been characterized across a full continuum of meanings, from valued release time and recess to an essentially unimportant function of the school day that is lacking in purpose. The value of physical activity in our social and educational system has been questioned to the point that many schools are looking to…

Brief Report: Brain Activation to Social Words in a Sedated Child with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carmody, Dennis P.; Moreno, Rosanne; Mars, Audrey E.; Seshadri, Kapila; Lambert, George H.; Lewis, Michael

2007-01-01

A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was performed on a 4-year-old girl with autism. While sedated, she listened to three utterances (numbers, hello, her own first name) played through headphones. Based on analyses of the fMRI data, the amount of total brain activation varied with the content of the utterance. The greatest volume…

A Systematic Review of Psychological Interventions to Alleviate Cognitive and Psychosocial Problems in Children with Acquired Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Kimberley A.; Dorris, Liam; McMillan, Tom

2011-01-01

Aim: It is now generally accepted that paediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) can have an impact on a child's cognitive, social, and behavioural functioning. However, the lack of guidelines on effective interventions for the affected children and their families, particularly beyond the acute recovery phase, can limit access to effective support.…

A Set of Functional Brain Networks for the Comprehensive Evaluation of Human Characteristics.

PubMed

Sung, Yul-Wan; Kawachi, Yousuke; Choi, Uk-Su; Kang, Daehun; Abe, Chihiro; Otomo, Yuki; Ogawa, Seiji

2018-01-01

Many human characteristics must be evaluated to comprehensively understand an individual, and measurements of the corresponding cognition/behavior are required. Brain imaging by functional MRI (fMRI) has been widely used to examine brain function related to human cognition/behavior. However, few aspects of cognition/behavior of individuals or experimental groups can be examined through task-based fMRI. Recently, resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) signals have been shown to represent functional infrastructure in the brain that is highly involved in processing information related to cognition/behavior. Using rs-fMRI may allow diverse information about the brain through a single MRI scan to be obtained, as rs-fMRI does not require stimulus tasks. In this study, we attempted to identify a set of functional networks representing cognition/behavior that are related to a wide variety of human characteristics and to evaluate these characteristics using rs-fMRI data. If possible, these findings would support the potential of rs-fMRI to provide diverse information about the brain. We used resting-state fMRI and a set of 130 psychometric parameters that cover most human characteristics, including those related to intelligence and emotional quotients and social ability/skill. We identified 163 brain regions by VBM analysis using regression analysis with 130 psychometric parameters. Next, using a 163 × 163 correlation matrix, we identified functional networks related to 111 of the 130 psychometric parameters. Finally, we made an 8-class support vector machine classifiers corresponding to these 111 functional networks. Our results demonstrate that rs-fMRI signals contain intrinsic information about brain function related to cognition/behaviors and that this set of 111 networks/classifiers can be used to comprehensively evaluate human characteristics.

Socioeconomic status moderates age-related differences in the brain's functional network organization and anatomy across the adult lifespan.

PubMed

Chan, Micaela Y; Na, Jinkyung; Agres, Phillip F; Savalia, Neil K; Park, Denise C; Wig, Gagan S

2018-05-14

An individual's environmental surroundings interact with the development and maturation of their brain. An important aspect of an individual's environment is his or her socioeconomic status (SES), which estimates access to material resources and social prestige. Previous characterizations of the relation between SES and the brain have primarily focused on earlier or later epochs of the lifespan (i.e., childhood, older age). We broaden this work to examine the relationship between SES and the brain across a wide range of human adulthood (20-89 years), including individuals from the less studied middle-age range. SES, defined by education attainment and occupational socioeconomic characteristics, moderates previously reported age-related differences in the brain's functional network organization and whole-brain cortical structure. Across middle age (35-64 years), lower SES is associated with reduced resting-state system segregation (a measure of effective functional network organization). A similar but less robust relationship exists between SES and age with respect to brain anatomy: Lower SES is associated with reduced cortical gray matter thickness in middle age. Conversely, younger and older adulthood do not exhibit consistent SES-related difference in the brain measures. The SES-brain relationships persist after controlling for measures of physical and mental health, cognitive ability, and participant demographics. Critically, an individual's childhood SES cannot account for the relationship between their current SES and functional network organization. These findings provide evidence that SES relates to the brain's functional network organization and anatomy across adult middle age, and that higher SES may be a protective factor against age-related brain decline. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Marmoset monkeys evaluate third-party reciprocity.

PubMed

Kawai, Nobuyuki; Yasue, Miyuki; Banno, Taku; Ichinohe, Noritaka

2014-05-01

Many non-human primates have been observed to reciprocate and to understand reciprocity in one-to-one social exchanges. A recent study demonstrated that capuchin monkeys are sensitive to both third-party reciprocity and violation of reciprocity; however, whether this sensitivity is a function of general intelligence, evidenced by their larger brain size relative to other primates, remains unclear. We hypothesized that highly pro-social primates, even with a relatively smaller brain, would be sensitive to others' reciprocity. Here, we show that common marmosets discriminated between human actors who reciprocated in social exchanges with others and those who did not. Monkeys accepted rewards less frequently from non-reciprocators than they did from reciprocators when the non-reciprocators had retained all food items, but they accepted rewards from both actors equally when they had observed reciprocal exchange between the actors. These results suggest that mechanisms to detect unfair reciprocity in third-party social exchanges do not require domain-general higher cognitive ability based on proportionally larger brains, but rather emerge from the cooperative and pro-social tendencies of species, and thereby suggest this ability evolved in multiple primate lineages. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Dog Experts' Brains Distinguish Socially Relevant Body Postures Similarly in Dogs and Humans

PubMed Central

Kujala, Miiamaaria V.; Kujala, Jan; Carlson, Synnöve; Hari, Riitta

2012-01-01

We read conspecifics' social cues effortlessly, but little is known about our abilities to understand social gestures of other species. To investigate the neural underpinnings of such skills, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of experts and non-experts of dog behavior while they observed humans or dogs either interacting with, or facing away from a conspecific. The posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) of both subject groups dissociated humans facing toward each other from humans facing away, and in dog experts, a distinction also occurred for dogs facing toward vs. away in a bilateral area extending from the pSTS to the inferior temporo-occipital cortex: the dissociation of dog behavior was significantly stronger in expert than control group. Furthermore, the control group had stronger pSTS responses to humans than dogs facing toward a conspecific, whereas in dog experts, the responses were of similar magnitude. These findings suggest that dog experts' brains distinguish socially relevant body postures similarly in dogs and humans. PMID:22720054

Oxytocin and Social Motivation

PubMed Central

Gordon, Ilanit; Martin, Carina; Feldman, Ruth; Leckman, James F.

2011-01-01

Humans are fundamentally social creatures who are ‘motivated’ to be with others. In this review we examine the role of oxytocin (OT) as it relates to social motivation. OT is synthesized in the brain and throughout the body, including in the heart, thymus, gastrointestinal tract, as well as reproductive organs. The distribution of the OT receptor (OTR) system in both the brain and periphery is even more far-reaching and its expression is subject to changes over the course of development. OTR expression is also sensitive to changes in the external environment and the internal somatic world. The OT system functions as an important element within a complex, developmentally sensitive biobehavioral system. Other elements include sensory inputs, the salience, reward, and threat detection pathways, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response axis. Despite an ever expanding scientific literature, key unresolved questions remain concerning the interplay of the central and peripheral components of this complex biobehavioral system that dynamically engages the brain and the body as humans interact with social partners over the course of development. PMID:21984889

Network neuroscience

PubMed Central

Bassett, Danielle S; Sporns, Olaf

2017-01-01

Despite substantial recent progress, our understanding of the principles and mechanisms underlying complex brain function and cognition remains incomplete. Network neuroscience proposes to tackle these enduring challenges. Approaching brain structure and function from an explicitly integrative perspective, network neuroscience pursues new ways to map, record, analyze and model the elements and interactions of neurobiological systems. Two parallel trends drive the approach: the availability of new empirical tools to create comprehensive maps and record dynamic patterns among molecules, neurons, brain areas and social systems; and the theoretical framework and computational tools of modern network science. The convergence of empirical and computational advances opens new frontiers of scientific inquiry, including network dynamics, manipulation and control of brain networks, and integration of network processes across spatiotemporal domains. We review emerging trends in network neuroscience and attempt to chart a path toward a better understanding of the brain as a multiscale networked system. PMID:28230844

Dismissing Attachment Characteristics Dynamically Modulate Brain Networks Subserving Social Aversion

PubMed Central

Krause, Anna Linda; Borchardt, Viola; Li, Meng; van Tol, Marie-José; Demenescu, Liliana Ramona; Strauss, Bernhard; Kirchmann, Helmut; Buchheim, Anna; Metzger, Coraline D.; Nolte, Tobias; Walter, Martin

2016-01-01

Attachment patterns influence actions, thoughts and feeling through a person’s “inner working model”. Speech charged with attachment-dependent content was proposed to modulate the activation of cognitive-emotional schemata in listeners. We performed a 7 Tesla rest-task-rest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-experiment, presenting auditory narratives prototypical of dismissing attachment representations to investigate their effect on 23 healthy males. We then examined effects of participants’ attachment style and childhood trauma on brain state changes using seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses, and finally tested whether subjective differences in responsivity to narratives could be predicted by baseline network states. In comparison to a baseline state, we observed increased FC in a previously described “social aversion network” including dorsal anterior cingulated cortex (dACC) and left anterior middle temporal gyrus (aMTG) specifically after exposure to insecure-dismissing attachment narratives. Increased dACC-seeded FC within the social aversion network was positively related to the participants’ avoidant attachment style and presence of a history of childhood trauma. Anxious attachment style on the other hand was positively correlated with FC between the dACC and a region outside of the “social aversion network”, namely the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which suggests decreased network segregation as a function of anxious attachment. Finally, the extent of subjective experience of friendliness towards the dismissing narrative was predicted by low baseline FC-values between hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Taken together, our study demonstrates an activation of networks related to social aversion in terms of increased connectivity after listening to insecure-dismissing attachment narratives. A causal interrelation of brain state changes and subsequent changes in social reactivity was further supported by our observation of direct prediction of neuronal responses by individual attachment and trauma characteristics and reversely prediction of subjective experience by intrinsic functional connections. We consider these findings of activation of within-network and between-network connectivity modulated by inter-individual differences as substantial for the understanding of interpersonal processes, particularly in clinical settings. PMID:27014016

Naturalistic FMRI mapping reveals superior temporal sulcus as the hub for the distributed brain network for social perception.

PubMed

Lahnakoski, Juha M; Glerean, Enrico; Salmi, Juha; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P; Sams, Mikko; Hari, Riitta; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2012-01-01

Despite the abundant data on brain networks processing static social signals, such as pictures of faces, the neural systems supporting social perception in naturalistic conditions are still poorly understood. Here we delineated brain networks subserving social perception under naturalistic conditions in 19 healthy humans who watched, during 3-T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a set of 137 short (approximately 16 s each, total 27 min) audiovisual movie clips depicting pre-selected social signals. Two independent raters estimated how well each clip represented eight social features (faces, human bodies, biological motion, goal-oriented actions, emotion, social interaction, pain, and speech) and six filler features (places, objects, rigid motion, people not in social interaction, non-goal-oriented action, and non-human sounds) lacking social content. These ratings were used as predictors in the fMRI analysis. The posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) responded to all social features but not to any non-social features, and the anterior STS responded to all social features except bodies and biological motion. We also found four partially segregated, extended networks for processing of specific social signals: (1) a fronto-temporal network responding to multiple social categories, (2) a fronto-parietal network preferentially activated to bodies, motion, and pain, (3) a temporo-amygdalar network responding to faces, social interaction, and speech, and (4) a fronto-insular network responding to pain, emotions, social interactions, and speech. Our results highlight the role of the pSTS in processing multiple aspects of social information, as well as the feasibility and efficiency of fMRI mapping under conditions that resemble the complexity of real life.

Dimensional schizotypy and social cognition: an fMRI imaging study.

PubMed

Wang, Yi; Liu, Wen-Hua; Li, Zhi; Wei, Xin-Hua; Jiang, Xin-Qing; Neumann, David L; Shum, David H K; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K

2015-01-01

Impairment in empathy has been demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia and individuals with psychosis proneness. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates underlying theory of mind (ToM) and empathy and the relationships between these two social cognitive abilities with schizotypy. Fifty-six first-year college students (31 males, 25 females) between 17 and 21 years of age (M = 19.3, SD = 0.9) from a medical university in China participated. All participants undertook a comic strips functional imaging task that specifically examined both empathy and ToM. In addition, they completed two self-report scales: the Chapman Psychosis Proneness scale and the Interpersonal Responsivity Index (IRI). Results showed that both empathy and ToM conditions of the task were associated with brain activity in the middle temporal gyrus, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the precuneus and the posterior cingulate gyrus. In addition, we found positive correlations between negative schizotypy and brain activity in regions involved in social cognition, namely, the middle temporal gyrus, the TPJ, as well as the medial prefrontal gyrus. These findings highlight that different dimensions of schizotypy may show different associations with brain regions involved in social cognitive abilities. More importantly, the positive correlation between brain activity and anhedonia suggests the presence of compensatory mechanisms in high-risk populations.

Brain reserve hypothesis in dementia.

PubMed

Fratiglioni, Laura; Wang, Hui-Xin

2007-08-01

The concept of brain reserve refers to the ability to tolerate the age-related changes and the disease related pathology in the brain without developing clear clinical symptoms or signs. A considerable body of biological research has documented that a number of factors including education, work complexity, social network, and leisure activities may contribute to this reserve allowing cognitive function to be maintained in old ages. Epidemiological studies have also related these factors to the development of dementia, suggesting that intellectual challenges experienced across the whole life span may increase the brain reserve and be crucial for the occurrence of dementia symptoms in late life. This paper is a systematic review of the published epidemiological studies on this topic. The availability of numerous epidemiological and biological data investigating the reserve hypothesis in dementia permits some preliminary conclusions. High education, adult-life occupational work complexity, as well as a mentally and socially integrated lifestyle in late life could postpone the onset of clinical dementia and AD. The relevance of physical activity itself remains in debate, as most physical activities include also social and mental stimulation. Leisure activities with all three components--physical, mental and social--seem to have the most beneficial effect. Delaying dementia onset by five years would halve dementia prevalence and substantially decrease the number of dementia cases in the community.

Dimensional schizotypy and social cognition: an fMRI imaging study

PubMed Central

Wang, Yi; Liu, Wen-hua; Li, Zhi; Wei, Xin-hua; Jiang, Xin-qing; Neumann, David L.; Shum, David H. K.; Cheung, Eric F. C.; Chan, Raymond C. K.

2015-01-01

Impairment in empathy has been demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia and individuals with psychosis proneness. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates underlying theory of mind (ToM) and empathy and the relationships between these two social cognitive abilities with schizotypy. Fifty-six first-year college students (31 males, 25 females) between 17 and 21 years of age (M = 19.3, SD = 0.9) from a medical university in China participated. All participants undertook a comic strips functional imaging task that specifically examined both empathy and ToM. In addition, they completed two self-report scales: the Chapman Psychosis Proneness scale and the Interpersonal Responsivity Index (IRI). Results showed that both empathy and ToM conditions of the task were associated with brain activity in the middle temporal gyrus, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the precuneus and the posterior cingulate gyrus. In addition, we found positive correlations between negative schizotypy and brain activity in regions involved in social cognition, namely, the middle temporal gyrus, the TPJ, as well as the medial prefrontal gyrus. These findings highlight that different dimensions of schizotypy may show different associations with brain regions involved in social cognitive abilities. More importantly, the positive correlation between brain activity and anhedonia suggests the presence of compensatory mechanisms in high-risk populations. PMID:26074796

Large-scale topology and the default mode network in the mouse connectome

PubMed Central

Stafford, James M.; Jarrett, Benjamin R.; Miranda-Dominguez, Oscar; Mills, Brian D.; Cain, Nicholas; Mihalas, Stefan; Lahvis, Garet P.; Lattal, K. Matthew; Mitchell, Suzanne H.; David, Stephen V.; Fryer, John D.; Nigg, Joel T.; Fair, Damien A.

2014-01-01

Noninvasive functional imaging holds great promise for serving as a translational bridge between human and animal models of various neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, despite a depth of knowledge of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of atypical processes in mouse models, little is known about the large-scale functional architecture measured by functional brain imaging, limiting translation to human conditions. Here, we provide a robust processing pipeline to generate high-resolution, whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) images in the mouse. Using a mesoscale structural connectome (i.e., an anterograde tracer mapping of axonal projections across the mouse CNS), we show that rs-fcMRI in the mouse has strong structural underpinnings, validating our procedures. We next directly show that large-scale network properties previously identified in primates are present in rodents, although they differ in several ways. Last, we examine the existence of the so-called default mode network (DMN)—a distributed functional brain system identified in primates as being highly important for social cognition and overall brain function and atypically functionally connected across a multitude of disorders. We show the presence of a potential DMN in the mouse brain both structurally and functionally. Together, these studies confirm the presence of basic network properties and functional networks of high translational importance in structural and functional systems in the mouse brain. This work clears the way for an important bridge measurement between human and rodent models, enabling us to make stronger conclusions about how regionally specific cellular and molecular manipulations in mice relate back to humans. PMID:25512496

Assessment of higher level cognitive-communication functions in adolescents with ABI: Standardization of the student version of the functional assessment of verbal reasoning and executive strategies (S-FAVRES).

PubMed

MacDonald, Sheila

2016-01-01

Childhood acquired brain injuries can disrupt communication functions needed for success in school, work and social interaction. Cognitive-communication difficulties may not be apparent until adolescence, when academic, environmental and social-emotional demands increase. The Functional Assessment of Verbal Reasoning and Executive Strategies for Students (S-FAVRES) is a new activity-level measure of cognitive-communication skills in complex, contextual and integrative tasks that simulate real world communication challenges. It is hypothesized that S-FAVRES performance would differentiate adolescents with and without acquired brain injury (ABI) on scores for Accuracy, Rationale, Reasoning Subskills and Time. S-FAVRES was administered to 182 typically-developing (TD) and 57 adolescents with mild-to-severe ABI aged 12-19. Group differences, internal consistency, sensitivity, specificity, reliability and contributing factors to performance (age, gender, brain injury) were examined statistically. Those with ABI attained statistically lower Accuracy, Rationale and Reasoning sub-skills scores than their TD peers. Time scores were not significantly different. Performance trends were consistent across tasks, administrations, gender and age groups. Inter-rater reliability for scoring was acceptable. The S-FAVRES provides a reliable, functional and quantifiable measure of subtle cognitive-communication difficulties in adolescents that can assist speech-language pathologists in planning treatment and integration to school and real world communication.

Brain Structure and Resting-State Functional Connectivity in University Professors with High Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Weiwei; Yang, Wenjing; Li, Wenfu; Li, Yadan; Wei, Dongtao; Li, Huimin; Qiu, Jiang; Zhang, Qinglin

2015-01-01

Creative persons play an important role in technical innovation and social progress. There is little research on the neural correlates with researchers with high academic achievement. We used a combined structural (regional gray matter volume, rGMV) and functional (resting-state functional connectivity analysis, rsFC) approach to examine the…

The effects of intranasal oxytocin on reward circuitry responses in children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Greene, R K; Spanos, M; Alderman, C; Walsh, E; Bizzell, J; Mosner, M G; Kinard, J L; Stuber, G D; Chandrasekhar, T; Politte, L C; Sikich, L; Dichter, G S

2018-03-27

Intranasal oxytocin (OT) has been shown to improve social communication functioning of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and, thus, has received considerable interest as a potential ASD therapeutic agent. Although preclinical research indicates that OT modulates the functional output of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system that processes rewards, no clinical brain imaging study to date has examined the effects of OT on this system using a reward processing paradigm. To address this, we used an incentive delay task to examine the effects of a single dose of intranasal OT, versus placebo (PLC), on neural responses to social and nonsocial rewards in children with ASD. In this placebo-controlled double-blind study, 28 children and adolescents with ASD (age: M = 13.43 years, SD = 2.36) completed two fMRI scans, one after intranasal OT administration and one after PLC administration. During both scanning sessions, participants completed social and nonsocial incentive delay tasks. Task-based neural activation and connectivity were examined to assess the impact of OT relative to PLC on mesocorticolimbic brain responses to social and nonsocial reward anticipation and outcomes. Central analyses compared the OT and PLC conditions. During nonsocial reward anticipation, there was greater activation in the right nucleus accumbens (NAcc), left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral orbital frontal cortex (OFC), left superior frontal cortex, and right frontal pole (FP) during the OT condition relative to PLC. Alternatively, during social reward anticipation and outcomes, there were no significant increases in brain activation during the OT condition relative to PLC. A Treatment Group × Reward Condition interaction revealed relatively greater activation in the right NAcc, right caudate nucleus, left ACC, and right OFC during nonsocial relative to social reward anticipation during the OT condition relative to PLC. Additionally, these analyses revealed greater activation during nonsocial reward outcomes during the OT condition relative to PLC in the right OFC and left FP. Finally, functional connectivity analyses generally revealed changes in frontostriatal connections during the OT condition relative to PLC in response to nonsocial, but not social, rewards. The effects of intranasal OT administration on mesocorticolimbic brain systems that process rewards in ASD were observable primarily during the processing of nonsocial incentive salience stimuli. These findings have implications for understanding the effects of OT on neural systems that process rewards, as well as for experimental trials of novel ASD treatments developed to ameliorate social communication impairments in ASD.

Epilepsy, behavior, and art (Epilepsy, Brain, and Mind, part 1).

PubMed

Rektor, Ivan; Schachter, Steven C; Arzy, Shahar; Baloyannis, Stavros J; Bazil, Carl; Brázdil, Milan; Engel, Jerome; Helmstaedter, Gerhard; Hesdorffer, Dale C; Jones-Gotman, Marilyn; Kesner, Ladislav; Komárek, Vladimír; Krämer, Günter; Leppik, Ilo E; Mann, Michael W; Mula, Marco; Risse, Gail L; Stoker, Guy W; Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenité, Dorothée G A; Trimble, Michael; Tyrliková, Ivana; Korczyn, Amos D

2013-08-01

Epilepsy is both a disease of the brain and the mind. Brain diseases, structural and/or functional, underlie the appearance of epilepsy, but the notion of epilepsy is larger and cannot be reduced exclusively to the brain. We can therefore look at epilepsy from two angles. The first perspective is intrinsic: the etiology and pathophysiology, problems of therapy, impact on the brain networks, and the "mind" aspects of brain functions - cognitive, emotional, and affective. The second perspective is extrinsic: the social interactions of the person with epilepsy, the influence of the surrounding environment, and the influences of epilepsy on society. All these aspects reaching far beyond the pure biological nature of epilepsy have been the topics of two International Congresses of Epilepsy, Brain, and Mind that were held in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2010 and 2012 (the third Congress will be held in Brno, Czech Republic on April 3-5, 2014; www.epilepsy-brain-mind2014.eu). Here, we present the first of two papers with extended summaries of selected presentations of the 2012 Congress that focused on epilepsy, behavior, and art. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Transcriptional regulation of brain gene expression in response to a territorial intrusion

PubMed Central

Sanogo, Yibayiri O.; Band, Mark; Blatti, Charles; Sinha, Saurabh; Bell, Alison M.

2012-01-01

Aggressive behaviour associated with territorial defence is widespread and has fitness consequences. However, excess aggression can interfere with other important biological functions such as immunity and energy homeostasis. How the expression of complex behaviours such as aggression is regulated in the brain has long intrigued ethologists, but has only recently become amenable for molecular dissection in non-model organisms. We investigated the transcriptomic response to territorial intrusion in four brain regions in breeding male threespined sticklebacks using expression microarrays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Each region of the brain had a distinct genomic response to a territorial challenge. We identified a set of genes that were upregulated in the diencephalon and downregulated in the cerebellum and the brain stem. Cis-regulatory network analysis suggested transcription factors that regulated or co-regulated genes that were consistently regulated in all brain regions and others that regulated gene expression in opposing directions across brain regions. Our results support the hypothesis that territorial animals respond to social challenges via transcriptional regulation of genes in different brain regions. Finally, we found a remarkably close association between gene expression and aggressive behaviour at the individual level. This study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms in the brain that underlie the response to social challenges. PMID:23097509

Social reinforcement can regulate localized brain activity.

PubMed

Mathiak, Krystyna A; Koush, Yury; Dyck, Miriam; Gaber, Tilman J; Alawi, Eliza; Zepf, Florian D; Zvyagintsev, Mikhail; Mathiak, Klaus

2010-11-01

Social learning is essential for adaptive behavior in humans. Neurofeedback based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) trains control over localized brain activity. It can disentangle learning processes at the neural level and thus investigate the mechanisms of operant conditioning with explicit social reinforcers. In a pilot study, a computer-generated face provided a positive feedback (smiling) when activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) increased and gradually returned to a neutral expression when the activity dropped. One female volunteer without previous experience in fMRI underwent training based on a social reinforcer. Directly before and after the neurofeedback runs, neural responses to a cognitive interference task (Simon task) were recorded. We observed a significant increase in activity within ACC during the neurofeedback blocks, correspondent with the a-priori defined anatomical region of interest. In the course of the neurofeedback training, the subject learned to regulate ACC activity and could maintain the control even without direct feedback. Moreover, ACC was activated significantly stronger during Simon task after the neurofeedback training when compared to before. Localized brain activity can be controlled by social reward. The increased ACC activity transferred to a cognitive task with the potential to reduce cognitive interference. Systematic studies are required to explore long-term effects on social behavior and clinical applications.

Activation of Basolateral Amygdala in Juvenile C57BL/6J Mice During Social Approach Behavior

PubMed Central

Ferri, Sarah L.; Kreibich, Arati S.; Torre, Matthew; Piccoli, Cara T.; Dow, Holly; Pallathra, Ashley A.; Li, Hongzhe; Bilker, Warren B.; Gur, Ruben C.; Abel, Ted; Brodkin, Edward S.

2016-01-01

There is a strong need to better understand the neurobiology of juvenile sociability (tendency to seek social interaction), a phenotype of central relevance to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although numerous genetic mouse models of ASD showing reduced sociability have been reported, and certain brain regions, such as the amygdala, have been implicated in sociability, there has been little emphasis on delineating brain structures and circuits activated during social interactions in the critical juvenile period of the mouse strain that serves as the most common genetic background for these models—the highly sociable C57BL/6J (B6) strain. We measured expression of the immediate early genes Fos and Egr-1 to map activation of brain regions following the Social Approach Test (SAT) in juvenile male B6 mice. We hypothesized that juvenile B6 mice would show activation of the amygdala during social interactions. The basoloateral amygdala (BLA) was activated by social exposure in highly sociable, 4-week-old B6 mice. In light of these data, and the many lines of evidence indicating alteration of amygdala circuits in human ASD, future studies are warranted to assess structural and functional alterations in the BLA, particularly at BLA synapses, in various mouse models of ASD. PMID:27520082

Evidence That Default Network Connectivity During Rest Consolidates Social Information.

PubMed

Meyer, Meghan L; Davachi, Lila; Ochsner, Kevin N; Lieberman, Matthew D

2018-04-13

Brain regions engaged during social inference, medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and tempoparietal junction (TPJ), are also known to spontaneously engage during rest. While this overlap is well known, the social cognitive function of engaging these regions during rest remains unclear. Building on past research suggesting that new information is committed to memory during rest, we explored whether one function of MPFC and TPJ engagement during rest may be to consolidate new social information. MPFC and TPJ regions significantly increased connectivity during rest after encoding new social information (relative to baseline and post nonsocial encoding rest periods). Moreover, greater connectivity between rTPJ and MPFC, as well as other portions of the default network (vMPFC, anterior temporal lobe, and middle temporal gyrus) during post social encoding rest corresponded with superior social recognition and social associative memory. The tendency to engage MPFC and TPJ during rest may tune people towards social learning.

A role for the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol for social and high-fat food reward in male mice.

PubMed

Wei, Don; Lee, DaYeon; Li, Dandan; Daglian, Jennifer; Jung, Kwang-Mook; Piomelli, Daniele

2016-05-01

The endocannabinoid system is an important modulator of brain reward signaling. Investigations have focused on cannabinoid (CB1) receptors, because dissection of specific contributions of individual endocannabinoids has been limited by the available toolset. While we recently described an important role for the endocannabinoid anandamide in the regulation of social reward, it remains to be determined whether the other major endocannabinoid, 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol (2-AG), serves a similar or different function. To study the role of 2-AG in natural reward, we used a transgenic mouse model (MGL-Tg mice) in which forebrain 2-AG levels are selectively reduced. We complemented behavioral analysis with measurements of brain 2-AG levels. We tested male MGL-Tg mice in conditioned place preference (CPP) tasks for high-fat food, social contact, and cocaine. We measured 2-AG content in the brain regions of interest by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Male MGL-Tg mice are impaired in developing CPP for high-fat food and social interaction, but do develop CPP for cocaine. Furthermore, compared to isolated mice, levels of 2-AG in socially stimulated wild-type mice are higher in the nucleus accumbens and ventral hippocampus (183 and 140 % of controls, respectively), but unchanged in the medial prefrontal cortex. The results suggest that reducing 2-AG-mediated endocannabinoid signaling impairs social and high-fat food reward in male mice, and that social stimulation mobilizes 2-AG in key brain regions implicated in the control of motivated behavior. The time course of this response differentiates 2-AG from anandamide, whose role in mediating social reward was previously documented.

Sleep and School Functioning: Information for Families and Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Communique, 2017

2017-01-01

Sleep--not getting enough or not getting good sleep--can greatly affect students' cognitive, academic, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning. Sleep issues are relatively common, occurring in as many as 25% of children and are more prevalent in those with certain medical conditions (pain, asthma, traumatic brain injury) or psychiatric…

Social participation and quality-of-life of patients with traumatic brain injury living in the community: A mixed methods study.

PubMed

Takada, Kaoruko; Sashika, Hironobu; Wakabayashi, Hidetaka; Hirayasu, Yoshio

2016-01-01

To investigate the quality-of-life (QoL) and social participation of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in the community in Japan. A mixed-methods study of 29 post-TBI patients and 12 family members was conducted. Objective scales were used to evaluate QoL (Short Form Health Survey SF-36), depression (Zung Self-rating Depression Scale) and psychosocial function (Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale, 2 nd edition). Subjective views of changes in social functioning, participation and suitability of family support were obtained by a semi-structured interview. Participants were classified into 'change' and 'no-change' groups for social participation and between-group comparisons of QoL and determinant factors of QoL were evaluated. The SF-36 social role component was significantly associated with the suitability of family support, followed by their understanding. However, QoL was not significantly associated with changes in social participation. Social participation was particularly influenced by the absence of rehabilitation support for low-skill labourers and housewives, whether they lost their employment or not. Advances in rehabilitation services are required, particularly to meet the specific needs of housewives and low-skill labourers. Families should receive sufficient education and short- and long-term strategies for providing suitable support to patients and their families should be implemented.

Oxytocin and vasopressin: linking pituitary neuropeptides and their receptors to social neurocircuits

PubMed Central

Baribeau, Danielle A.; Anagnostou, Evdokia

2015-01-01

Oxytocin and vasopressin are pituitary neuropeptides that have been shown to affect social processes in mammals. There is growing interest in these molecules and their receptors as potential precipitants of, and/or treatments for, social deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. Numerous behavioral-genetic studies suggest that there is an association between these peptides and individual social abilities; however, an explanatory model that links hormonal activity at the receptor level to complex human behavior remains elusive. The following review summarizes the known associations between the oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptide systems and social neurocircuits in the brain. Following a micro- to macro- level trajectory, current literature on the synthesis and secretion of these peptides, and the structure, function and distribution of their respective receptors is first surveyed. Next, current models regarding the mechanism of action of these peptides on microcircuitry and other neurotransmitter systems are discussed. Functional neuroimaging evidence on the acute effects of exogenous administration of these peptides on brain activity is then reviewed. Overall, a model in which the local neuromodulatory effects of pituitary neuropeptides on brainstem and basal forebrain regions strengthen signaling within social neurocircuits proves appealing. However, these findings are derived from animal models; more research is needed to clarify the relevance of these mechanisms to human behavior and treatment of social deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders. PMID:26441508

Oxytocin and vasopressin: linking pituitary neuropeptides and their receptors to social neurocircuits.

PubMed

Baribeau, Danielle A; Anagnostou, Evdokia

2015-01-01

Oxytocin and vasopressin are pituitary neuropeptides that have been shown to affect social processes in mammals. There is growing interest in these molecules and their receptors as potential precipitants of, and/or treatments for, social deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. Numerous behavioral-genetic studies suggest that there is an association between these peptides and individual social abilities; however, an explanatory model that links hormonal activity at the receptor level to complex human behavior remains elusive. The following review summarizes the known associations between the oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptide systems and social neurocircuits in the brain. Following a micro- to macro- level trajectory, current literature on the synthesis and secretion of these peptides, and the structure, function and distribution of their respective receptors is first surveyed. Next, current models regarding the mechanism of action of these peptides on microcircuitry and other neurotransmitter systems are discussed. Functional neuroimaging evidence on the acute effects of exogenous administration of these peptides on brain activity is then reviewed. Overall, a model in which the local neuromodulatory effects of pituitary neuropeptides on brainstem and basal forebrain regions strengthen signaling within social neurocircuits proves appealing. However, these findings are derived from animal models; more research is needed to clarify the relevance of these mechanisms to human behavior and treatment of social deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Illness as a source of variation of laterality in lions (Panthera leo).

PubMed

Zucca, Paolo; Baciadonna, Luigi; Masci, Stefano; Mariscoli, Massimo

2011-05-01

Brain asymmetry--i.e. the specialisation of each cerebral hemisphere for sensorimotor processing mechanisms and for specific cognitive functions-is widely distributed among vertebrates. Several factors, such as embryological manipulations, sex, age, and breeds, can influence the maintenance, strength, and direction of laterality within a certain vertebrate species. Brain lateralisation is a universal phenomenon characterising not only cerebral control of cognitive or emotion-related functions but also cerebral regulation of somatic processes, and its evolution is strongly influenced by social selection pressure. Diseases are well known to be a cost of sociality but their role in influencing behaviour has received very little attention. The present study investigates the influence of illness conditions as a source of variation on laterality in a social keystone vertebrate predator model, the lion. In a preliminary stage, the clinical conditions of 24 adult lions were assessed. The same animals were scored for forelimb preference when in the quadrupedal standing position. Lions show a marked forelimb preference with a population bias towards the use of the right forelimb. Illness conditions strongly influenced the strength of laterality bias, with a significant difference between clinically healthy and sick lions. According to these results, health conditions should be recognised as an important source of variation in brain lateralisation.

Developing a clinical translational neuroscience taxonomy for anxiety and mood disorder: protocol for the baseline-follow up Research domain criteria Anxiety and Depression ("RAD") project.

PubMed

Williams, Leanne M; Goldstein-Piekarski, Andrea N; Chowdhry, Nowreen; Grisanzio, Katherine A; Haug, Nancy A; Samara, Zoe; Etkin, Amit; O'Hara, Ruth; Schatzberg, Alan F; Suppes, Trisha; Yesavage, Jerome

2016-03-15

Understanding how brain circuit dysfunctions relate to specific symptoms offers promise for developing a brain-based taxonomy for classifying psychopathology, identifying targets for mechanistic studies and ultimately for guiding treatment choice. The goal of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative of the National Institute of Mental Health is to accelerate the development of such neurobiological models of mental disorder independent of traditional diagnostic criteria. In our RDoC Anxiety and Depression ("RAD") project we focus trans-diagnostically on the spectrum of depression and anxiety psychopathology. Our aims are a) to use brain imaging to define cohesive dimensions defined by dysfunction of circuits involved in reactivity to and regulation of negatively valenced emotional stimulation and in cognitive control, b) to assess the relationships between these dimension and specific symptoms, behavioral performance and the real world capacity to function socially and at work and c) to assess the stability of brain-symptom-behavior-function relationships over time. Here we present the protocol for the "RAD" project, one of the first RDoC studies to use brain circuit functioning to define new dimensions of psychopathology. The RAD project follows baseline-follow up design. In line with RDoC principles we use a strategy for recruiting all clients who "walk through the door" of a large community mental health clinic as well as the surrounding community. The clinic attends to a broad spectrum of anxiety and mood-related symptoms. Participants are unmedicated and studied at baseline using a standardized battery of functional brain imaging, structural brain imaging and behavioral probes that assay constructs of threat reactivity, threat regulation and cognitive control. The battery also includes self-report measures of anxiety and mood symptoms, and social and occupational functioning. After baseline assessments, therapists in the clinic apply treatment planning as usual. Follow-up assessments are undertaken at 3 months, to establish the reliability of brain-based subgroups over time and to assess whether these subgroups predict real-world functional capacity over time. First enrollment was August 2013, and is ongoing. This project is designed to advance knowledge toward a neural circuit taxonomy for mental disorder. Data will be shared via the RDoC database for dissemination to the scientific community. The clinical translational neuroscience goals of the project are to develop brain-behavior profile reports for each individual participant and to refine these reports with therapist feedback. Reporting of results is expected from December 2016 onward. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02220309 . Registered: August 13, 2014.

Studies on regeneration of central nervous system and social ability of the earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae.

PubMed

Gopi Daisy, Nino; Subramanian, Elaiya Raja; Selvan Christyraj, Jackson Durairaj; Sudalai Mani, Dinesh Kumar; Selvan Christyraj, Johnson Retnaraj Samuel; Ramamoorthy, Kalidas; Arumugaswami, Vaithilingaraja; Sivasubramaniam, Sudhakar

2016-09-01

Earthworms are segmented invertebrates that belong to the phylum Annelida. The segments can be divided into the anterior, clitellar and posterior parts. If the anterior part of the earthworm, which includes the brain, is amputated, the worm would essentially survive even in the absence of the brain. In these brain amputee-derived worms, the nerve cord serves as the primary control center for neurological function. In this current work, we studied changes in the expression levels of anti-acetylated tubulin and serotonin as the indicators of neuro-regenerative processes. The data reveal that the blastemal tissues express the acetylated tubulin and serotonin from day four and that the worm amputated at the 7th segment takes 30 days to complete the regeneration of brain. The ability of self-assemblage is one of the specific functions of the earthworm's brain. The brain amputee restored the ability of self-assemblage on the eighth day.

A gut feeling: Microbiome-brain-immune interactions modulate social and affective behaviors.

PubMed

Sylvia, Kristyn E; Demas, Gregory E

2018-03-01

The expression of a wide range of social and affective behaviors, including aggression and investigation, as well as anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors, involves interactions among many different physiological systems, including the neuroendocrine and immune systems. Recent work suggests that the gut microbiome may also play a critical role in modulating behavior and likely functions as an important integrator across physiological systems. Microbes within the gut may communicate with the brain via both neural and humoral pathways, providing numerous avenues of research in the area of the gut-brain axis. We are now just beginning to understand the intricate relationships among the brain, microbiome, and immune system and how they work in concert to influence behavior. The effects of different forms of experience (e.g., changes in diet, immune challenge, and psychological stress) on the brain, gut microbiome, and the immune system have often been studied independently. Though because these systems do not work in isolation, it is essential to shift our focus to the connections among them as we move forward in our investigations of the gut-brain axis, the shaping of behavioral phenotypes, and the possible clinical implications of these interactions. This review summarizes the recent progress the field has made in understanding the important role the gut microbiome plays in the modulation of social and affective behaviors, as well as some of the intricate mechanisms by which the microbiome may be communicating with the brain and immune system. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between Social Cognition and traditional cognitive impairment in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and possible implicated neuroanatomical regions.

PubMed

Ciampi, E; Uribe-San-Martin, R; Vásquez, M; Ruiz-Tagle, A; Labbe, T; Cruz, J P; Lillo, P; Slachevsky, A; Reyes, D; Reyes, A; Cárcamo-Rodríguez, C

2018-02-01

Cognitive impairment is a relevant contributor of the medical and social burden in Progressive MS. Social Cognition, the neurocognitive processes underlying social interaction, has been explored mainly in European and North American cohorts, influencing social aspects of quality of life (QOL) of early MS patients and families. Few studies have studied Social Cognition in Progressive MS and the literature on its neuroanatomical bases or brain atrophy measurements is still scarce. To explore the relationship between Social Cognition performance and its correlations with traditional cognitive domains, brain atrophy and QOL in primary and secondary Progressive MS patients. Cross-sectional analysis including: mini-Social-Cognition-and-Emotional-Assessment (mini-SEA), neuropsychological battery, disability, depression, fatigue, QOL, and brain volume. Forty-three MS patients, 23 primary and 20 secondary Progressive, 65% women, mean age and disease duration of 57.2 and 15.7 years, respectively, with high levels of disability (median EDSS 6.0) and a widespread impairment in traditional domains (mostly episodic verbal/visual and working memories) were assessed. The Mini-SEA score was correlated with executive functions (cognitive shifts Rho:0.55; p = 0.001) analyzing the whole group, and with visual episodic memory (Rho:0.58, p = 0.009) in the primary Progressive MS group. Mini-SEA score was also correlated with total normalized grey matter volume (Rho:0.48; p = 0.004). Particularly, atrophy within bilateral cortical regions of orbitofrontal, insula and cerebellum, and right regions of fusiform gyrus and precuneus were significantly associated with higher Social Cognition impairment. In this cohort, QOL was not correlated with Social Cognition, but with EDSS, fatigue and depression. In Progressive MS, Social Cognition is directly correlated with traditional cognitive domains such as executive function and episodic memory. It is also associated with global grey matter atrophy and regional atrophy within associative visual and executive cortical areas, but no correlations with QOL were found in this cohort. These findings may contribute to the understanding of the pathological bases behind Social Cognition in Progressive MS. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Xenomelia: a social neuroscience view of altered bodily self-consciousness.

PubMed

Brugger, Peter; Lenggenhager, Bigna; Giummarra, Melita J

2013-01-01

Xenomelia, the "foreign limb syndrome," is characterized by the non-acceptance of one or more of one's own extremities and the resulting desire for elective limb amputation or paralysis. Formerly labeled "body integrity identity disorder" (BIID), the condition was originally considered a psychological or psychiatric disorder, but a brain-centered Zeitgeist and a rapidly growing interest in the neural underpinnings of bodily self-consciousness has shifted the focus toward dysfunctional central nervous system circuits. The present article outlays both mind-based and brain-based views highlighting their shortcomings. We propose that full insight into what should be conceived a "xenomelia spectrum disorder" will require interpretation of individual symptomatology in a social context. A proper social neuroscience of xenomelia respects the functional neuroanatomy of corporeal awareness, but also acknowledges the brain's plasticity in response to an individual's history, which is lived against a cultural background. This integrated view of xenomelia will promote the subfield of consciousness research concerned with the unity of body and self.

Neural correlates of trust.

PubMed

Krueger, Frank; McCabe, Kevin; Moll, Jorge; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus; Zahn, Roland; Strenziok, Maren; Heinecke, Armin; Grafman, Jordan

2007-12-11

Trust is a critical social process that helps us to cooperate with others and is present to some degree in all human interaction. However, the underlying brain mechanisms of conditional and unconditional trust in social reciprocal exchange are still obscure. Here, we used hyperfunctional magnetic resonance imaging, in which two strangers interacted online with one another in a sequential reciprocal trust game while their brains were simultaneously scanned. By designing a nonanonymous, alternating multiround game, trust became bidirectional, and we were able to quantify partnership building and maintenance. Using within- and between-brain analyses, an examination of functional brain activity supports the hypothesis that the preferential activation of different neuronal systems implements these two trust strategies. We show that the paracingulate cortex is critically involved in building a trust relationship by inferring another person's intentions to predict subsequent behavior. This more recently evolved brain region can be differently engaged to interact with more primitive neural systems in maintaining conditional and unconditional trust in a partnership. Conditional trust selectively activated the ventral tegmental area, a region linked to the evaluation of expected and realized reward, whereas unconditional trust selectively activated the septal area, a region linked to social attachment behavior. The interplay of these neural systems supports reciprocal exchange that operates beyond the immediate spheres of kinship, one of the distinguishing features of the human species.

Neural correlates of trust

PubMed Central

Krueger, Frank; McCabe, Kevin; Moll, Jorge; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus; Zahn, Roland; Strenziok, Maren; Heinecke, Armin; Grafman, Jordan

2007-01-01

Trust is a critical social process that helps us to cooperate with others and is present to some degree in all human interaction. However, the underlying brain mechanisms of conditional and unconditional trust in social reciprocal exchange are still obscure. Here, we used hyperfunctional magnetic resonance imaging, in which two strangers interacted online with one another in a sequential reciprocal trust game while their brains were simultaneously scanned. By designing a nonanonymous, alternating multiround game, trust became bidirectional, and we were able to quantify partnership building and maintenance. Using within- and between-brain analyses, an examination of functional brain activity supports the hypothesis that the preferential activation of different neuronal systems implements these two trust strategies. We show that the paracingulate cortex is critically involved in building a trust relationship by inferring another person's intentions to predict subsequent behavior. This more recently evolved brain region can be differently engaged to interact with more primitive neural systems in maintaining conditional and unconditional trust in a partnership. Conditional trust selectively activated the ventral tegmental area, a region linked to the evaluation of expected and realized reward, whereas unconditional trust selectively activated the septal area, a region linked to social attachment behavior. The interplay of these neural systems supports reciprocal exchange that operates beyond the immediate spheres of kinship, one of the distinguishing features of the human species. PMID:18056800

Early-Life Social Isolation Impairs the Gonadotropin-Inhibitory Hormone Neuronal Activity and Serotonergic System in Male Rats.

PubMed

Soga, Tomoko; Teo, Chuin Hau; Cham, Kai Lin; Idris, Marshita Mohd; Parhar, Ishwar S

2015-01-01

Social isolation in early life deregulates the serotonergic system of the brain, compromising reproductive function. Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus are critical to the inhibitory regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuronal activity in the brain and release of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland. Although GnIH responds to stress, the role of GnIH in social isolation-induced deregulation of the serotonin system and reproductive function remains unclear. We investigated the effect of social isolation in early life on the serotonergic-GnIH neuronal system using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-tagged GnIH transgenic rats. Socially isolated rats were observed for anxious and depressive behaviors. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined c-Fos protein expression in EGFP-GnIH neurons in 9-week-old adult male rats after 6 weeks post-weaning isolation or group housing. We also inspected serotonergic fiber juxtapositions in EGFP-GnIH neurons in control and socially isolated male rats. Socially isolated rats exhibited anxious and depressive behaviors. The total number of EGFP-GnIH neurons was the same in control and socially isolated rats, but c-Fos expression in GnIH neurons was significantly reduced in socially isolated rats. Serotonin fiber juxtapositions on EGFP-GnIH neurons were also lower in socially isolated rats. In addition, levels of tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus were significantly attenuated in these rats. These results suggest that social isolation in early-life results in lower serotonin levels, which reduce GnIH neuronal activity and may lead to reproductive failure.

Connectivity profiles reveal the relationship between brain areas for social cognition in human and monkey temporoparietal cortex

PubMed Central

Mars, Rogier B.; Sallet, Jérôme; Neubert, Franz-Xaver; Rushworth, Matthew F. S.

2013-01-01

The human ability to infer the thoughts and beliefs of others, often referred to as “theory of mind,” as well as the predisposition to even consider others, are associated with activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) area. Unlike the case of most human brain areas, we have little sense of whether or how TPJ is related to brain areas in other nonhuman primates. It is not possible to address this question by looking for similar task-related activations in nonhuman primates because there is no evidence that nonhuman primates engage in theory-of-mind tasks in the same manner as humans. Here, instead, we explore the relationship by searching for areas in the macaque brain that interact with other macaque brain regions in the same manner as human TPJ interacts with other human brain regions. In other words, we look for brain regions with similar positions within a distributed neural circuit in the two species. We exploited the fact that human TPJ has a unique functional connectivity profile with cortical areas with known homologs in the macaque. For each voxel in the macaque temporal and parietal cortex we evaluated the similarity of its functional connectivity profile to that of human TPJ. We found that areas in the middle part of the superior temporal cortex, often associated with the processing of faces and other social stimuli, have the most similar connectivity profile. These results suggest that macaque face processing areas and human mentalizing areas might have a similar precursor. PMID:23754406

Early life adversities or high fat diet intake reduce cognitive function and alter BDNF signaling in adult rats: Interplay of these factors changes these effects.

PubMed

Arcego, Danusa Mar; Krolow, Rachel; Lampert, Carine; Toniazzo, Ana Paula; Berlitz, Carolina; Lazzaretti, Camilla; Schmitz, Felipe; Rodrigues, André Felipe; Wyse, Angela T S; Dalmaz, Carla

2016-05-01

Environmental factors, like early exposure to stressors or high caloric diets, can alter the early programming of central nervous system, leading to long-term effects on cognitive function, increased vulnerability to cognitive decline and development of psychopathologies later in life. The interaction between these factors and their combined effects on brain structure and function are still not completely understood. In this study, we evaluated long-term effects of social isolation in the prepubertal period, with or without chronic high fat diet access, on memory and on neurochemical markers in the prefrontal cortex of rats. We observed that early social isolation led to impairment in short-term and working memory in adulthood, and to reductions of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and the immunocontent of phospho-AKT, in prefrontal cortex. Chronic exposure to a high fat diet impaired short-term memory (object recognition), and decreased BDNF levels in that same brain area. Remarkably, the association of social isolation with chronic high fat diet rescued the memory impairment on the object recognition test, as well as the changes in BDNF levels, Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, MAPK, AKT and phospho-AKT to levels similar to the control-chow group. In summary, these findings showed that a brief social isolation period and access to a high fat diet during a sensitive developmental period might cause memory deficits in adulthood. On the other hand, the interplay between isolation and high fat diet access caused a different brain programming, preventing some of the effects observed when these factors are separately applied. Copyright © 2016 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The OXTR gene, implicit learning and social processing: Does empathy evolve from perceptual skills for details?

PubMed

Melchers, Martin; Montag, Christian; Markett, Sebastian; Niazy, Nawael; Groß-Bölting, Johanna; Zimmermann, Jelena; Reuter, Martin

2017-06-30

Oxytocin is an important messenger in the brain that has been linked to a variety of social functions in pharmacological studies. Besides, functional genetic variations on the oxytocin receptor gene have been repeatedly associated with social processing and functioning. Despite this knowledge, there are very few studies investigating the mechanisms that may explain the link between oxytocin and social functions. In the endeavor to fill this gap in the literature, the current study searches for associations between the prominent rs2268498 polymorphism on the oxytocin receptor gene and participants' ability to perceive and store implicit social information, which is a fundamental function in social information processing. N=121 healthy participants were experimentally tested with an implicit learning paradigm, answered questionnaires assessing empathy and autistic traits, and were genotyped for the rs2268498 polymorphism. T-allele carriers (TT and TC genotypes) exhibited significantly better implicit learning performance than carriers of the CC-genotype, and learning performance was positively associated with self-reported empathy and negatively with self-reported autistic traits. Results indicate that differences in implicit perception and storing of environmental details while watching social interactions could be an important mechanism to explain the association between differences in endogenous oxytocin activity and social functioning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Traumatic Brain Injury Severity, Comorbidity, Social Support, Family Functioning, and Community Reintegration Among Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

PubMed

Pugh, Mary Jo; Swan, Alicia A; Carlson, Kathleen F; Jaramillo, Carlos A; Eapen, Blessen C; Dillahunt-Aspillaga, Christina; Amuan, Megan E; Delgado, Roxana E; McConnell, Kimberly; Finley, Erin P; Grafman, Jordan H

2018-02-01

To examine the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity; social, family, and community reintegration outcomes; and return to work status among post-9/11 veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care. Retrospective observational cohort study. Mail/online survey fielded to a national sample of veterans. Sample of post-9/11 veterans with at least 3 years of VA care stratified according to TBI severity and comorbidities who completed and returned surveys (N=2023). Not applicable. Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 family functioning and social support subscales; Military to Civilian Questionnaire; and employment status. Bivariate analyses revealed that veterans with every classification of TBI severity reported significantly more difficulty on social, family, and community reintegration outcomes than those with no TBI. In the fully adjusted model, veterans with unclassified and moderate/severe TBI reported significantly more difficulty with community reintegration and were less likely to be employed relative to those with no TBI; those with unclassified TBI also reported significantly more difficulty with family functioning. Veterans with mild TBI also reported significantly more difficulty with community reintegration. This study provides insight into long-term outcomes associated with TBI in post-9/11 veterans and suggests that exposure to TBI has a negative effect on social and family functioning, community reintegration, and return to work even after controlling for comorbidity, deployment experiences, and sociodemographic characteristics. Additional research is required to explicate what appears to be complex interactions among TBI severity, psychosocial well-being, combat exposures, and socioeconomic resources in this population. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Social interactions elicit rapid shifts in functional connectivity in the social decision-making network of zebrafish

PubMed Central

Teles, Magda C.; Almeida, Olinda; Lopes, João S.; Oliveira, Rui F.

2015-01-01

According to the social decision-making (SDM) network hypothesis, SDM is encoded in a network of forebrain and midbrain structures in a distributed and dynamic fashion, such that the expression of a given social behaviour is better reflected by the overall profile of activation across the different loci rather than by the activity of a single node. This proposal has the implicit assumption that SDM relies on integration across brain regions, rather than on regional specialization. Here we tested the occurrence of functional localization and of functional connectivity in the SDM network. For this purpose we used zebrafish to map different social behaviour states into patterns of neuronal activity, as indicated by the expression of the immediate early genes c-fos and egr-1, across the SDM network. The results did not support functional localization, as some loci had similar patterns of activity associated with different social behaviour states, and showed socially driven changes in functional connectivity. Thus, this study provides functional support to the SDM network hypothesis and suggests that the neural context in which a given node of the network is operating (i.e. the state of its interconnected areas) is central to its functional relevance. PMID:26423839

Social interactions elicit rapid shifts in functional connectivity in the social decision-making network of zebrafish.

PubMed

Teles, Magda C; Almeida, Olinda; Lopes, João S; Oliveira, Rui F

2015-10-07

According to the social decision-making (SDM) network hypothesis, SDM is encoded in a network of forebrain and midbrain structures in a distributed and dynamic fashion, such that the expression of a given social behaviour is better reflected by the overall profile of activation across the different loci rather than by the activity of a single node. This proposal has the implicit assumption that SDM relies on integration across brain regions, rather than on regional specialization. Here we tested the occurrence of functional localization and of functional connectivity in the SDM network. For this purpose we used zebrafish to map different social behaviour states into patterns of neuronal activity, as indicated by the expression of the immediate early genes c-fos and egr-1, across the SDM network. The results did not support functional localization, as some loci had similar patterns of activity associated with different social behaviour states, and showed socially driven changes in functional connectivity. Thus, this study provides functional support to the SDM network hypothesis and suggests that the neural context in which a given node of the network is operating (i.e. the state of its interconnected areas) is central to its functional relevance. © 2015 The Author(s).

Social regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

PubMed

White, Stephanie A; Nguyen, Tuan; Fernald, Russell D

2002-09-01

Behavioral interactions among social animals can regulate both reproductive behavior and fertility. A prime example of socially regulated reproduction occurs in the cichlid fish Haplochromis burtoni, in which interactions between males dynamically regulate gonadal function throughout life. This plasticity is mediated by the brain, where neurons that contain the key reproductive regulatory peptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) change size reversibly depending on male social status. To understand how behavior controls the brain, we manipulated the social system of these fish, quantified their behavior and then assessed neural and physiological changes in the reproductive and stress axes. GnRH gene expression was assessed using molecular probes specific for the three GnRH forms in the brain of H. burtoni. We found that perception of social opportunity to increase status by a male leads to heightened aggressiveness, to increased expression of only one of the three GnRH forms and to increases in size of GnRH-containing neurons and of the gonads. The biological changes characteristic of social ascent happen faster than changes following social descent. Interestingly, behavioral changes show the reverse pattern: aggressive behaviors emerge more slowly in ascending animals than they disappear in descending animals. Although the gonads and GnRH neurons undergo similar changes in female H. burtoni, regulation occurs via endogenous rather than exogenous social signals. Our data show that recognition of social signals by males alters stress levels, which may contribute to the alteration in GnRH gene expression in particular neurons essential for the animal to perform in its new social status.

Challenges and opportunities in social neuroscience

PubMed Central

Cacioppo, John T.; Decety, Jean

2010-01-01

Social species are so characterized because they form organizations that extend beyond the individual. The goal of social neuroscience is to investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie these social structures, processes, and behavior and the influences between social and neural structures and processes. Such an endeavor is challenging because it necessitates the integration of multiple levels. Mapping across systems and levels (from genome to social groups and cultures) requires interdisciplinary expertise, comparative studies, innovative methods, and integrative conceptual analysis. Examples of how social neuroscience is contributing to our understanding of the functions of the brain and nervous system are described, and societal implications of social neuroscience are considered. PMID:21251011

Peripubertal viral-like challenge and social isolation mediate overlapping but distinct effects on behaviour and brain interferon regulatory factor 7 expression in the adult Wistar rat.

PubMed

Lukasz, Bartlomiej; O'Sullivan, Niamh C; Loscher, Jennifer S; Pickering, Mark; Regan, Ciaran M; Murphy, Keith J

2013-01-01

A range of adverse, early life environmental influences such as viral infection and social deprivation are thought to increase risk of psychiatric illness later in life. Here, we used peripheral administration of the viral infection mimic polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (polyI:C) to compare the consequences of peripubertal infection and isolation rearing. Isolation rearing induced deficits in sensorimotor gating and recognition memory while no changes in social interaction or spatial learning were observed. PolyI:C injection during the peripubertal period markedly increased expression of interferon-stimulated genes (Ifit2, Prkr, Mx2 and Irf7) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus demonstrating that peripheral administration of the viral mimic in the adolescent animal does have direct effects in the brain. Peripubertal infection mimicry induced a similar but later emerging behavioural deficit in prepulse inhibition implying the existence of a peripubertal window of opportunity for viral-mediated cytokine increases to impact brain development and function. PolyI:C treatment also impaired novel object recognition but did not alter spatial reference memory or social interaction. Combining the polyI:C challenge with social isolation did not exacerbate the behavioural deficits seen with isolation rearing alone. Using Irf7 as a marker, peripubertal viral infection mimicry, isolation rearing and a combination of both were all seen to produce a long-lasting molecular imprint on the interferon-associated signalling pathway in the principal neuron population of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. The data suggest that the sensitivity of brain structure and function to disruption by viral infection extends into the peripubertal period. Moreover, augmented interferon signalling in hippocampus may represent a common molecular imprint of environmental insults associated with neuropsychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuropeptide diversity and the regulation of social behavior in New World primates

PubMed Central

French, Jeffrey A.; Taylor, Jack H.; Mustoe, Aaryn C.; Cavanaugh, Jon

2016-01-01

Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) are important hypothalamic neuropeptides that regulate peripheral physiology, and have emerged as important modulators of brain function, particularly in the social realm. OT structure and the genes that ultimately determine structure are highly conserved among diverse eutherian mammals, but recent discoveries have identified surprising variability in OT and peptide structure in New World monkeys (NWM), with five new OT variants identified to date. This review explores these new findings in light of comparative OT/AVP ligand evolution, documents coevolutionary changes in the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors (OTR and V1aR), and highlights the distribution of neuropeptidergic neurons and receptors in the primate brain. Finally, the behavioral consequences of OT and AVP in regulating NWM sociality are summarized, demonstrating important neuromodulatory effects of these compounds and OT ligand-specific influences in certain social domains. PMID:27020799

Functional Plasticity in Childhood Brain Disorders: When, What, How, and Whom to Assess

PubMed Central

Dennis, Maureen; Spiegler, Brenda J.; Simic, Nevena; Sinopoli, Katia J.; Wilkinson, Amy; Yeates, Keith Owen; Taylor, H. Gerry; Bigler, Erin D.; Fletcher, Jack M.

2014-01-01

At every point in the lifespan, the brain balances malleable processes representing neural plasticity that promote change with homeostatic processes that promote stability. Whether a child develops typically or with brain injury, his or her neural and behavioral outcome is constructed through transactions between plastic and homeostatic processes and the environment. In clinical research with children in whom the developing brain has been malformed or injured, behavioral outcomes provide an index of the result of plasticity, homeostasis, and environmental transactions. When should we assess outcome in relation to age at brain insult, time since brain insult, and age of the child at testing? What should we measure? Functions involving reacting to the past and predicting the future, as well as social-affective skills, are important. How should we assess outcome? Information from performance variability, direct measures and informants, overt and covert measures, and laboratory and ecological measures should be considered. In whom are we assessing outcome? Assessment should be cognizant of individual differences in gene, socio-economic status (SES), parenting, nutrition, and interpersonal supports, which are moderators that interact with other factors influencing functional outcome. PMID:24821533

A Systematic and Meta-analytic Review of Neural Correlates of Functional Outcome in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Wojtalik, Jessica A; Smith, Matthew J; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Eack, Shaun M

2017-10-21

Individuals with schizophrenia are burdened with impairments in functional outcome, despite existing interventions. The lack of understanding of the neurobiological correlates supporting adaptive function in the disorder is a significant barrier to developing more effective treatments. This research conducted a systematic and meta-analytic review of all peer-reviewed studies examining brain-functional outcome relationships in schizophrenia. A total of 53 (37 structural and 16 functional) brain imaging studies examining the neural correlates of functional outcome across 1631 individuals with schizophrenia were identified from literature searches in relevant databases occurring between January, 1968 and December, 2016. Study characteristics and results representing brain-functional outcome relationships were systematically extracted, reviewed, and meta-analyzed. Results indicated that better functional outcome was associated with greater fronto-limbic and whole brain volumes, smaller ventricles, and greater activation, especially during social cognitive processing. Thematic observations revealed that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, superior temporal sulcus, and cerebellum may have role in functioning. The neural basis of functional outcome and disability is infrequently studied in schizophrenia. While existing evidence is limited and heterogeneous, these findings suggest that the structural and functional integrity of fronto-limbic brain regions is consistently related to functional outcome in individuals with schizophrenia. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms and directionality of these relationships, and the potential for identifying neural targets to support functional improvement. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Supporting students with brain tumors in obtaining school intervention services: the clinician's role from an educator's perspective.

PubMed

Grandinette, Sharon

2014-01-01

With an increase in the number of pediatric patients surviving the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors, many children are returning to school with an alteration in their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional functioning and thus requiring school intervention or services. Physicians and clinicians in hospital and rehabilitation settings serving this population can play a key role in communicating the medical and functional needs these children present as a result of diagnosis and treatment as they transition to an educational setting. Medical and allied health personnel can best support successful school transition when they are aware of the information schools require in order to open the door for students to easily access the interventions, supports, and services available through 504 Accommodation Plans and special education supports and services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Clear communication between medical and school personnel is vital in improving educational, social, and vocational outcomes for students with brain tumors. A streamlined approach to accomplish this task is offered for consideration.

Age-associated changes in rich-club organisation in autistic and neurotypical human brains

PubMed Central

Watanabe, Takamitsu; Rees, Geraint

2015-01-01

Macroscopic structural networks in the human brain have a rich-club architecture comprising both highly inter-connected central regions and sparsely connected peripheral regions. Recent studies show that disruption of this functionally efficient organisation is associated with several psychiatric disorders. However, despite increasing attention to this network property, whether age-associated changes in rich-club organisation occur during human adolescence remains unclear. Here, analysing a publicly shared diffusion tensor imaging dataset, we found that, during adolescence, brains of typically developing (TD) individuals showed increases in rich-club organisation and inferred network functionality, whereas individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) did not. These differences between TD and ASD groups were statistically significant for both structural and functional properties. Moreover, this typical age-related changes in rich-club organisation were characterised by progressive involvement of the right anterior insula. In contrast, in ASD individuals, did not show typical increases in grey matter volume, and this relative anatomical immaturity was correlated with the severity of ASD social symptoms. These results provide evidence that rich-club architecture is one of the bases of functionally efficient brain networks underpinning complex cognitive functions in adult human brains. Furthermore, our findings suggest that immature rich-club organisation might be associated with some neurodevelopmental disorders. PMID:26537477

Emotional Prosody Processing in Epilepsy: Some Insights on Brain Reorganization.

PubMed

Alba-Ferrara, Lucy; Kochen, Silvia; Hausmann, Markus

2018-01-01

Drug resistant epilepsy is one of the most complex, multifactorial and polygenic neurological syndrome. Besides its dynamicity and variability, it still provides us with a model to study brain-behavior relationship, giving cues on the anatomy and functional representation of brain function. Given that onset zone of focal epileptic seizures often affects different anatomical areas, cortical but limited to one hemisphere, this condition also let us study the functional differences of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. One lateralized function in the human brain is emotional prosody, and it can be a useful ictal sign offering hints on the location of the epileptogenic zone. Besides its importance for effective communication, prosody is not considered an eloquent domain, making resective surgery on its neural correlates feasible. We performed an Electronic databases search (Medline and PsychINFO) from inception to July 2017 for studies about prosody in epilepsy. The search terms included "epilepsy," "seizure," "emotional prosody," and "vocal affect." This review focus on emotional prosody processing in epilepsy as it can give hints regarding plastic functional changes following seizures (preoperatively), resection (post operatively), and also as an ictal sign enabling the assessment of dynamic brain networks. Moreover, it is argued that such reorganization can help to preserve the expression and reception of emotional prosody as a central skill to develop appropriate social interactions.

Aberrant functional brain connectome in people with antisocial personality disorder

PubMed Central

Tang, Yan; Long, Jun; Wang, Wei; Liao, Jian; Xie, Hua; Zhao, Guihu; Zhang, Hao

2016-01-01

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterised by a disregard for social obligations and callous unconcern for the feelings of others. Studies have demonstrated that ASPD is associated with abnormalities in brain regions and aberrant functional connectivity. In this paper, topological organisation was examined in resting-state fMRI data obtained from 32 ASPD patients and 32 non-ASPD controls. The frequency-dependent functional networks were constructed using wavelet-based correlations over 90 brain regions. The topology of the functional networks of ASPD subjects was analysed via graph theoretical analysis. Furthermore, the abnormal functional connectivity was determined with a network-based statistic (NBS) approach. Our results revealed that, compared with the controls, the ASPD patients exhibited altered topological configuration of the functional connectome in the frequency interval of 0.016–0.031 Hz, as indicated by the increased clustering coefficient and decreased betweenness centrality in the medial superior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, Rolandic operculum, superior parietal gyrus, angular gyrus, and middle temporal pole. In addition, the ASPD patients showed increased functional connectivity mainly located in the default-mode network. The present study reveals an aberrant topological organisation of the functional brain network in individuals with ASPD. Our findings provide novel insight into the neuropathological mechanisms of ASPD. PMID:27257047

Aberrant functional brain connectome in people with antisocial personality disorder.

PubMed

Tang, Yan; Long, Jun; Wang, Wei; Liao, Jian; Xie, Hua; Zhao, Guihu; Zhang, Hao

2016-06-03

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterised by a disregard for social obligations and callous unconcern for the feelings of others. Studies have demonstrated that ASPD is associated with abnormalities in brain regions and aberrant functional connectivity. In this paper, topological organisation was examined in resting-state fMRI data obtained from 32 ASPD patients and 32 non-ASPD controls. The frequency-dependent functional networks were constructed using wavelet-based correlations over 90 brain regions. The topology of the functional networks of ASPD subjects was analysed via graph theoretical analysis. Furthermore, the abnormal functional connectivity was determined with a network-based statistic (NBS) approach. Our results revealed that, compared with the controls, the ASPD patients exhibited altered topological configuration of the functional connectome in the frequency interval of 0.016-0.031 Hz, as indicated by the increased clustering coefficient and decreased betweenness centrality in the medial superior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, Rolandic operculum, superior parietal gyrus, angular gyrus, and middle temporal pole. In addition, the ASPD patients showed increased functional connectivity mainly located in the default-mode network. The present study reveals an aberrant topological organisation of the functional brain network in individuals with ASPD. Our findings provide novel insight into the neuropathological mechanisms of ASPD.

Effect of environment on the long-term consequences of chronic pain

PubMed Central

Bushnell, MC; Case, LK; Ceko, M; Cotton, VA; Gracely, JL; Low, LA; Pitcher, MH; Villemure, C

2014-01-01

Much evidence from pain patients and animal models shows that chronic pain does not exist in a vacuum, but has varied co-morbidities and far-reaching consequences. Patients with long-term pain often develop anxiety and depression and can manifest changes in cognitive functioning, particularly with working memory. Longitudinal studies in rodent models also show the development of anxiety-like behavior and cognitive changes weeks to months after an injury causing long-term pain. Brain imaging studies in pain patients and rodent models find that chronic pain is associated with anatomical and functional alterations in the brain. Nevertheless, studies in humans reveal that life-style choices, such as the practice of meditation or yoga, can reduce pain perception and have the opposite effect on the brain as does chronic pain. In rodent models, studies show that physical activity and a socially enriched environment reduce pain behavior and normalize brain function. Together, these studies suggest that the burden of chronic pain can be reduced by non-pharmacological interventions. PMID:25789436

Perceived quality of maternal care in childhood and structure and function of mothers’ brain

PubMed Central

Kim, Pilyoung; Leckman, James F.; Mayes, Linda C.; Newman, Michal-Ann; Feldman, Ruth; Swain, James E.

2014-01-01

Animal studies indicate that early maternal care has long-term effects on brain areas related to social attachment and parenting, whereas neglectful mothering is linked with heightened stress reactivity in the hippocampus across the lifespan. The present study explores the possibility, using magnetic resonance imaging, that perceived quality of maternal care in childhood is associated with brain structure and functional responses to salient infant stimuli among human mothers in the first postpartum month. Mothers who reported higher maternal care in childhood showed larger grey matter volumes in the superior and middle frontal gyri, orbital gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. In response to infant cries, these mothers exhibited higher activations in the middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus, whereas mothers reporting lower maternal care showed increased hippocampal activations. These findings suggest that maternal care in childhood may be associated with anatomy and functions in brain regions implicated in appropriate responsivity to infant stimuli in human mothers. PMID:20590729

Broca's arrow: evolution, prediction, and language in the brain.

PubMed

Cooper, David L

2006-01-01

Brodmann's areas 44 and 45 in the human brain, also known as Broca's area, have long been associated with language functions, especially in the left hemisphere. However, the precise role Broca's area plays in human language has not been established with certainty. Broca's area has homologs in the great apes and in area F5 in monkeys, which suggests that its original function was not linguistic at all. In fact, great ape and hominid brains show very similar left-over-right asymmetries in Broca's area homologs as well as in other areas, such as homologs to Wernicke's area, that are normally associated with language in modern humans. Moreover, the so-called mirror neurons are located in Broca's area in great apes and area F5 in monkeys, which seem to provide a representation of cause and effect in a primate's environment, particularly its social environment. Humans appear to have these mirror neurons in Broca's area as well. Similarly, genetic evidence related to the FOXP2 gene implicates Broca's area in linguistic function and dysfunction, but the gene itself is a highly conserved developmental gene in vertebrates and is shared with only two or three differences between humans and great apes, five between humans and mice, and eight between humans and songbirds. Taking neurons and portions of the brain as discrete computational segments in the sense of constituting specific Turing machines, this evidence points to a predictive motor and conceptual function for Broca's area in primates, especially for social concepts. In human language, this is consistent with evidence from typological and cognitive linguistics. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Autism: reduced connectivity between cortical areas involved in face expression, theory of mind, and the sense of self.

PubMed

Cheng, Wei; Rolls, Edmund T; Gu, Huaguang; Zhang, Jie; Feng, Jianfeng

2015-05-01

Whole-brain voxel-based unbiased resting state functional connectivity was analysed in 418 subjects with autism and 509 matched typically developing individuals. We identified a key system in the middle temporal gyrus/superior temporal sulcus region that has reduced cortical functional connectivity (and increased with the medial thalamus), which is implicated in face expression processing involved in social behaviour. This system has reduced functional connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is implicated in emotion and social communication. The middle temporal gyrus system is also implicated in theory of mind processing. We also identified in autism a second key system in the precuneus/superior parietal lobule region with reduced functional connectivity, which is implicated in spatial functions including of oneself, and of the spatial environment. It is proposed that these two types of functionality, face expression-related, and of one's self and the environment, are important components of the computations involved in theory of mind, whether of oneself or of others, and that reduced connectivity within and between these regions may make a major contribution to the symptoms of autism. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Brain and behaviour phenotyping of a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type-1: an MRI/DTI study on social cognition.

PubMed

Petrella, L I; Cai, Y; Sereno, J V; Gonçalves, S I; Silva, A J; Castelo-Branco, M

2016-09-01

Neurofibromatosis type-1 (NF1) is a common neurogenetic disorder and an important cause of intellectual disability. Brain-behaviour associations can be examined in vivo using morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study brain structure. Here, we studied structural and behavioural phenotypes in heterozygous Nf1 mice (Nf1(+/-) ) using T2-weighted imaging MRI and DTI, with a focus on social recognition deficits. We found that Nf1(+/-) mice have larger volumes than wild-type (WT) mice in regions of interest involved in social cognition, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the caudate-putamen (CPu). Higher diffusivity was found across a distributed network of cortical and subcortical brain regions, within and beyond these regions. Significant differences were observed for the social recognition test. Most importantly, significant structure-function correlations were identified concerning social recognition performance and PFC volumes in Nf1(+/-) mice. Analyses of spatial learning corroborated the previously known deficits in the mutant mice, as corroborated by platform crossings, training quadrant time and average proximity measures. Moreover, linear discriminant analysis of spatial performance identified 2 separate sub-groups in Nf1(+/-) mice. A significant correlation between quadrant time and CPu volumes was found specifically for the sub-group of Nf1(+/-) mice with lower spatial learning performance, suggesting additional evidence for reorganization of this region. We found strong evidence that social and spatial cognition deficits can be associated with PFC/CPu structural changes and reorganization in NF1. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Developmental Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin

PubMed Central

Hammock, Elizabeth A D

2015-01-01

The related neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are involved in species-typical behavior, including social recognition behavior, maternal behavior, social bonding, communication, and aggression. A wealth of evidence from animal models demonstrates significant modulation of adult social behavior by both of these neuropeptides and their receptors. Over the last decade, there has been a flood of studies in humans also implicating a role for these neuropeptides in human social behavior. Despite popular assumptions that oxytocin is a molecule of social bonding in the infant brain, less mechanistic research emphasis has been placed on the potential role of these neuropeptides in the developmental emergence of the neural substrates of behavior. This review summarizes what is known and assumed about the developmental influence of these neuropeptides and outlines the important unanswered questions and testable hypotheses. There is tremendous translational need to understand the functions of these neuropeptides in mammalian experience-dependent development of the social brain. The activity of oxytocin and vasopressin during development should inform our understanding of individual, sex, and species differences in social behavior later in life. PMID:24863032

Lateralized behaviour of a non-social cichlid fish (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) in a social and a non-social environment.

PubMed

Moscicki, Michele K; Reddon, Adam R; Hurd, Peter L

2011-09-01

Cerebral lateralization, the partitioning of cognitive function preferentially into one hemisphere of the brain, is a trait ubiquitous among vertebrates. Some species exhibit population level lateralization, where the pattern of cerebral lateralization is the same for most members of that species; however, other species show only individual level lateralization, where each member of the species has a unique pattern of lateralized brain function. The pattern of cerebral lateralization within a population and an individual has been shown to differ based on the stimulus being processed. It has been hypothesized that sociality within a species, such as shoaling behaviour in fish, may have led to the development and persistence of population level lateralization. Here we assessed cerebral lateralization in convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata), a species that does not shoal as adults but that shoals briefly as juveniles. We show that both male and female convict cichlids display population level lateralization when in a solitary environment but only females show population level lateralization when in a perceived social environment. We also show that the pattern of lateralization differs between these two tasks and that strength of lateralization in one task is not predictive of strength of lateralization in the other task. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social behavior following traumatic brain injury and its association with emotion recognition, understanding of intentions, and cognitive flexibility.

PubMed

Milders, Maarten; Ietswaart, Magdalena; Crawford, John R; Currie, David

2008-03-01

Although the adverse consequences of changes in social behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) are well documented, relatively little is known about possible underlying neuropsychological deficits. Following a model originally developed for social behavior deficits in schizophrenia, we investigated whether impairments in emotion recognition, understanding of other people's intentions ("theory of mind"), and cognitive flexibility soon after first TBI or 1 year later were associated with self and proxy ratings of behavior following TBI. Each of the three functions was assessed with two separate tests, and ratings of behavior were collected on three questionnaires. Patients with TBI (n = 33) were impaired in emotion recognition, "theory of mind," and cognitive flexibility compared with matched orthopedic controls (n = 34). Proxy ratings showed increases in behavioral problems 1 year following injury in the TBI group but not in the control group. However, test performance was not associated with questionnaire data. Severity of the impairments in emotion recognition, understanding intention, and flexibility were unrelated to the severity of behavioral problems following TBI. These findings failed to confirm the used model for social behavior deficits and may cast doubt on the alleged link between deficits in emotion recognition or theory of mind and social functioning.

Is the social brain theory applicable to human individual differences? Relationship between sociability personality dimension and brain size.

PubMed

Horváth, Klára; Martos, János; Mihalik, Béla; Bódizs, Róbert

2011-06-17

Our study intends to examine whether the social brain theory is applicable to human individual differences. According to the social brain theory primates have larger brains as it could be expected from their body sizes due to the adaptation to a more complex social life. Regarding humans there were few studies about the relationship between theory of mind and frontal and temporal brain lobes. We hypothesized that these brain lobes, as well as the whole cerebrum and neocortex are in connection with the Sociability personality dimension that is associated with individuals' social lives. Our findings support this hypothesis as Sociability correlated positively with the examined brain structures if we control the effects of body size differences and age. These results suggest that the social brain theory can be extended to human interindividual differences and they have some implications to personality psychology too.

Human intelligence and brain networks

PubMed Central

Colom, Roberto; Karama, Sherif; Jung, Rex E.; Haier, Richard J.

2010-01-01

Intelligence can be defined as a general mental ability for reasoning, problem solving, and learning. Because of its general nature, intelligence integrates cognitive functions such as perception, attention, memory, language, or planning. On the basis of this definition, intelligence can be reliably measured by standardized tests with obtained scores predicting several broad social outcomes such as educational achievement, job performance, health, and longevity. A detailed understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying this general mental ability could provide significant individual and societal benefits. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies have generally supported a frontoparietal network relevant for intelligence. This same network has also been found to underlie cognitive functions related to perception, short-term memory storage, and language. The distributed nature of this network and its involvement in a wide range of cognitive functions fits well with the integrative nature of intelligence. A new key phase of research is beginning to investigate how functional networks relate to structural networks, with emphasis on how distributed brain areas communicate with each other. PMID:21319494

The evolution of music and human social capability

PubMed Central

Schulkin, Jay; Raglan, Greta B.

2014-01-01

Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts. Cognitive systems also underlie musical performance and sensibilities. Music is one of those things that we do spontaneously, reflecting brain machinery linked to communicative functions, enlarged and diversified across a broad array of human activities. Music cuts across diverse cognitive capabilities and resources, including numeracy, language, and space perception. In the same way, music intersects with cultural boundaries, facilitating our “social self” by linking our shared experiences and intentions. This paper focuses on the intersection between the neuroscience of music, and human social functioning to illustrate the importance of music to human behaviors. PMID:25278827

Altered topography of intrinsic functional connectivity in childhood risk for social anxiety

PubMed Central

Taber-Thomas, Bradley C.; Morales, Santiago; Hillary, Frank G.; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E.

2016-01-01

Background Extreme shyness in childhood arising from behavioral inhibition (BI) is among the strongest risk factors for developing social anxiety. Although no imaging studies of intrinsic brain networks in BI children have been reported, adults with a history of BI exhibit altered functioning of frontolimbic circuits and enhanced processing of salient, personally-relevant information. BI in childhood may be marked by increased coupling of salience (insula) and default (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) network hubs. Methods We tested this potential relation in 42 children ages 9 to 12, oversampled for high-BI. Participants provided resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. A novel topographical pattern analysis of salience network intrinsic functional connectivity was conducted, and the impact of salience-default coupling on the relation between BI and social anxiety symptoms was assessed via moderation analysis. Results High-BI children exhibit altered salience network topography, marked by reduced insula connectivity to dorsal anterior cingulate and increased insula connectivity to ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Whole-brain analyses revealed increased connectivity of salience, executive, and sensory networks with default network hubs in children higher in BI. Finally, the relation between insula-ventromedial prefrontal connectivity and social anxiety symptoms was strongest among the highest BI children. Conclusions BI is associated with an increase in connectivity to default network hubs that may bias processing toward personally-relevant information during development. These altered patterns of connectivity point to potential biomarkers of the neural profile of risk for anxiety in childhood. PMID:27093074

A preliminary investigation of moral reasoning and empathy after traumatic brain injury in adolescents.

PubMed

Beauchamp, M H; Dooley, J J; Anderson, V

2013-01-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained during childhood can affect a number of socio-cognitive skills; however, little attention has focused on the integrity of moral reasoning in the assessment of post-TBI social sequelae and the role of empathy and intelligence on moral maturity. In a quasi-experimental, cross-sectional research design, moral reasoning maturity and empathy in adolescents with mild-to-severe TBI (n = 25) were compared to typically-developing peers (n = 66). Participants were administered the So-Moral and So-Mature, tasks of socio-moral reasoning and maturity, the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence and a demographic questionnaire. Participants with TBI had significantly lower levels of moral reasoning maturity. Further, adolescents with moderate-to-severe TBI had lower levels of empathy. Empathy correlated positively with moral reasoning abilities and, together with intellectual function, predicted a small, but significant proportion of moral reasoning outcome. Youth who sustained TBI during childhood have poorer moral reasoning abilities than their non-injured peers, potentially placing them at risk for poor social decision-making and socially maladaptive behaviour. This can have a significant impact on long-term social functioning.

A prosocial online game for social cognition training in adolescents with high-functioning autism: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Chung, Un-Sun; Han, Doug Hyun; Shin, Yee Jin; Renshaw, Perry F

2016-01-01

To help patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) improve their social skills, effective interventions and new treatment modalities are necessary. We hypothesized that a prosocial online game would improve social cognition in ASD adolescents, as assessed using metrics of social communication, facial recognition, and emotional words. Ten ASD adolescents underwent cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) using a prosocial online game (game-CBT), and ten ASD adolescents participated in an offline-CBT. At baseline and 6 weeks later, social communication quality, correct identification of emotional words and facial emoticons, and brain activity were assessed in both groups. Social communication quality and correct response rate of emotional words and facial emoticons improved in both groups over the course of the intervention, and there were no significant differences between groups. In response to the emotional words, the brain activity within the temporal and parietal cortices increased in the game-CBT group, while the brain activity within cingulate and parietal cortices increased in the offline-CBT group. In addition, ASD adolescents in the game-CBT group showed increased brain activity within the right cingulate gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus, left cerebellum, left fusiform gyrus, left insular cortex, and sublobar area in response to facial emoticons. A prosocial online game designed for CBT was as effective as offline-CBT in ASD adolescents. Participation in the game especially increased social arousal and aided ASD adolescents in recognizing emotion. The therapy also helped participants more accurately consider associated environments in response to facial emotional stimulation. However, the online CBT was less effective than the offline-CBT at evoking emotions in response to emotional words.

A prosocial online game for social cognition training in adolescents with high-functioning autism: an fMRI study

PubMed Central

Chung, Un-sun; Han, Doug Hyun; Shin, Yee Jin; Renshaw, Perry F

2016-01-01

To help patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) improve their social skills, effective interventions and new treatment modalities are necessary. We hypothesized that a prosocial online game would improve social cognition in ASD adolescents, as assessed using metrics of social communication, facial recognition, and emotional words. Ten ASD adolescents underwent cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) using a prosocial online game (game-CBT), and ten ASD adolescents participated in an offline-CBT. At baseline and 6 weeks later, social communication quality, correct identification of emotional words and facial emoticons, and brain activity were assessed in both groups. Social communication quality and correct response rate of emotional words and facial emoticons improved in both groups over the course of the intervention, and there were no significant differences between groups. In response to the emotional words, the brain activity within the temporal and parietal cortices increased in the game-CBT group, while the brain activity within cingulate and parietal cortices increased in the offline-CBT group. In addition, ASD adolescents in the game-CBT group showed increased brain activity within the right cingulate gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus, left cerebellum, left fusiform gyrus, left insular cortex, and sublobar area in response to facial emoticons. A prosocial online game designed for CBT was as effective as offline-CBT in ASD adolescents. Participation in the game especially increased social arousal and aided ASD adolescents in recognizing emotion. The therapy also helped participants more accurately consider associated environments in response to facial emotional stimulation. However, the online CBT was less effective than the offline-CBT at evoking emotions in response to emotional words. PMID:27051288

Effects of emotion regulation strategy on brain responses to the valence and social content of visual scenes.

PubMed

Vrtička, Pascal; Sander, David; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2011-04-01

Emotion Regulation (ER) includes different mechanisms aiming at volitionally modulating emotional responses, including cognitive re-evaluation (re-appraisal; REAP) or inhibition of emotion expression and behavior (expressive suppression; ESUP). However, despite the importance of these ER strategies, previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have not sufficiently disentangled the specific neural impact of REAP versus ESUP on brain responses to different kinds of emotion-eliciting events. Moreover, although different effects have been reported for stimulus valence (positive vs. negative), no study has systematically investigated how ER may change emotional processing as a function of particular stimulus content variables (i.e., social vs. nonsocial). Our fMRI study directly compared brain activation to visual scenes during the use of different ER strategies, relative to a "natural" viewing condition, but also examined the effects of ER as a function of the social versus nonsocial content of scenes, in addition to their negative versus positive valence (by manipulating these factors orthogonally in a 2×2 factorial design). Our data revealed that several prefrontal cortical areas were differentially recruited during either REAP or ESUP, independent of the valence and content of images. In addition, selective modulations by either REAP or ESUP were found depending on the negative valence of scenes (medial fusiform gyrus, anterior insula, dmPFC), and on their nonsocial (middle insula) or social (bilateral amygdala, mPFC, posterior cingulate) significance. Furthermore, we observed a significant lateralization in the amygdala for the effect of the two different ER strategies, with a predominant modulation by REAP on the left side but by ESUP on the right side. Taken together, these results do not only highlight the distributed nature of neural changes induced by ER, but also reveal the specific impact of different strategies (REAP or ESUP), and the specific sites implicated by different dimensions of emotional information (social or negative). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social feedback processing from early to late adolescence: influence of sex, age, and attachment style

PubMed Central

Vrtička, Pascal; Sander, David; Anderson, Brittany; Badoud, Deborah; Eliez, Stephan; Debbané, Martin

2014-01-01

Objective The establishment of an accurate understanding of one's social context is a central developmental task during adolescence. A critical component of such development is to learn how to integrate the objective evaluation of one's behavior with the social response to the latter—here referred to as social feedback processing. Case report We measured brain activity by means of fMRI in 33 healthy adolescents (12–19 years old, 14 females). Participants played a difficult perceptual game with integrated verbal and visual feedback. Verbal feedback provided the participants with objective performance evaluation (won vs. lost). Visual feedback consisted of either smiling or angry faces, representing positive or negative social evaluations. Together, the combination of verbal and visual feedback gave rise to congruent versus incongruent social feedback combinations. In addition to assessing sex differences, we further tested for the effects of age and attachment style on social feedback processing. Results revealed that brain activity during social feedback processing was significantly modulated by sex, age, and attachment style in prefrontal cortical areas, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, caudate, and amygdala/hippocampus. We found indication for heightened activity during incongruent social feedback processing in females, older participants, and individuals with an anxious attachment style. Conversely, we observed stronger activity during processing of congruent social feedback in males and participants with an avoidant attachment style. Conclusion Our findings not only extend knowledge on the typical development of socio-emotional brain function during adolescence, but also provide first clues on how attachment insecurities, and particularly attachment avoidance, could interfere with the latter mechanisms. PMID:25328847

Coevolution of cultural intelligence, extended life history, sociality, and brain size in primates

PubMed Central

Street, Sally E.; Navarrete, Ana F.; Laland, Kevin N.

2017-01-01

Explanations for primate brain expansion and the evolution of human cognition and culture remain contentious despite extensive research. While multiple comparative analyses have investigated variation in brain size across primate species, very few have addressed why primates vary in how much they use social learning. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis that the enhanced reliance on socially transmitted behavior observed in some primates has coevolved with enlarged brains, complex sociality, and extended lifespans. Using recently developed phylogenetic comparative methods we show that, across primate species, a measure of social learning proclivity increases with absolute and relative brain volume, longevity (specifically reproductive lifespan), and social group size, correcting for research effort. We also confirm relationships of absolute and relative brain volume with longevity (both juvenile period and reproductive lifespan) and social group size, although longevity is generally the stronger predictor. Relationships between social learning, brain volume, and longevity remain when controlling for maternal investment and are therefore not simply explained as a by-product of the generally slower life history expected for larger brained species. Our findings suggest that both brain expansion and high reliance on culturally transmitted behavior coevolved with sociality and extended lifespan in primates. This coevolution is consistent with the hypothesis that the evolution of large brains, sociality, and long lifespans has promoted reliance on culture, with reliance on culture in turn driving further increases in brain volume, cognitive abilities, and lifespans in some primate lineages. PMID:28739950

It still hurts: altered opioid activity in the brain during social rejection and acceptance in major depressive disorder

PubMed Central

Hsu, David T; Sanford, Benjamin J; Meyers, Kortni K; Love, Tiffany M; Hazlett, Kathleen E; Walker, Sara J; Mickey, Brian J; Koeppe, Robert A; Langenecker, Scott A; Zubieta, Jon-Kar

2015-01-01

The μ-opioid receptor (MOR) system, well known for dampening physical pain, is also hypothesized to dampen “social pain.” We used positron emission tomography scanning with the selective MOR radioligand [11C]carfentanil to test the hypothesis that MOR system activation in response to social rejection and acceptance is altered in medication-free patients diagnosed with current major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 17) compared to healthy controls (HCs, n = 18). During rejection, MDD patients showed reduced MOR activation (e.g., reduced endogenous opioid release) in brain regions regulating stress, mood, and motivation, and slower emotional recovery compared to HCs. During acceptance, only HCs showed increased social motivation, which was positively correlated with MOR activation in the nucleus accumbens, a reward structure. Abnormal MOR function in MDD may hinder emotional recovery from negative social interactions and decrease pleasure derived from positive interactions. Both effects may reinforce depression, trigger relapse, and contribute to poor treatment outcomes. PMID:25600108

Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality.

PubMed

Donaldson, Zoe R; Young, Larry J

2008-11-07

There is growing evidence that the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin modulate complex social behavior and social cognition. These ancient neuropeptides display a marked conservation in gene structure and expression, yet diversity in the genetic regulation of their receptors seems to underlie natural variation in social behavior, both between and within species. Human studies are beginning to explore the roles of these neuropeptides in social cognition and behavior and suggest that variation in the genes encoding their receptors may contribute to variation in human social behavior by altering brain function. Understanding the neurobiology and neurogenetics of social cognition and behavior has important implications, both clinically and for society.

The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy.

PubMed

Gilbert, Paul

2014-03-01

Compassion focused therapy (CFT) is rooted in an evolutionary, functional analysis of basic social motivational systems (e.g., to live in groups, form hierarchies and ranks, seek out sexual, partners help and share with alliances, and care for kin) and different functional emotional systems (e.g., to respond to threats, seek out resources, and for states of contentment/safeness). In addition, about 2 million years ago, (pre-)humans began to evolve a range of cognitive competencies for reasoning, reflection, anticipating, imagining, mentalizing, and creating a socially contextualized sense of self. These new competencies can cause major difficulties in the organization of (older) motivation and emotional systems. CFT suggests that our evolved brain is therefore potentially problematic because of its basic 'design,' being easily triggered into destructive behaviours and mental health problems (called 'tricky brain'). However, mammals and especially humans have also evolved motives and emotions for affiliative, caring and altruistic behaviour that can organize our brain in such a way as to significantly offset our destructive potentials. CFT therefore highlights the importance of developing people's capacity to (mindfully) access, tolerate, and direct affiliative motives and emotions, for themselves and others, and cultivate inner compassion as a way for organizing our human 'tricky brain' in prosocial and mentally healthy ways. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Your perspective and my benefit: multiple lesion models of self-other integration strategies during social bargaining.

PubMed

Melloni, Margherita; Billeke, Pablo; Baez, Sandra; Hesse, Eugenia; de la Fuente, Laura; Forno, Gonzalo; Birba, Agustina; García-Cordero, Indira; Serrano, Cecilia; Plastino, Angelo; Slachevsky, Andrea; Huepe, David; Sigman, Mariano; Manes, Facundo; García, Adolfo M; Sedeño, Lucas; Ibáñez, Agustín

2016-11-01

Recursive social decision-making requires the use of flexible, context-sensitive long-term strategies for negotiation. To succeed in social bargaining, participants' own perspectives must be dynamically integrated with those of interactors to maximize self-benefits and adapt to the other's preferences, respectively. This is a prerequisite to develop a successful long-term self-other integration strategy. While such form of strategic interaction is critical to social decision-making, little is known about its neurocognitive correlates. To bridge this gap, we analysed social bargaining behaviour in relation to its structural neural correlates, ongoing brain dynamics (oscillations and related source space), and functional connectivity signatures in healthy subjects and patients offering contrastive lesion models of neurodegeneration and focal stroke: behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and frontal lesions. All groups showed preserved basic bargaining indexes. However, impaired self-other integration strategy was found in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and frontal lesions, suggesting that social bargaining critically depends on the integrity of prefrontal regions. Also, associations between behavioural performance and data from voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping revealed a critical role of prefrontal regions in value integration and strategic decisions for self-other integration strategy. Furthermore, as shown by measures of brain dynamics and related sources during the task, the self-other integration strategy was predicted by brain anticipatory activity (alpha/beta oscillations with sources in frontotemporal regions) associated with expectations about others' decisions. This pattern was reduced in all clinical groups, with greater impairments in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and frontal lesions than Alzheimer's disease. Finally, connectivity analysis from functional magnetic resonance imaging evidenced a fronto-temporo-parietal network involved in successful self-other integration strategy, with selective compromise of long-distance connections in frontal disorders. In sum, this work provides unprecedented evidence of convergent behavioural and neurocognitive signatures of strategic social bargaining in different lesion models. Our findings offer new insights into the critical roles of prefrontal hubs and associated temporo-parietal networks for strategic social negotiation. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Libero, Lauren E; Moore, Marie S

2011-12-01

Recent findings of neurological functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) point to altered brain connectivity as a key feature of its pathophysiology. The cortical underconnectivity theory of ASD (Just et al., 2004) provides an integrated framework for addressing these new findings. This theory suggests that weaker functional connections among brain areas in those with ASD hamper their ability to accomplish complex cognitive and social tasks successfully. We will discuss this theory, but will modify the term underconnectivity to 'disrupted cortical connectivity' to capture patterns of both under- and over-connectivity in the brain. In this paper, we will review the existing literature on ASD to marshal supporting evidence for hypotheses formulated on the disrupted cortical connectivity theory. These hypotheses are: 1) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested mainly in long-distance cortical as well as subcortical connections rather than in short-distance cortical connections; 2) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested only in complex cognitive and social functions and not in low-level sensory and perceptual tasks; 3) functional underconnectivity in ASD may be the result of underlying anatomical abnormalities, such as problems in the integrity of white matter; 4) the ASD brain adapts to underconnectivity through compensatory strategies such as overconnectivity mainly in frontal and in posterior brain areas. This may be manifested as deficits in tasks that require frontal-parietal integration. While overconnectivity can be tested by examining the cortical minicolumn organization, long-distance underconnectivity can be tested by cognitively demanding tasks; and 5) functional underconnectivity in brain areas in ASD will be seen not only during complex tasks but also during task-free resting states. We will also discuss some empirical predictions that can be tested in future studies, such as: 1) how disrupted connectivity relates to cognitive impairments in skills such as Theory-of-Mind, cognitive flexibility, and information processing; and 2) how connection abnormalities relate to, and may determine, behavioral symptoms hallmarked by the triad of Impairments in ASD. Furthermore, we will relate the disrupted cortical connectivity model to existing cognitive and neural models of ASD. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kana, Rajesh K.; Libero, Lauren E.; Moore, Marie S.

2011-12-01

Recent findings of neurological functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) point to altered brain connectivity as a key feature of its pathophysiology. The cortical underconnectivity theory of ASD (Just et al., 2004) provides an integrated framework for addressing these new findings. This theory suggests that weaker functional connections among brain areas in those with ASD hamper their ability to accomplish complex cognitive and social tasks successfully. We will discuss this theory, but will modify the term underconnectivity to ‘disrupted cortical connectivity’ to capture patterns of both under- and over-connectivity in the brain. In this paper, we will review the existing literature on ASD to marshal supporting evidence for hypotheses formulated on the disrupted cortical connectivity theory. These hypotheses are: 1) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested mainly in long-distance cortical as well as subcortical connections rather than in short-distance cortical connections; 2) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested only in complex cognitive and social functions and not in low-level sensory and perceptual tasks; 3) functional underconnectivity in ASD may be the result of underlying anatomical abnormalities, such as problems in the integrity of white matter; 4) the ASD brain adapts to underconnectivity through compensatory strategies such as overconnectivity mainly in frontal and in posterior brain areas. This may be manifested as deficits in tasks that require frontal-parietal integration. While overconnectivity can be tested by examining the cortical minicolumn organization, long-distance underconnectivity can be tested by cognitively demanding tasks; and 5) functional underconnectivity in brain areas in ASD will be seen not only during complex tasks but also during task-free resting states. We will also discuss some empirical predictions that can be tested in future studies, such as: 1) how disrupted connectivity relates to cognitive impairments in skills such as Theory-of-Mind, cognitive flexibility, and information processing; and 2) how connection abnormalities relate to, and may determine, behavioral symptoms hallmarked by the triad of Impairments in ASD. Furthermore, we will relate the disrupted cortical connectivity model to existing cognitive and neural models of ASD.

Socially induced brain development in a facultatively eusocial sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Halictidae)

PubMed Central

Smith, Adam R.; Seid, Marc A.; Jiménez, Lissette C.; Wcislo, William T.

2010-01-01

Changes in the relative size of brain regions are often dependent on experience and environmental stimulation, which includes an animal's social environment. Some studies suggest that social interactions are cognitively demanding, and have examined predictions that the evolution of sociality led to the evolution of larger brains. Previous studies have compared species with different social organizations or different groups within obligately social species. Here, we report the first intraspecific study to examine how social experience shapes brain volume using a species with facultatively eusocial or solitary behaviour, the sweat bee Megalopta genalis. Serial histological sections were used to reconstruct and measure the volume of brain areas of bees behaving as social reproductives, social workers, solitary reproductives or 1-day-old bees that are undifferentiated with respect to the social phenotype. Social reproductives showed increased development of the mushroom body (an area of the insect brain associated with sensory integration and learning) relative to social workers and solitary reproductives. The gross neuroanatomy of young bees is developmentally similar to the advanced eusocial species previously studied, despite vast differences in colony size and social organization. Our results suggest that the transition from solitary to social behaviour is associated with modified brain development, and that maintaining dominance, rather than sociality per se, leads to increased mushroom body development, even in the smallest social groups possible (i.e. groups with two bees). Such results suggest that capabilities to navigate the complexities of social life may be a factor shaping brain evolution in some social insects, as for some vertebrates. PMID:20335213

Socially induced brain development in a facultatively eusocial sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Halictidae).

PubMed

Smith, Adam R; Seid, Marc A; Jiménez, Lissette C; Wcislo, William T

2010-07-22

Changes in the relative size of brain regions are often dependent on experience and environmental stimulation, which includes an animal's social environment. Some studies suggest that social interactions are cognitively demanding, and have examined predictions that the evolution of sociality led to the evolution of larger brains. Previous studies have compared species with different social organizations or different groups within obligately social species. Here, we report the first intraspecific study to examine how social experience shapes brain volume using a species with facultatively eusocial or solitary behaviour, the sweat bee Megalopta genalis. Serial histological sections were used to reconstruct and measure the volume of brain areas of bees behaving as social reproductives, social workers, solitary reproductives or 1-day-old bees that are undifferentiated with respect to the social phenotype. Social reproductives showed increased development of the mushroom body (an area of the insect brain associated with sensory integration and learning) relative to social workers and solitary reproductives. The gross neuroanatomy of young bees is developmentally similar to the advanced eusocial species previously studied, despite vast differences in colony size and social organization. Our results suggest that the transition from solitary to social behaviour is associated with modified brain development, and that maintaining dominance, rather than sociality per se, leads to increased mushroom body development, even in the smallest social groups possible (i.e. groups with two bees). Such results suggest that capabilities to navigate the complexities of social life may be a factor shaping brain evolution in some social insects, as for some vertebrates.

The contribution of oxytocin and vasopressin to mammalian social behavior: potential role in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Harony, Hala; Wagner, Shlomo

2010-01-01

Oxytocin (OT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) are 2 peptides that are produced in the brain and released via the pituitary gland to the peripheral blood, where they have diverse physiological functions. In the last 2 decades it has become clear that these peptides also play a central role in the modulation of mammalian social behavior by their actions within the brain. Several lines of evidence suggest their involvement in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is known to be associated with impaired social cognition and behavior. Recent clinical trials using OT administration to autistic patients have reported promising results. Here, we aim to describe the main data that suggest a connection between these peptides and ASD. Following a short illustration of several major topics in ASD biology we will (a) briefly describe the oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic systems in the brain, (b) discuss a few compelling cases manifesting the involvement of OT and AVP in mammalian social behavior, (c) describe data supporting the role of these peptides in human social cognition and behavior, and (d) discuss the possibility of the involvement of OT and AVP in ASD etiology, as well as the prospect of using these peptides as a treatment for ASD patients. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Altered reward system reactivity for personalized circumscribed interests in autism.

PubMed

Kohls, Gregor; Antezana, Ligia; Mosner, Maya G; Schultz, Robert T; Yerys, Benjamin E

2018-01-01

Neurobiological research in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has paid little attention on brain mechanisms that cause and maintain restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBIs). Evidence indicates an imbalance in the brain's reward system responsiveness to social and non-social stimuli may contribute to both social deficits and RRBIs. Thus, this study's central aim was to compare brain responsiveness to individual RRBI (i.e., circumscribed interests), with social rewards (i.e., social approval), in youth with ASD relative to typically developing controls (TDCs). We conducted a 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to investigate the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent effect of personalized circumscribed interest rewards versus social rewards in 39 youth with ASD relative to 22 TDC. To probe the reward system, we employed short video clips as reinforcement in an instrumental incentive delay task. This optimization increased the task's ecological validity compared to still pictures that are often used in this line of research. Compared to TDCs, youth with ASD had stronger reward system responses for CIs mostly within the non-social realm (e.g., video games) than social rewards (e.g., approval). Additionally, this imbalance within the caudate nucleus' responsiveness was related to greater social impairment. The current data support the idea of reward system dysfunction that may contribute to enhanced motivation for RRBIs in ASD, accompanied by diminished motivation for social engagement. If a dysregulated reward system indeed supports the emergence and maintenance of social and non-social symptoms of ASD, then strategically targeting the reward system in future treatment endeavors may allow for more efficacious treatment practices that help improve outcomes for individuals with ASD and their families.

Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers.

PubMed

Swain, J E; Kim, P; Spicer, J; Ho, S S; Dayton, C J; Elmadih, A; Abel, K M

2014-09-11

Brain networks that govern parental response to infant signals have been studied with imaging techniques over the last 15 years. The complex interaction of thoughts and behaviors required for sensitive parenting enables the formation of each individual's first social bonds and critically shapes development. This review concentrates on magnetic resonance imaging experiments which directly examine the brain systems involved in parental responses to infant cues. First, we introduce themes in the literature on parental brain circuits studied to date. Next, we present a thorough chronological review of state-of-the-art fMRI studies that probe the parental brain with a range of baby audio and visual stimuli. We also highlight the putative role of oxytocin and effects of psychopathology, as well as the most recent work on the paternal brain. Taken together, a new model emerges in which we propose that cortico-limbic networks interact to support parental brain responses to infants. These include circuitry for arousal/salience/motivation/reward, reflexive/instrumental caring, emotion response/regulation and integrative/complex cognitive processing. Maternal sensitivity and the quality of caregiving behavior are likely determined by the responsiveness of these circuits during early parent-infant experiences. The function of these circuits is modifiable by current and early-life experiences, hormonal and other factors. Severe deviation from the range of normal function in these systems is particularly associated with (maternal) mental illnesses - commonly, depression and anxiety, but also schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Finally, we discuss the limits and extent to which brain imaging may broaden our understanding of the parental brain given our current model. Developments in the understanding of the parental brain may have profound implications for long-term outcomes in families across risk, resilience and possible interventions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional neuroimaging of Social and Nonsocial Cognitive Control in Autism

PubMed Central

Sabatino, Antoinette; Rittenberg, Alison; Sasson, Noah J.; Turner-Brown, Lauren; Bodfish, James W.; Dichter, Gabriel S.

2013-01-01

This study investigated cognitive control of social and nonsocial information in autism using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and a neurotypical control group completed an oddball target detection task where target stimuli were either faces or nonsocial objects previously shown to be related to circumscribed interests in autism. The ASD group demonstrated relatively increased activation to social targets in right insular cortex and in left superior frontal gyrus and relatively decreased activation to nonsocial targets related to circumscribed interests in multiple frontostriatal brain regions. Findings suggest that frontostriatal recruitment during cognitive control in ASD is contingent on stimulus type, with increased activation for social stimuli and decreased activation for nonsocial stimuli related to circumscribed interests. PMID:23636715

Trends in survival and early functional outcomes from hospitalized severe adult traumatic brain injuries, Pennsylvania, 1998–2007

PubMed Central

Sánchez, Álvaro I; Krafty, Robert T; Weiss, Harold B; Rubiano, Andrés M; Peitzman, Andrew B; Puyana, Juan Carlos

2011-01-01

Objective To determine trends for in-hospital survival and functional outcomes at acute care hospital discharge for severe adult traumatic brain injury (SATBI) patients in Pennsylvania, during 1998–2007. Methods Secondary analysis of the Pennsylvania trauma outcome study database. Main Outcome Measures Survival and functional status scores of five domains (feeding, locomotion, expression, transfer mobility, and social interaction) fitted into logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, race, co-morbidities, injury mechanism, extra-cranial injuries, severity scores, hospital stay, trauma center, and hospital level. Sensitivity analyses for functional outcomes were performed. Results There were 26,234 SATBI patients. Annual numbers of SATBI increased from 1,757 to 3,808 during 1998–2007. Falls accounted for 47.7% of all SATBI. Survival increased significantly from 72.5% to 82.7% (OR 1.10, 95%CI 1.08–1.11, P<0.001). In sensitivity analyses, trends of complete independence in functional outcomes increased significantly for expression (OR 1.01, 95%CI 1.00–1.02, P=0.011) and social interaction (OR 1.01, 95%CI 1.00–1.03, P=0.002). There were no significant variations over time for feeding, locomotion, and transfer mobility. Conclusions Trends for SATBI served by Pennsylvania’s established trauma system showed increases in rates but substantial reductions in mortality and significant improvements in functional outcomes at discharge for expression and social interaction. PMID:21386713

Evaluation of molecular brain changes associated with environmental stress in rodent models compared to human major depressive disorder: A proteomic systems approach.

PubMed

Cox, David Alan; Gottschalk, Michael Gerd; Stelzhammer, Viktoria; Wesseling, Hendrik; Cooper, Jason David; Bahn, Sabine

2016-11-25

Rodent models of major depressive disorder (MDD) are indispensable when screening for novel treatments, but assessing their translational relevance with human brain pathology has proved difficult. Using a novel systems approach, proteomics data obtained from post-mortem MDD anterior prefrontal cortex tissue (n = 12) and matched controls (n = 23) were compared with equivalent data from three commonly used preclinical models exposed to environmental stressors (chronic mild stress, prenatal stress and social defeat). Functional pathophysiological features associated with depression-like behaviour were identified in these models through enrichment of protein-protein interaction networks. A cross-species comparison evaluated which model(s) represent human MDD pathology most closely. Seven functional domains associated with MDD and represented across at least two models such as "carbohydrate metabolism and cellular respiration" were identified. Through statistical evaluation using kernel-based machine learning techniques, the social defeat model was found to represent MDD brain changes most closely for four of the seven domains. This is the first study to apply a method for directly evaluating the relevance of the molecular pathology of multiple animal models to human MDD on the functional level. The methodology and findings outlined here could help to overcome translational obstacles of preclinical psychiatric research.

Social anxiety following traumatic brain injury: an exploration of associated factors.

PubMed

Curvis, William; Simpson, Jane; Hampson, Natalie

2018-06-01

Social anxiety (SA) following traumatic brain injury (TBI) has the potential to affect an individual's general psychological well-being and social functioning, however little research has explored factors associated with its development. The present study used hierarchical multiple regression to investigate the demographic, clinical and psychological factors associated with SA following TBI. A sample of 85 people who experienced TBI were recruited through social media websites and brain injury services across the North-West of England. The overall combined biopsychosocial model was significant, explaining 52-54.3% of the variance in SA (across five imputations of missing data). The addition of psychological variables (self-esteem, locus of control, self-efficacy) made a significant contribution to the overall model, accounting for an additional 12.2-13% of variance in SA above that explained by demographic and clinical variables. Perceived stigma was the only significant independent predictor of SA (B = .274, p = .005). The findings suggest that psychological variables are important in the development of SA following TBI and must be considered alongside clinical factors. Furthermore, the significant role of stigma highlights the need for intervention at both an individualised and societal level.

Neural mechanisms of the rejection-aggression link.

PubMed

Chester, David S; Lynam, Donald R; Milich, Richard; DeWall, C Nathan

2018-05-01

Social rejection is a painful event that often increases aggression. However, the neural mechanisms of this rejection-aggression link remain unclear. A potential clue may be that rejected people often recruit the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex's (VLPFC) self-regulatory processes to manage the pain of rejection. Using functional MRI, we replicated previous links between rejection and activity in the brain's mentalizing network, social pain network and VLPFC. VLPFC recruitment during rejection was associated with greater activity in the brain's reward network (i.e. the ventral striatum) when individuals were given an opportunity to retaliate. This retaliation-related striatal response was associated with greater levels of retaliatory aggression. Dispositionally aggressive individuals exhibited less functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and the right VLPFC during aggression. This connectivity exerted a suppressing effect on dispositionally aggressive individuals' greater aggressive responses to rejection. These results help explain how the pain of rejection and reward of revenge motivate rejected people to behave aggressively.

Activation of basolateral amygdala in juvenile C57BL/6J mice during social approach behavior.

PubMed

Ferri, Sarah L; Kreibich, Arati S; Torre, Matthew; Piccoli, Cara T; Dow, Holly; Pallathra, Ashley A; Li, Hongzhe; Bilker, Warren B; Gur, Ruben C; Abel, Ted; Brodkin, Edward S

2016-10-29

There is a strong need to better understand the neurobiology of juvenile sociability (tendency to seek social interaction), a phenotype of central relevance to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although numerous genetic mouse models of ASD showing reduced sociability have been reported, and certain brain regions, such as the amygdala, have been implicated in sociability, there has been little emphasis on delineating brain structures and circuits activated during social interactions in the critical juvenile period of the mouse strain that serves as the most common genetic background for these models-the highly sociable C57BL/6J (B6) strain. We measured expression of the immediate early genes Fos and Egr-1 to map activation of brain regions following the Social Approach Test (SAT) in juvenile male B6 mice. We hypothesized that juvenile B6 mice would show activation of the amygdala during social interactions. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) was activated by social exposure in highly sociable, 4-week-old B6 mice. In light of these data, and the many lines of evidence indicating alteration of amygdala circuits in human ASD, future studies are warranted to assess structural and functional alterations in the BLA, particularly at BLA synapses, in various mouse models of ASD. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paternal kin recognition in the high frequency / ultrasonic range in a solitary foraging mammal

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Kin selection is a driving force in the evolution of mammalian social complexity. Recognition of paternal kin using vocalizations occurs in taxa with cohesive, complex social groups. This is the first investigation of paternal kin recognition via vocalizations in a small-brained, solitary foraging mammal, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a frequent model for ancestral primates. We analyzed the high frequency/ultrasonic male advertisement (courtship) call and alarm call. Results Multi-parametric analyses of the calls’ acoustic parameters and discriminant function analyses showed that advertisement calls, but not alarm calls, contain patrilineal signatures. Playback experiments controlling for familiarity showed that females paid more attention to advertisement calls from unrelated males than from their fathers. Reactions to alarm calls from unrelated males and fathers did not differ. Conclusions 1) Findings provide the first evidence of paternal kin recognition via vocalizations in a small-brained, solitarily foraging mammal. 2) High predation, small body size, and dispersed social systems may select for acoustic paternal kin recognition in the high frequency/ultrasonic ranges, thus limiting risks of inbreeding and eavesdropping by predators or conspecific competitors. 3) Paternal kin recognition via vocalizations in mammals is not dependent upon a large brain and high social complexity, but may already have been an integral part of the dispersed social networks from which more complex, kin-based sociality emerged. PMID:23198727

Gut-Brain Axis and Behavior.

PubMed

Martin, Clair R; Mayer, Emeran A

2017-01-01

In the last 5 years, interest in the interactions among the gut microbiome, brain, and behavior has exploded. Preclinical evidence supports a role of the gut microbiome in behavioral responses associated with pain, emotion, social interactions, and food intake. Limited, but growing, clinical evidence comes primarily from associations of gut microbial composition and function to behavioral and clinical features and brain structure and function. Converging evidence suggests that the brain and the gut microbiota are in bidirectional communication. Observed dysbiotic states in depression, chronic stress, and autism may reflect altered brain signaling to the gut, while altered gut microbial signaling to the brain may play a role in reinforcing brain alterations. On the other hand, primary dysbiotic states due to Western diets may signal to the brain, altering ingestive behavior. While studies performed in patients with depression and rodent models generated by fecal microbial transfer from such patients suggest causation, evidence for an influence of acute gut microbial alterations on human behavioral and clinical parameters is lacking. Only recently has an open-label microbial transfer therapy in children with autism tentatively validated the gut microbiota as a therapeutic target. The translational potential of preclinical findings remains unclear without further clinical investigation. © 2017 Nestec Ltd., Vevey/S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neural activations are related to body-shape, anxiety, and outcomes in adolescent anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Xu, Jie; Harper, Jessica A; Van Enkevort, Erin A; Latimer, Kelsey; Kelley, Urszula; McAdams, Carrie J

2017-04-01

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an illness that frequently begins during adolescence and involves weight loss. Two groups of adolescent girls (AN-A, weight-recovered following AN) and (HC-A, healthy comparison) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging task involving social evaluations, allowing comparison of neural activations during self-evaluations, friend-evaluations, and perspective-taking self-evaluations. Although the two groups were not different in their whole-brain activations, anxiety and body shape concerns were correlated with neural activity in a priori regions of interest. A cluster in medial prefrontal cortex and the dorsal anterior cingulate correlated with the body shape questionnaire; subjects with more body shape concerns used this area less during self than friend evaluations. A cluster in medial prefrontal cortex and the cingulate also correlated with anxiety such that more anxiety was associated with engagement when disagreeing rather than agreeing with social terms during self-evaluations. This data suggests that differences in the utilization of frontal brain regions during social evaluations may contribute to both anxiety and body shape concerns in adolescents with AN. Clinical follow-up was obtained, allowing exploration of whether brain function early in course of disease relates to illness trajectory. The adolescents successful in recovery used the posterior cingulate and precuneus more for friend than self evaluations than the adolescents that remained ill, suggesting that neural differences related to social evaluations may provide clinical predictive value. Utilization of both MPFC and the precuneus during social and self evaluations may be a key biological component for achieving sustained weight-recovery in adolescents with AN. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Similar Brain Activation during False Belief Tasks in a Large Sample of Adults with and without Autism

PubMed Central

Dufour, Nicholas; Redcay, Elizabeth; Young, Liane; Mavros, Penelope L.; Moran, Joseph M.; Triantafyllou, Christina; Gabrieli, John D. E.; Saxe, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Reading about another person’s beliefs engages ‘Theory of Mind’ processes and elicits highly reliable brain activation across individuals and experimental paradigms. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined activation during a story task designed to elicit Theory of Mind processing in a very large sample of neurotypical (N = 462) individuals, and a group of high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (N = 31), using both region-of-interest and whole-brain analyses. This large sample allowed us to investigate group differences in brain activation to Theory of Mind tasks with unusually high sensitivity. There were no differences between neurotypical participants and those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. These results imply that the social cognitive impairments typical of autism spectrum disorder can occur without measurable changes in the size, location or response magnitude of activity during explicit Theory of Mind tasks administered to adults. PMID:24073267

Similar brain activation during false belief tasks in a large sample of adults with and without autism.

PubMed

Dufour, Nicholas; Redcay, Elizabeth; Young, Liane; Mavros, Penelope L; Moran, Joseph M; Triantafyllou, Christina; Gabrieli, John D E; Saxe, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Reading about another person's beliefs engages 'Theory of Mind' processes and elicits highly reliable brain activation across individuals and experimental paradigms. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined activation during a story task designed to elicit Theory of Mind processing in a very large sample of neurotypical (N = 462) individuals, and a group of high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (N = 31), using both region-of-interest and whole-brain analyses. This large sample allowed us to investigate group differences in brain activation to Theory of Mind tasks with unusually high sensitivity. There were no differences between neurotypical participants and those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. These results imply that the social cognitive impairments typical of autism spectrum disorder can occur without measurable changes in the size, location or response magnitude of activity during explicit Theory of Mind tasks administered to adults.

Sex differences in the outcome of juvenile social isolation on HPA axis function in rats.

PubMed

Pisu, M G; Garau, A; Boero, G; Biggio, F; Pibiri, V; Dore, R; Locci, V; Paci, E; Porcu, P; Serra, M

2016-04-21

Women are more likely than men to suffer from anxiety disorders and major depression. These disorders share hyperresponsiveness to stress as an etiological factor. Thus, sex differences in brain arousal systems and their regulation by chronic stress may account for the increased vulnerability to these disorders in women. Social isolation is a model of early life stress that results in neurobiological alterations leading to increased anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors. Here we investigated the sex difference in the effects of post-weaning social isolation on acute stress sensitivity and behavior in rats. In both sexes, social isolation at weaning reduced basal levels of the neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone in the brain and of corticosterone in plasma. Moreover, acute stress increased plasma corticosterone levels in both group-housed and socially isolated male and female rats; however this effect was greater in male than female rats subjected to social isolation. Intriguingly, group-housed female rats showed no change in plasma and brain levels of allopregnanolone after acute foot-shock stress. The absence of stress-induced effects on allopregnanolone synthesis might be due to the physiologically higher levels of this hormone in females vs. males. Accordingly, increasing allopregnanolone levels in male rats blunted the response to foot-shock stress in these animals. Socially isolated male, but not female, rats also display depressive-like behavior and increased hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The ovarian steroids could "buffer" the effect of this adverse experience in females on these parameters. Finally, the dexamethasone (DEX) suppression test indicated that the chronic stress associated with social isolation impairs feedback inhibition in both sexes in which an increase in the abundance of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the hippocampus was found. Altogether, these results demonstrate that social isolation affects neuroendocrine reactivity to stress, plasticity and emotionality in a sexually dimorphic manner. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early-Life Social Isolation Impairs the Gonadotropin-Inhibitory Hormone Neuronal Activity and Serotonergic System in Male Rats

PubMed Central

Soga, Tomoko; Teo, Chuin Hau; Cham, Kai Lin; Idris, Marshita Mohd; Parhar, Ishwar S.

2015-01-01

Social isolation in early life deregulates the serotonergic system of the brain, compromising reproductive function. Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus are critical to the inhibitory regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuronal activity in the brain and release of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland. Although GnIH responds to stress, the role of GnIH in social isolation-induced deregulation of the serotonin system and reproductive function remains unclear. We investigated the effect of social isolation in early life on the serotonergic–GnIH neuronal system using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-tagged GnIH transgenic rats. Socially isolated rats were observed for anxious and depressive behaviors. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined c-Fos protein expression in EGFP–GnIH neurons in 9-week-old adult male rats after 6 weeks post-weaning isolation or group housing. We also inspected serotonergic fiber juxtapositions in EGFP–GnIH neurons in control and socially isolated male rats. Socially isolated rats exhibited anxious and depressive behaviors. The total number of EGFP–GnIH neurons was the same in control and socially isolated rats, but c-Fos expression in GnIH neurons was significantly reduced in socially isolated rats. Serotonin fiber juxtapositions on EGFP–GnIH neurons were also lower in socially isolated rats. In addition, levels of tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus were significantly attenuated in these rats. These results suggest that social isolation in early-life results in lower serotonin levels, which reduce GnIH neuronal activity and may lead to reproductive failure. PMID:26617573

Embracing covariation in brain evolution: Large brains, extended development, and flexible primate social systems

PubMed Central

Charvet, Christine J.; Finlay, Barbara L.

2012-01-01

Brain size, body size, developmental length, life span, costs of raising offspring, behavioral complexity, and social structures are correlated in mammals due to intrinsic life-history requirements. Dissecting variation and direction of causation in this web of relationships often draw attention away from the factors that correlate with basic life parameters. We consider the “social brain hypothesis,” which postulates that overall brain and the isocortex are selectively enlarged to confer social abilities in primates, as an example of this enterprise and pitfalls. We consider patterns of brain scaling, modularity, flexibility of brain organization, the “leverage,” and direction of selection on proposed dimensions. We conclude that the evidence supporting selective changes in isocortex or brain size for the isolated ability to manage social relationships is poor. Strong covariation in size and developmental duration coupled with flexible brains allow organisms to adapt in variable social and ecological environments across the life span and in evolution. PMID:22230623

Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Maximo, Jose O; Williams, Diane L; Keller, Timothy A; Schipul, Sarah E; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Minshew, Nancy J; Just, Marcel Adam

2015-01-01

Theory-of-mind (ToM), the ability to infer people's thoughts and feelings, is a pivotal skill in effective social interactions. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been found to have altered ToM skills, which significantly impacts the quality of their social interactions. Neuroimaging studies have reported altered activation of the ToM cortical network, especially in adults with autism, yet little is known about the brain responses underlying ToM in younger individuals with ASD. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying ToM in high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and matched typically developing (TD) peers. fMRI data were acquired from 13 participants with ASD and 13 TD control participants while they watched animations involving two "interacting" geometrical shapes. Participants with ASD showed significantly reduced activation, relative to TD controls, in regions considered part of the ToM network, the mirror network, and the cerebellum. Functional connectivity analyses revealed underconnectivity between frontal and posterior regions during task performance in the ASD participants. Overall, the findings of this study reveal disruptions in the brain circuitry underlying ToM in ASD at multiple levels, including decreased activation and decreased functional connectivity.

Plasticity of the aging brain: new directions in cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Gutchess, Angela

2014-10-31

Cognitive neuroscience has revealed aging of the human brain to be rich in reorganization and change. Neuroimaging results have recast our framework around cognitive aging from one of decline to one emphasizing plasticity. Current methods use neurostimulation approaches to manipulate brain function, providing a direct test of the ways that the brain differently contributes to task performance for younger and older adults. Emerging research into emotional, social, and motivational domains provides some evidence for preservation with age, suggesting potential avenues of plasticity, alongside additional evidence for reorganization. Thus, we begin to see that aging of the brain, amidst interrelated behavioral and biological changes, is as complex and idiosyncratic as the brain itself, qualitatively changing over the life span. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Neuromodulation, agency and autonomy.

PubMed

Glannon, Walter

2014-01-01

Neuromodulation consists in altering brain activity to restore mental and physical functions in individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders and brain and spinal cord injuries. This can be achieved by delivering electrical stimulation that excites or inhibits neural tissue, by using electrical signals in the brain to move computer cursors or robotic arms, or by displaying brain activity to subjects who regulate that activity by their own responses to it. As enabling prostheses, deep-brain stimulation and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are forms of extended embodiment that become integrated into the individual's conception of himself as an autonomous agent. In BCIs and neurofeedback, the success or failure of the techniques depends on the interaction between the learner and the trainer. The restoration of agency and autonomy through neuromodulation thus involves neurophysiological, psychological and social factors.

Brain Network Analysis from High-Resolution EEG Signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vico Fallani, Fabrizio; Babiloni, Fabio

Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the detection of the functional connectivity in the brain from different neuroelectromagnetic and hemodynamic signals recorded by several neuro-imaging devices such as the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanner, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) apparatus. Many methods have been proposed and discussed in the literature with the aim of estimating the functional relationships among different cerebral structures. However, the necessity of an objective comprehension of the network composed by the functional links of different brain regions is assuming an essential role in the Neuroscience. Consequently, there is a wide interest in the development and validation of mathematical tools that are appropriate to spot significant features that could describe concisely the structure of the estimated cerebral networks. The extraction of salient characteristics from brain connectivity patterns is an open challenging topic, since often the estimated cerebral networks have a relative large size and complex structure. Recently, it was realized that the functional connectivity networks estimated from actual brain-imaging technologies (MEG, fMRI and EEG) can be analyzed by means of the graph theory. Since a graph is a mathematical representation of a network, which is essentially reduced to nodes and connections between them, the use of a theoretical graph approach seems relevant and useful as firstly demonstrated on a set of anatomical brain networks. In those studies, the authors have employed two characteristic measures, the average shortest path L and the clustering index C, to extract respectively the global and local properties of the network structure. They have found that anatomical brain networks exhibit many local connections (i.e. a high C) and few random long distance connections (i.e. a low L). These values identify a particular model that interpolate between a regular lattice and a random structure. Such a model has been designated as "small-world" network in analogy with the concept of the small-world phenomenon observed more than 30 years ago in social systems. In a similar way, many types of functional brain networks have been analyzed according to this mathematical approach. In particular, several studies based on different imaging techniques (fMRI, MEG and EEG) have found that the estimated functional networks showed small-world characteristics. In the functional brain connectivity context, these properties have been demonstrated to reflect an optimal architecture for the information processing and propagation among the involved cerebral structures. However, the performance of cognitive and motor tasks as well as the presence of neural diseases has been demonstrated to affect such a small-world topology, as revealed by the significant changes of L and C. Moreover, some functional brain networks have been mostly found to be very unlike the random graphs in their degree-distribution, which gives information about the allocation of the functional links within the connectivity pattern. It was demonstrated that the degree distributions of these networks follow a power-law trend. For this reason those networks are called "scale-free". They still exhibit the small-world phenomenon but tend to contain few nodes that act as highly connected "hubs". Scale-free networks are known to show resistance to failure, facility of synchronization and fast signal processing. Hence, it would be important to see whether the scaling properties of the functional brain networks are altered under various pathologies or experimental tasks. The present Chapter proposes a theoretical graph approach in order to evaluate the functional connectivity patterns obtained from high-resolution EEG signals. In this way, the "Brain Network Analysis" (in analogy with the Social Network Analysis that has emerged as a key technique in modern sociology) represents an effective methodology improving the comprehension of the complex interactions in the brain.

Rebelling against the brain: public engagement with the 'neurological adolescent'.

PubMed

Choudhury, Suparna; McKinney, Kelly A; Merten, Moritz

2012-02-01

The adolescent brain has become a flourishing project for cognitive neuroscience. In the mid 1990s, MRI studies mapped out extended neuro-development in several cortical regions beyond childhood, and during adolescence. In the last ten years, numerous functional MRI studies have suggested that functions associated with these brain regions, such as cognitive control and social cognition undergo a period of development. These changes have been anecdotally and clinically used to account for behavioural changes during adolescence. The interpretation of these data that the "teen brain" is different has gained increasing visibility outside the neuroscience community, among policy makers and in the media, resonating strongly with current cultural conceptions of teenagers in Western societies. In the last two years, a new impetus has been placed on public engagement activities in science and in the popular science genre of the media that specifically attempts to educate children and teenagers about emerging models of the developing brain. In this article, we draw on data from an adolescent focus group and a questionnaire completed by 85 teenage students at a UK school, to show how teens may hold ambivalent and sometimes resistant views of cognitive neuroscience's teen brain model in terms of their own self-understandings. Our findings indicate that new "neuro"-identity formations are more fractured, resisted and incomplete than some of the current social science literature on neuro-subjectivities seem to suggest and that the effects of public policy and popular education initiatives in this domain will be more uneven and complex than currently imagined. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Childhood Poverty Predicts Adult Amygdala and Frontal Activity and Connectivity in Response to Emotional Faces.

PubMed

Javanbakht, Arash; King, Anthony P; Evans, Gary W; Swain, James E; Angstadt, Michael; Phan, K Luan; Liberzon, Israel

2015-01-01

Childhood poverty negatively impacts physical and mental health in adulthood. Altered brain development in response to social and environmental factors associated with poverty likely contributes to this effect, engendering maladaptive patterns of social attribution and/or elevated physiological stress. In this fMRI study, we examined the association between childhood poverty and neural processing of social signals (i.e., emotional faces) in adulthood. Fifty-two subjects from a longitudinal prospective study recruited as children, participated in a brain imaging study at 23-25 years of age using the Emotional Faces Assessment Task. Childhood poverty, independent of concurrent adult income, was associated with higher amygdala and medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) responses to threat vs. happy faces. Also, childhood poverty was associated with decreased functional connectivity between left amygdala and mPFC. This study is unique, because it prospectively links childhood poverty to emotional processing during adulthood, suggesting a candidate neural mechanism for negative social-emotional bias. Adults who grew up poor appear to be more sensitive to social threat cues and less sensitive to positive social cues.

Brain basis of early parent–infant interactions: psychology, physiology, and in vivo functional neuroimaging studies

PubMed Central

Swain, James E.; Lorberbaum, Jeffrey P.; Kose, Samet; Strathearn, Lane

2015-01-01

Parenting behavior critically shapes human infants’ current and future behavior. The parent–infant relationship provides infants with their first social experiences, forming templates of what they can expect from others and how to best meet others’ expectations. In this review, we focus on the neurobiology of parenting behavior, including our own functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain imaging experiments of parents. We begin with a discussion of background, perspectives and caveats for considering the neurobiology of parent–infant relationships. Then, we discuss aspects of the psychology of parenting that are significantly motivating some of the more basic neuroscience research. Following that, we discuss some of the neurohormones that are important for the regulation of social bonding, and the dysregulation of parenting with cocaine abuse. Then, we review the brain circuitry underlying parenting, proceeding from relevant rodent and nonhuman primate research to human work. Finally, we focus on a study-by-study review of functional neuroimaging studies in humans. Taken together, this research suggests that networks of highly conserved hypothalamic–midbrain–limbic–paralimbic–cortical circuits act in concert to support aspects of parent response to infants, including the emotion, attention, motivation, empathy, decision-making and other thinking that are required to navigate the complexities of parenting. Specifically, infant stimuli activate basal forebrain regions, which regulate brain circuits that handle specific nurturing and caregiving responses and activate the brain’s more general circuitry for handling emotions, motivation, attention, and empathy – all of which are crucial for effective parenting. We argue that an integrated understanding of the brain basis of parenting has profound implications for mental health. PMID:17355399

The relationship between default mode network connectivity and social functioning in individuals at familial high-risk for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Dodell-Feder, David; Delisi, Lynn E; Hooker, Christine I

2014-06-01

Unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia (i.e., those at familial high-risk [FHR]), demonstrate social dysfunction qualitatively similar though less severe than that of their affected relatives. These social difficulties may be the consequence of genetically conferred disruption to aspects of the default mode network (DMN), such as the dMPFC subsystem, which overlaps with the network of brain regions recruited during social cognitive processes. In the present study, we investigate this possibility, testing DMN connectivity and its relationship to social functioning in FHR using resting-state fMRI. Twenty FHR individuals and 17 controls underwent fMRI during a resting-state scan. Hypothesis-driven functional connectivity analyses examined ROI-to-ROI correlations between the DMN's hubs, and regions of the dMPFC subsystem and MTL subsystem. Connectivity values were examined in relationship to a measure of social functioning and empathy/perspective-taking. Results demonstrate that FHR exhibit reduced connectivity specifically within the dMPFC subsystem of the DMN. Certain ROI-to-ROI correlations predicted aspects of social functioning and empathy/perspective-taking across all participants. Together, the data indicate that disruption to the dMPFC subsystem of the DMN may be associated with familial risk for schizophrenia, and that these intrinsic connections may carry measurable consequences for social functioning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relationship between default mode network connectivity and social functioning in individuals at familial high-risk for schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Dodell-Feder, David; DeLisi, Lynn E.; Hooker, Christine I.

2014-01-01

Unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia (i.e., those at familial high-risk [FHR]), demonstrate social dysfunction qualitatively similar though less severe than that of their affected relatives. These social difficulties may be the consequence of genetically conferred disruption to aspects of the default mode network (DMN), such as the dMPFC subsystem, which overlaps with the network of brain regions recruited during social cognitive processes. In the present study, we investigate this possibility, testing DMN connectivity and its relationship to social functioning in FHR using resting-state fMRI. Twenty FHR individuals and 17 controls underwent fMRI during a resting-state scan. Hypothesis-driven functional connectivity analyses examined ROI-to-ROI correlations between the DMN’s hubs, and regions of the dMPFC subsystem and MTL subsystem. Connectivity values were examined in relationship to a measure of social functioning and empathy/perspective-taking. Results demonstrate that FHR exhibit reduced connectivity specifically within the dMPFC subsystem of the DMN. Certain ROI-to-ROI correlations predicted aspects of social functioning and empathy/perspective-taking across all participants. Together, the data indicate that disruption to the dMPFC subsystem of the DMN may be associated with familial risk for schizophrenia, and that these intrinsic connections may carry measurable consequences for social functioning. PMID:24768131

Association between Ability Emotional Intelligence and Left Insula during Social Judgment of Facial Emotions.

PubMed

Quarto, Tiziana; Blasi, Giuseppe; Maddalena, Chiara; Viscanti, Giovanna; Lanciano, Tiziana; Soleti, Emanuela; Mangiulli, Ivan; Taurisano, Paolo; Fazio, Leonardo; Bertolino, Alessandro; Curci, Antonietta

2016-01-01

The human ability of identifying, processing and regulating emotions from social stimuli is generally referred as Emotional Intelligence (EI). Within EI, Ability EI identifies a performance measure assessing individual skills at perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions. Previous models suggest that a brain "somatic marker circuitry" (SMC) sustains emotional sub-processes included in EI. Three primary brain regions are included: the amygdala, the insula and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Here, our aim was to investigate the relationship between Ability EI scores and SMC activity during social judgment of emotional faces. Sixty-three healthy subjects completed a test measuring Ability EI and underwent fMRI during a social decision task (i.e. approach or avoid) about emotional faces with different facial expressions. Imaging data revealed that EI scores are associated with left insula activity during social judgment of emotional faces as a function of facial expression. Specifically, higher EI scores are associated with greater left insula activity during social judgment of fearful faces but also with lower activity of this region during social judgment of angry faces. These findings indicate that the association between Ability EI and the SMC activity during social behavior is region- and emotion-specific.

Integration of individual and social information for decision-making in groups of different sizes.

PubMed

Park, Seongmin A; Goïame, Sidney; O'Connor, David A; Dreher, Jean-Claude

2017-06-01

When making judgments in a group, individuals often revise their initial beliefs about the best judgment to make given what others believe. Despite the ubiquity of this phenomenon, we know little about how the brain updates beliefs when integrating personal judgments (individual information) with those of others (social information). Here, we investigated the neurocomputational mechanisms of how we adapt our judgments to those made by groups of different sizes, in the context of jury decisions for a criminal. By testing different theoretical models, we showed that a social Bayesian inference model captured changes in judgments better than 2 other models. Our results showed that participants updated their beliefs by appropriately weighting individual and social sources of information according to their respective credibility. When investigating 2 fundamental computations of Bayesian inference, belief updates and credibility estimates of social information, we found that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) computed the level of belief updates, while the bilateral frontopolar cortex (FPC) was more engaged in individuals who assigned a greater credibility to the judgments of a larger group. Moreover, increased functional connectivity between these 2 brain regions reflected a greater influence of group size on the relative credibility of social information. These results provide a mechanistic understanding of the computational roles of the FPC-dACC network in steering judgment adaptation to a group's opinion. Taken together, these findings provide a computational account of how the human brain integrates individual and social information for decision-making in groups.

PubMed Central

Forli, F.; Guglielmi, V.; De Corso, E.; Paludetti, G.; Berrettini, S.; Fetoni, A.R.

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) has a multifactorial pathogenesis and it is an inevitable hearing impairment associated with reduction of communicative skills related to ageing. Increasing evidence has linked ARHL to more rapid progression of cognitive decline and incidental dementia. Many aspects of daily living of elderly people have been associated to hearing abilities, showing that hearing loss (HL) affects the quality of life, social relationships, motor skills, psychological aspects and function and morphology in specific brain areas. Epidemiological and clinical studies confirm the assumption of a relationship between these conditions. However, the mechanisms are still unclear and are reviewed herein. Long-term hearing deprivation of auditory inputs can impact cognitive performance by decreasing the quality of communication leading to social isolation and depression and facilitate dementia. On the contrary, the limited cognitive skills may reduce the cognitive resources available for auditory perception, increasing the effects of HL. In addition, hearing loss and cognitive decline may reflect a 'common cause' on the auditory pathway and brain. In fact, some pathogenetic factors are recongised in common microvascular disease factors such as diabetes, atherosclerosis and hypertension. Interdisciplinary efforts to investigate and address HL in the context of brain and cognitive ageing are needed. Surprisingly, few studies have been adressed on the effectiveness of hearing aids in changing the natural history of cognitive decline. Effective interventions with hearing aids or cochlear implant may improve social and emotional function, communication, cognitive function and positively impact quality of life. The aim of this review is to overview new insights on this challenging topic and provide new ideas for future research. PMID:27214827

Underconnectivity between voice-selective cortex and reward circuitry in children with autism.

PubMed

Abrams, Daniel A; Lynch, Charles J; Cheng, Katherine M; Phillips, Jennifer; Supekar, Kaustubh; Ryali, Srikanth; Uddin, Lucina Q; Menon, Vinod

2013-07-16

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often show insensitivity to the human voice, a deficit that is thought to play a key role in communication deficits in this population. The social motivation theory of ASD predicts that impaired function of reward and emotional systems impedes children with ASD from actively engaging with speech. Here we explore this theory by investigating distributed brain systems underlying human voice perception in children with ASD. Using resting-state functional MRI data acquired from 20 children with ASD and 19 age- and intelligence quotient-matched typically developing children, we examined intrinsic functional connectivity of voice-selective bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). Children with ASD showed a striking pattern of underconnectivity between left-hemisphere pSTS and distributed nodes of the dopaminergic reward pathway, including bilateral ventral tegmental areas and nucleus accumbens, left-hemisphere insula, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Children with ASD also showed underconnectivity between right-hemisphere pSTS, a region known for processing speech prosody, and the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala, brain regions critical for emotion-related associative learning. The degree of underconnectivity between voice-selective cortex and reward pathways predicted symptom severity for communication deficits in children with ASD. Our results suggest that weak connectivity of voice-selective cortex and brain structures involved in reward and emotion may impair the ability of children with ASD to experience speech as a pleasurable stimulus, thereby impacting language and social skill development in this population. Our study provides support for the social motivation theory of ASD.

What is a representative brain? Neuroscience meets population science.

PubMed

Falk, Emily B; Hyde, Luke W; Mitchell, Colter; Faul, Jessica; Gonzalez, Richard; Heitzeg, Mary M; Keating, Daniel P; Langa, Kenneth M; Martz, Meghan E; Maslowsky, Julie; Morrison, Frederick J; Noll, Douglas C; Patrick, Megan E; Pfeffer, Fabian T; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A; Thomason, Moriah E; Davis-Kean, Pamela; Monk, Christopher S; Schulenberg, John

2013-10-29

The last decades of neuroscience research have produced immense progress in the methods available to understand brain structure and function. Social, cognitive, clinical, affective, economic, communication, and developmental neurosciences have begun to map the relationships between neuro-psychological processes and behavioral outcomes, yielding a new understanding of human behavior and promising interventions. However, a limitation of this fast moving research is that most findings are based on small samples of convenience. Furthermore, our understanding of individual differences may be distorted by unrepresentative samples, undermining findings regarding brain-behavior mechanisms. These limitations are issues that social demographers, epidemiologists, and other population scientists have tackled, with solutions that can be applied to neuroscience. By contrast, nearly all social science disciplines, including social demography, sociology, political science, economics, communication science, and psychology, make assumptions about processes that involve the brain, but have incorporated neural measures to differing, and often limited, degrees; many still treat the brain as a black box. In this article, we describe and promote a perspective--population neuroscience--that leverages interdisciplinary expertise to (i) emphasize the importance of sampling to more clearly define the relevant populations and sampling strategies needed when using neuroscience methods to address such questions; and (ii) deepen understanding of mechanisms within population science by providing insight regarding underlying neural mechanisms. Doing so will increase our confidence in the generalizability of the findings. We provide examples to illustrate the population neuroscience approach for specific types of research questions and discuss the potential for theoretical and applied advances from this approach across areas.

Altered Brain Long-Range Functional Interactions Underlying the Link Between Aberrant Self-experience and Self-other Relationship in First-Episode Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Ebisch, Sjoerd J. H.; Mantini, Dante; Northoff, Georg; Salone, Anatolia; De Berardis, Domenico; Ferri, Francesca; Ferro, Filippo M.; Di Giannantonio, Massimo; Romani, Gian L.; Gallese, Vittorio

2014-01-01

Self-experience anomalies are elementary features of schizophrenic pathology. Such deficits can have a profound impact on self-other relationship, but how they are related through aberrant brain function remains poorly understood. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we provide new evidence for a cortical link between aberrant self-experience and social cognition in first-episode schizophrenia (FES). As identified in previous studies, ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) and posterior insula (pIC) are candidate brain regions underlying disturbances in both self-experience and self-other relationship due to their processing of predominantly externally guided (vPMC; goal-oriented behavior) and internally guided (pIC; interoception) stimuli. Results from functional interaction analysis in a sample of 24 FES patients and 22 healthy controls show aberrant functional interactions (background/intrinsic connectivity) of right vPMC and bilateral pIC with posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a midline region that has been shown central in mediating self-experience. More specifically, our results show increased functional coupling between vPMC and PCC, which positively correlated with basic symptoms (subjective self-experience disturbances). pIC showed reduced functional coupling with PCC and postcentral gyrus and increased functional interactions with anterior insula. Taken together, our results suggest an imbalance in the processing between internally and externally guided information and its abnormal integration with self-referential processing as mediated by PCC. Due to our correlation findings, we suggest this imbalance to be closely related to basic symptoms in FES and thus anomalous self-experience. The findings further disentangle the cortical basis of how self-experience anomalies may pervade the social domain. PMID:24191160

Social Outcomes in Childhood Brain Disorder: A Heuristic Integration of Social Neuroscience and Developmental Psychology

PubMed Central

Yeates, Keith Owen; Bigler, Erin D.; Dennis, Maureen; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Rubin, Kenneth H.; Stancin, Terry; Taylor, H. Gerry; Vannatta, Kathryn

2010-01-01

The authors propose a heuristic model of the social outcomes of childhood brain disorder that draws on models and methods from both the emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience and the study of social competence in developmental psychology/psychopathology. The heuristic model characterizes the relationships between social adjustment, peer interactions and relationships, social problem solving and communication, social-affective and cognitive-executive processes, and their neural substrates. The model is illustrated by research on a specific form of childhood brain disorder, traumatic brain injury. The heuristic model may promote research regarding the neural and cognitive-affective substrates of children’s social development. It also may engender more precise methods of measuring impairments and disabilities in children with brain disorder and suggest ways to promote their social adaptation. PMID:17469991

Conditional deletion of Cadherin 13 perturbs Golgi cells and disrupts social and cognitive behaviors.

PubMed

Tantra, M; Guo, L; Kim, J; Zainolabidin, N; Eulenburg, V; Augustine, G J; Chen, A I

2018-02-15

Inhibitory interneurons mediate the gating of synaptic transmission and modulate the activities of neural circuits. Disruption of the function of inhibitory networks in the forebrain is linked to impairment of social and cognitive behaviors, but the involvement of inhibitory interneurons in the cerebellum has not been assessed. We found that Cadherin 13 (Cdh13), a gene implicated in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, is specifically expressed in Golgi cells within the cerebellar cortex. To assess the function of Cdh13 and utilize the manipulation of Cdh13 expression in Golgi cells as an entry point to examine cerebellar-mediated function, we generated mice carrying Cdh13-floxed alleles and conditionally deleted Cdh13 with GlyT2::Cre mice. Loss of Cdh13 results in a decrease in the expression/localization of GAD67 and reduces spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) in cerebellar Golgi cells without disrupting spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC). At the behavioral level, loss of Cdh13 in the cerebellum, piriform cortex and endopiriform claustrum have no impact on gross motor coordination or general locomotor behaviors, but leads to deficits in cognitive and social abilities. Mice lacking Cdh13 exhibit reduced cognitive flexibility and loss of preference for contact region concomitant with increased reciprocal social interactions. Together, our findings show that Cdh13 is critical for inhibitory function of Golgi cells, and that GlyT2::Cre-mediated deletion of Cdh13 in non-executive centers of the brain, such as the cerebellum, may contribute to cognitive and social behavioral deficits linked to neurological disorders. © 2018 The Authors. Genes, Brain and Behavior published by International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Imagine All the People: How the Brain Creates and Uses Personality Models to Predict Behavior

PubMed Central

Hassabis, Demis; Spreng, R. Nathan; Rusu, Andrei A.; Robbins, Clifford A.; Mar, Raymond A.; Schacter, Daniel L.

2014-01-01

The behaviors of other people are often central to envisioning the future. The ability to accurately predict the thoughts and actions of others is essential for successful social interactions, with far-reaching consequences. Despite its importance, little is known about how the brain represents people in order to predict behavior. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, participants learned the unique personality of 4 protagonists and imagined how each would behave in different scenarios. The protagonists' personalities were composed of 2 traits: Agreeableness and Extraversion. Which protagonist was being imagined was accurately inferred based solely on activity patterns in the medial prefrontal cortex using multivariate pattern classification, providing novel evidence that brain activity can reveal whom someone is thinking about. Lateral temporal and posterior cingulate cortex discriminated between different degrees of agreeableness and extraversion, respectively. Functional connectivity analysis confirmed that regions associated with trait-processing and individual identities were functionally coupled. Activity during the imagination task, and revealed by functional connectivity, was consistent with the default network. Our results suggest that distinct regions code for personality traits, and that the brain combines these traits to represent individuals. The brain then uses this “personality model” to predict the behavior of others in novel situations. PMID:23463340

Parcellating an Individual Subject's Cortical and Subcortical Brain Structures Using Snowball Sampling of Resting-State Correlations

PubMed Central

Wig, Gagan S.; Laumann, Timothy O.; Cohen, Alexander L.; Power, Jonathan D.; Nelson, Steven M.; Glasser, Matthew F.; Miezin, Francis M.; Snyder, Abraham Z.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.; Petersen, Steven E.

2014-01-01

We describe methods for parcellating an individual subject's cortical and subcortical brain structures using resting-state functional correlations (RSFCs). Inspired by approaches from social network analysis, we first describe the application of snowball sampling on RSFC data (RSFC-Snowballing) to identify the centers of cortical areas, subdivisions of subcortical nuclei, and the cerebellum. RSFC-Snowballing parcellation is then compared with parcellation derived from identifying locations where RSFC maps exhibit abrupt transitions (RSFC-Boundary Mapping). RSFC-Snowballing and RSFC-Boundary Mapping largely complement one another, but also provide unique parcellation information; together, the methods identify independent entities with distinct functional correlations across many cortical and subcortical locations in the brain. RSFC parcellation is relatively reliable within a subject scanned across multiple days, and while the locations of many area centers and boundaries appear to exhibit considerable overlap across subjects, there is also cross-subject variability—reinforcing the motivation to parcellate brains at the level of individuals. Finally, examination of a large meta-analysis of task-evoked functional magnetic resonance imaging data reveals that area centers defined by task-evoked activity exhibit correspondence with area centers defined by RSFC-Snowballing. This observation provides important evidence for the ability of RSFC to parcellate broad expanses of an individual's brain into functionally meaningful units. PMID:23476025

Nutritional status and social behavior in preschool children: the mediating effects of neurocognitive functioning

PubMed Central

Liu, Jianghong; Raine, Adrian

2017-01-01

Early malnutritional status has been associated with reduced cognitive ability in childhood. However, there are almost no studies on the effect of malnutrition on positive social behavior, and no tests of possible mediating mechanisms. This study tests the hypothesis that poor nutritional status is associated with impaired social functioning in childhood, and that neurocognitive ability mediates this relationship. We assessed 1553 male and female 3-year-olds from a birth cohort on measures of malnutrition, social behavior and verbal and spatial neurocognitive functions. Children with indicators of malnutrition showed impaired social behavior (p <.0001) as compared with children in the control group with adequate nutritional status. These associations even persisted after controlling for social adversity and parental education. Findings were not moderated by gender or ethnicity, and there was no interaction effect with parental education. A dose–response relationship was observed between degree of malnutrition and degree of social behavior, with increased malnutrition associated with more impaired social behavior. Neurocognitive ability was found to mediate the nutrition–social behavior relationship. The mediation effect of neurocognitive functioning suggests that poor nutrition negatively impacts brain areas that play important roles in developing positive social behavior. Findings suggest that reducing poor nutrition, alternatively promoting good nutrition, may help promote positive social behavior in early childhood during a critical period for social and neurocognitive development, with implications for improving positive health in adulthood. PMID:27133006

Mirror neurons and the social nature of language: the neural exploitation hypothesis.

PubMed

Gallese, Vittorio

2008-01-01

This paper discusses the relevance of the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys and of the mirror neuron system in humans to a neuroscientific account of primates' social cognition and its evolution. It is proposed that mirror neurons and the functional mechanism they underpin, embodied simulation, can ground within a unitary neurophysiological explanatory framework important aspects of human social cognition. In particular, the main focus is on language, here conceived according to a neurophenomenological perspective, grounding meaning on the social experience of action. A neurophysiological hypothesis--the "neural exploitation hypothesis"--is introduced to explain how key aspects of human social cognition are underpinned by brain mechanisms originally evolved for sensorimotor integration. It is proposed that these mechanisms were later on adapted as new neurofunctional architecture for thought and language, while retaining their original functions as well. By neural exploitation, social cognition and language can be linked to the experiential domain of action.

The Implications of Social Neuroscience for Social Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPartland, James C.; Pelphrey, Kevin A.

2012-01-01

Social disability represents a unifying feature in the diverse group of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social neuroscience is the study of brain mechanisms supporting interpersonal interaction. In this paper, we review brain imaging studies of the social brain and highlight practical applications of these scientific insights.…

Infants and adults have similar regional functional brain organization for the perception of emotions.

PubMed

Rotem-Kohavi, N; Oberlander, T F; Virji-Babul, N

2017-05-22

An infant's ability to perceive emotional facial expressions is critical for developing social skills. Infants are tuned to faces from early in life, however the functional organization of the brain that supports the processing of emotional faces in infants is still not well understood. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) brain responses in 8-10 month old infants and adults and applied graph theory analysis on the functional connections to compare the network organization at the global and the regional levels underlying the perception of negative and positive dynamic facial expressions (happiness and sadness). We first show that processing of dynamic emotional faces occurs across multiple brain regions in both infants and adults. Across all brain regions, at the global level, network density was higher in the infant group in comparison with adults suggesting that the overall brain organization in relation to emotion perception is still immature in infancy. In contrast, at the regional levels, the functional characteristics of the frontal and parietal nodes were similar between infants and adults, suggesting that functional regional specialization for emotion perception is already established at this age. In addition, in both groups the occipital, parietal and temporal nodes appear to have the strongest influence on information flow within the network. These results suggest that while the global organization for the emotion perception of sad and happy emotions is still under development, the basic functional network organization at the regional level is already in place early in infancy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior.

PubMed

Patrick, Rhonda P; Ames, Bruce N

2015-06-01

Serotonin regulates a wide variety of brain functions and behaviors. Here, we synthesize previous findings that serotonin regulates executive function, sensory gating, and social behavior and that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior all share in common defects in these functions. It has remained unclear why supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D improve cognitive function and behavior in these brain disorders. Here, we propose mechanisms by which serotonin synthesis, release, and function in the brain are modulated by vitamin D and the 2 marine omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Brain serotonin is synthesized from tryptophan by tryptophan hydroxylase 2, which is transcriptionally activated by vitamin D hormone. Inadequate levels of vitamin D (∼70% of the population) and omega-3 fatty acids are common, suggesting that brain serotonin synthesis is not optimal. We propose mechanisms by which EPA increases serotonin release from presynaptic neurons by reducing E2 series prostaglandins and DHA influences serotonin receptor action by increasing cell membrane fluidity in postsynaptic neurons. We propose a model whereby insufficient levels of vitamin D, EPA, or DHA, in combination with genetic factors and at key periods during development, would lead to dysfunctional serotonin activation and function and may be one underlying mechanism that contributes to neuropsychiatric disorders and depression. This model suggests that optimizing vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acid intake may help prevent and modulate the severity of brain dysfunction. © FASEB.

Development of a novel task for investigating decision making in a social context following traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Kelly, Michelle; McDonald, Skye; Kellett, David

2014-01-01

Examination of social cognition as a target for assessment and intervention is beginning to gain momentum in a number of illnesses and acquired disorders. One facet of social cognition is decision making within interpersonal situations. This skill forms an important part of our everyday lives and is commonly impaired in those with neurological and mental health conditions. A novel task was developed to allow the assessment of decision making specifically within a social context and was examined within a group known to experience this difficulty. Participants with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) were compared to healthy control participants on the Social Decision Making Task (SDMT), which required the participant to learn who the "friendly" players were in a game of toss. Participants also completed a nonsocial decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) as well as a battery of neuropsychological tests and social cognition tasks. Current social functioning was also examined. Consistent with predictions, the TBI group made poorer decisions on the SDMT than the control group; however, group differences were not evident on the IGT. No significant relationships were observed between the SDMT and either measures of executive functioning (including working memory and reversal learning) or social cognition (including emotion recognition and theory of mind). Performance on the SDMT and the IGT were not associated, suggesting that the two tasks measure different constructs. The SDMT offers a novel way of examining decision making within a social context following TBI and may also be useful in other populations known to have specific social cognition impairment. Future research should aim to provide further clarification of the mechanisms of action and neuroanatomical correlates of poor performance on this task.

Exploring the social brain in schizophrenia: left prefrontal underactivation during mental state attribution.

PubMed

Russell, T A; Rubia, K; Bullmore, E T; Soni, W; Suckling, J; Brammer, M J; Simmons, A; Williams, S C; Sharma, T

2000-12-01

Evidence suggests that patients with schizophrenia have a deficit in "theory of mind," i.e., interpretation of the mental state of others. The authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia have a dysfunction in brain regions responsible for mental state attribution. Mean brain activation in five male patients with schizophrenia was compared to that in seven comparison subjects during performance of a task involving attribution of mental state. During performance of the mental state attribution task, the patients made more errors and showed less blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal in the left inferior frontal gyrus. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first functional MRI study to show a deficit in the left prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia during a socioemotional task.

Interactions of sex and early life social experiences at two developmental stages shape nonapeptide receptor profiles.

PubMed

Hiura, Lisa C; Ophir, Alexander G

2018-05-31

Early life social experiences are critical to behavioral and cognitive development, and can have a tremendous influence on developing social phenotypes. Most work has focused on outcomes of experiences at a single stage of development (e.g., perinatal, or post-weaning). Few studies have assessed the impact of social experience at multiple developmental stages and across sex. Oxytocin and vasopressin are profoundly important for modulating social behavior and these nonapeptide systems are highly sensitive to developmental social experience, particularly in brain areas important for social behavior. We investigated whether oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasopressin receptor (V1aR) distributions of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) change as a function of parental composition within the natal nest or social composition after weaning. We raised pups either in the presence or absence of their fathers. At weaning, offspring were housed either individually or with a same-sex sibling. We also examined whether changes in receptor distributions are sexually dimorphic because the impact of the developmental environment on the nonapeptide system could be sex-dependent. We found that differences in nonapeptide receptor expression were region-, sex-, and rearing condition-specific, indicating a high level of complexity in the ways that early life experiences shape the social brain. We found many more differences in V1aR density compared to OTR density, indicating that nonapeptide receptors demonstrate differential levels of neural plasticity and sensitivity to environmental and biological variables. Our data highlight that critical factors including biological sex and multiple experiences across the developmental continuum interact in complex ways to shape the social brain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Aberrant reward center response to partner reputation during a social exchange game in generalized social phobia.

PubMed

Sripada, Chandra; Angstadt, Michael; Liberzon, Israel; McCabe, Kevin; Phan, K Luan

2013-04-01

Generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD) is characterized by excessive fear of public scrutiny and reticence in social engagement. Previous studies have probed the neural basis of GSAD often using static, noninteractive stimuli (e.g., face photographs) and have identified dysfunction in fear circuitry. We sought to investigate brain-based dysfunction in GSAD during more real-world, dynamic social interactions, focusing on the role of reward-related regions that are implicated in social decision-making. Thirty-six healthy individuals (healthy control [HC]) and 36 individuals with GSAD underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while participating in a behavioral economic game ("Trust Game") involving iterative exchanges with fictive partners who acquire differential reputations for reciprocity. We investigated brain responses to reciprocation of trust in one's social partner, and how these brain responses are modulated by partner reputation for repayment. In both HC and GSAD, receipt of reciprocity robustly engaged ventral striatum, a region implicated in reward. In HC, striatal responses to reciprocity were specific to partners who have consistently returned the investment ("cooperative partners"), and were absent for partners who lack a cooperative reputation. In GSAD, modulation of striatal responses by partner reputation was absent. Social anxiety severity predicted diminished responses to cooperative partners. These results suggest abnormalities in GSAD in reward-related striatal mechanisms that may be important for the initiation, valuation, and maintenance of cooperative social relationships. Moreover, this study demonstrates that dynamic, interactive task paradigms derived from economics can help illuminate novel mechanisms of pathology in psychiatric illnesses in which social dysfunction is a cardinal feature. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Study of the functional hyperconnectivity between couples of pilots during flight simulation: an EEG hyperscanning study.

PubMed

Astolfi, L; Toppi, J; Borghini, G; Vecchiato, G; Isabella, R; De Vico Fallani, F; Cincotti, F; Salinari, S; Mattia, D; He, B; Caltagirone, C; Babiloni, F

2011-01-01

Brain Hyperscanning, i.e. the simultaneous recording of the cerebral activity of different human subjects involved in interaction tasks, is a very recent field of Neuroscience aiming at understanding the cerebral processes generating and generated by social interactions. This approach allows the observation and modeling of the neural signature specifically dependent on the interaction between subjects, and, even more interestingly, of the functional links existing between the activities in the brains of the subjects interacting together. In this EEG hyperscanning study we explored the functional hyperconnectivity between the activity in different scalp sites of couples of Civil Aviation Pilots during different phases of a flight reproduced in a flight simulator. Results shown a dense network of connections between the two brains in the takeoff and landing phases, when the cooperation between them is maximal, in contrast with phases during which the activity of the two pilots was independent, when no or quite few links were shown. These results confirms that the study of the brain connectivity between the activity simultaneously acquired in human brains during interaction tasks can provide important information about the neural basis of the "spirit of the group".

Training your brain to be more creative: brain functional and structural changes induced by divergent thinking training.

PubMed

Sun, Jiangzhou; Chen, Qunlin; Zhang, Qinglin; Li, Yadan; Li, Haijiang; Wei, Dongtao; Yang, Wenjing; Qiu, Jiang

2016-10-01

Creativity is commonly defined as the ability to produce something both novel and useful. Stimulating creativity has great significance for both individual success and social improvement. Although increasing creative capacity has been confirmed to be possible and effective at the behavioral level, few longitudinal studies have examined the extent to which the brain function and structure underlying creativity are plastic. A cognitive stimulation (20 sessions) method was used in the present study to train subjects and to explore the neuroplasticity induced by training. The behavioral results revealed that both the originality and the fluency of divergent thinking were significantly improved by training. Furthermore, functional changes induced by training were observed in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and posterior brain regions. Moreover, the gray matter volume (GMV) was significantly increased in the dACC after divergent thinking training. These results suggest that the enhancement of creativity may rely not only on the posterior brain regions that are related to the fundamental cognitive processes of creativity (e.g., semantic processing, generating novel associations), but also on areas that are involved in top-down cognitive control, such as the dACC and DLPFC. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3375-3387, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain substrates of social decision-making in dual diagnosis: cocaine dependence and personality disorders.

PubMed

Verdejo-Garcia, Antonio; Verdejo-Román, Juan; Albein-Urios, Natalia; Martínez-González, José M; Soriano-Mas, Carles

2017-03-01

Cocaine dependence frequently co-occurs with personality disorders, leading to increased interpersonal problems and greater burden of disease. Personality disorders are characterised by patterns of thinking and feeling that divert from social expectations. However, the comorbidity between cocaine dependence and personality disorders has not been substantiated by measures of brain activation during social decision-making. We applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activations evoked by a social decision-making task-the Ultimatum Game-in 24 cocaine dependents with personality disorders (CDPD), 19 cocaine dependents without comorbidities and 19 healthy controls. In the Ultimatum Game participants had to accept or reject bids made by another player to split monetary stakes. Offers varied in fairness (in fair offers the proposer shares ~50 percent of the money; in unfair offers the proposer shares <30 percent of the money), and participants were told that if they accept both players get the money, and if they reject both players lose it. We contrasted brain activations during unfair versus fair offers and accept versus reject choices. During evaluation of unfair offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex and higher activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and superior frontal and temporal gyri. Frontal activations negatively correlated with emotion recognition. During rejection of offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, striatum and midbrain. Dual diagnosis is linked to hypo-activation of the insula and anterior cingulate cortex and hyper-activation of frontal-temporal regions during social decision-making, which associates with poorer emotion recognition. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Evolutionary perspectives on stress and affective disorder.

PubMed

Gardner, R

2001-01-01

Three general approaches to evolutionary perspectives in psychiatry include the following domains. (1) information from general medicine and physiology that involves defenses against infectious disease and predators, with obsessive compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amongst the psychiatric results of this. (2) Sociophysiology assumes that normal brain functions mediate social interactions, including social rank hierarchy, in-out group formation, and family bonding. At times these function maladroitly resulting in psychiatric symptoms, for example, mania, persecutory delusions, and depression. (3) Evolutionary psychology explains self-sacrificing and generous behavior despite how genes act selfishly in natural selection theory, via the helping of relatives, reciprocal altruism, and manipulation of social contracts. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company

Alcohol Affects the Brain's Resting-State Network in Social Drinkers

PubMed Central

Lithari, Chrysa; Klados, Manousos A.; Pappas, Costas; Albani, Maria; Kapoukranidou, Dorothea; Kovatsi, Leda

2012-01-01

Acute alcohol intake is known to enhance inhibition through facilitation of GABAA receptors, which are present in 40% of the synapses all over the brain. Evidence suggests that enhanced GABAergic transmission leads to increased large-scale brain connectivity. Our hypothesis is that acute alcohol intake would increase the functional connectivity of the human brain resting-state network (RSN). To test our hypothesis, electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements were recorded from healthy social drinkers at rest, during eyes-open and eyes-closed sessions, after administering to them an alcoholic beverage or placebo respectively. Salivary alcohol and cortisol served to measure the inebriation and stress levels. By calculating Magnitude Square Coherence (MSC) on standardized Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (sLORETA) solutions, we formed cortical networks over several frequency bands, which were then analyzed in the context of functional connectivity and graph theory. MSC was increased (p<0.05, corrected with False Discovery Rate, FDR corrected) in alpha, beta (eyes-open) and theta bands (eyes-closed) following acute alcohol intake. Graph parameters were accordingly altered in these bands quantifying the effect of alcohol on the structure of brain networks; global efficiency and density were higher and path length was lower during alcohol (vs. placebo, p<0.05). Salivary alcohol concentration was positively correlated with the density of the network in beta band. The degree of specific nodes was elevated following alcohol (vs. placebo). Our findings support the hypothesis that short-term inebriation considerably increases large-scale connectivity in the RSN. The increased baseline functional connectivity can -at least partially- be attributed to the alcohol-induced disruption of the delicate balance between inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission in favor of inhibitory influences. Thus, it is suggested that short-term inebriation is associated, as expected, to increased GABA transmission and functional connectivity, while long-term alcohol consumption may be linked to exactly the opposite effect. PMID:23119078

Investigating social functioning after early mild TBI: the quality of parent-child interactions.

PubMed

Lalonde, Gabrielle; Bernier, Annie; Beaudoin, Cindy; Gravel, Jocelyn; Beauchamp, Miriam H

2018-03-01

The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury due to inherent physiological and developmental factors, and even mild forms of traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can sometimes result in cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Despite the high prevalence of paediatric mTBI, little is known of its impact on children's social functioning. Parent-child relationships represent the centre of young children's social environments and are therefore ideal contexts for studying the potential effects of mTBI on children's social functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of parent-child interactions after mTBI using observational assessment methods and parental report. The sample included 130 children (18-60 months at recruitment) divided into three groups: children with uncomplicated mTBI (n = 47), children with orthopaedic injury (OI, n = 27), and non-injured children (NI, n = 56). The quality of parent-child interactions was assessed 6 months post-injury using the Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) scale, an observational measure which focuses on the dyadic nature of parent-child exchanges, and the Parental Stress Index questionnaire (Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI) domain). Significant differences with medium effect sizes were found between the mTBI group and the NI group on the MRO, but not between the OI group and the other two groups. PCDI scores did not differ across groups, suggesting that observational measures may be more sensitive to changes in parent-child interactions after TBI. The current findings have implications for children's post-injury social development and highlight the importance of monitoring social outcomes even after minor head injuries. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Prevention of cognitive and physical decline by enjoyable walking-habituation program based on brain-activating rehabilitation.

PubMed

Murai, Tatsuhiko; Yamaguchi, Tomoharu; Maki, Yohko; Isahai, Mikie; Kaiho Sato, Ayumi; Yamagami, Tetsuya; Ura, Chiaki; Miyamae, Fumiko; Takahashi, Ryutaro; Yamaguchi, Haruyasu

2016-06-01

Evaluating effects of an enjoyable walking-habituation program. We carried out a 12-week intervention, consisting of an enjoyable walking-habituation program based on five principles of brain-activating rehabilitation: pleasant atmosphere, interactive communication, social roles, praising each other and errorless support. The program, once a week for 90 min, was carried out in small groups. Participants were 71 community-dwelling people (72.2 ± 4.3) without dementia. Cognitive function was evaluated in five cognitive domains: memory, executive function, word fluency, visuospatial abilities and sustained attention. Additionally, quality of life, depressive state, functional capacity, range of activities, social network and subjective memory complaints were assessed using questionnaires. Motor function was also evaluated. Measurement was carried out before the observation period, after observation and after intervention. A total of 63 participants were included in the analysis. Daily steps, executive function, subjective memory complaints, functional capacity and 5-m maximum walking time significantly improved during the intervention period (after observation to after intervention) compared with the observation period (before the observation period to after observation). No significant differences were seen in other evaluations. At 6 months after the intervention, 52 of 63 participants (82.5%) continued to walk once a week or more, and all of them were confident about continuing to walk in the future. Furthermore, all participants were satisfied with our walking-habituation program and all replied that they felt delighted. The intervention program, based on the five principles of brain-activating rehabilitation, resulted in improvement of some cognitive and physical functions, as well as a high walking-habituation rate at 6 months' follow up. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; ●●: ●●-●●. © 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Lifelong Brain Health is a Lifelong Challenge: From Evolutionary Principles to Empirical Evidence

PubMed Central

Mattson, Mark P.

2015-01-01

Although the human brain is exceptional in size and information processing capabilities, it is similar to other mammals with regards to the factors that promote its optimal performance. Three such factors are the challenges of physical exercise, food deprivation/fasting, and social/intellectual engagement. Because it evolved, in part, for success in seeking and acquiring food, the brain functions best when the individual is hungry and physically active, as typified by the hungry lion stalking and chasing its prey. Indeed, studies of animal models and human subjects demonstrate robust beneficial effects of regular exercise and intermittent energy restriction/fasting on cognitive function and mood, particularly in the contexts of aging and associated neurodegenerative disorders. Unfortunately, the agricultural revolution and the invention of effort-sparing technologies have resulted in a dramatic reduction or elimination of vigorous exercise and fasting, leaving only intellectual challenges to bolster brain function. In addition to disengaging beneficial adaptive responses in the brain, sedentary overindulgent lifestyles promote obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, all of which may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. It is therefore important to embrace the reality of the requirements for exercise, intermittent fasting and critical thinking for optimal brain health throughout life, and to recognize the dire consequences for our aging population of failing to implement such brain-healthy lifestyles. PMID:25576651

Lifelong brain health is a lifelong challenge: from evolutionary principles to empirical evidence.

PubMed

Mattson, Mark P

2015-03-01

Although the human brain is exceptional in size and information processing capabilities, it is similar to other mammals with regard to the factors that promote its optimal performance. Three such factors are the challenges of physical exercise, food deprivation/fasting, and social/intellectual engagement. Because it evolved, in part, for success in seeking and acquiring food, the brain functions best when the individual is hungry and physically active, as typified by the hungry lion stalking and chasing its prey. Indeed, studies of animal models and human subjects demonstrate robust beneficial effects of regular exercise and intermittent energy restriction/fasting on cognitive function and mood, particularly in the contexts of aging and associated neurodegenerative disorders. Unfortunately, the agricultural revolution and the invention of effort-sparing technologies have resulted in a dramatic reduction or elimination of vigorous exercise and fasting, leaving only intellectual challenges to bolster brain function. In addition to disengaging beneficial adaptive responses in the brain, sedentary overindulgent lifestyles promote obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, all of which may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. It is therefore important to embrace the reality of the requirements for exercise, intermittent fasting and critical thinking for optimal brain health throughout life, and to recognize the dire consequences for our aging population of failing to implement such brain-healthy lifestyles. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain.

PubMed

van Schaik, Carel P; Isler, Karin; Burkart, Judith M

2012-05-01

Although the social brain hypothesis has found near-universal acceptance as the best explanation for the evolution of extensive variation in brain size among mammals, it faces two problems. First, it cannot account for grade shifts, where species or complete lineages have a very different brain size than expected based on their social organization. Second, it cannot account for the observation that species with high socio-cognitive abilities also excel in general cognition. These problems may be related. For birds and mammals, we propose to integrate the social brain hypothesis into a broader framework we call cultural intelligence, which stresses the importance of the high costs of brain tissue, general behavioral flexibility and the role of social learning in acquiring cognitive skills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Putting race in context: social class modulates processing of race in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala

PubMed Central

Hitlin, Steven; Magnotta, Vincent; Tranel, Daniel

2017-01-01

Abstract A growing body of literature demonstrates that racial group membership can influence neural responses, e.g. when individuals perceive or interact with persons of another race. However, little attention has been paid to social class, a factor that interacts with racial inequalities in American society. We extend previous literature on race-related neural activity by focusing on how the human brain responds to racial out-groups cast in positively valued social class positions vs less valued ones. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala would have functionally dissociable roles, with the vmPFC playing a more significant role within socially valued in-groups (i.e. the middle-class) and the amygdala having a more crucial role for socially ambivalent and threatening categories (i.e. upper and lower class). We tested these predictions with two complementary studies: (i) a neuropsychological experiment with patients with the vmPFC or amygdala lesions, contrasted with brain damaged and normal comparison participants, and (ii) a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 15 healthy adults. Our findings suggest that two distinct mechanisms underlie class-based racial evaluations, one engaging the vmPFC for positively identified in-group class and another recruiting the amygdala for the class groups that are marginalized or perceived as potential threats. PMID:28398590

Putting race in context: social class modulates processing of race in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

PubMed

Firat, Rengin B; Hitlin, Steven; Magnotta, Vincent; Tranel, Daniel

2017-08-01

A growing body of literature demonstrates that racial group membership can influence neural responses, e.g. when individuals perceive or interact with persons of another race. However, little attention has been paid to social class, a factor that interacts with racial inequalities in American society. We extend previous literature on race-related neural activity by focusing on how the human brain responds to racial out-groups cast in positively valued social class positions vs less valued ones. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala would have functionally dissociable roles, with the vmPFC playing a more significant role within socially valued in-groups (i.e. the middle-class) and the amygdala having a more crucial role for socially ambivalent and threatening categories (i.e. upper and lower class). We tested these predictions with two complementary studies: (i) a neuropsychological experiment with patients with the vmPFC or amygdala lesions, contrasted with brain damaged and normal comparison participants, and (ii) a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 15 healthy adults. Our findings suggest that two distinct mechanisms underlie class-based racial evaluations, one engaging the vmPFC for positively identified in-group class and another recruiting the amygdala for the class groups that are marginalized or perceived as potential threats. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Green Mind Theory: How Brain-Body-Behaviour Links into Natural and Social Environments for Healthy Habits

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

We propose a Green Mind Theory (GMT) to link the human mind with the brain and body, and connect the body into natural and social environments. The processes are reciprocal: environments shape bodies, brains, and minds; minds change body behaviours that shape the external environment. GMT offers routes to improved individual well-being whilst building towards greener economies. It builds upon research on green exercise and nature-based therapies, and draws on understanding derived from neuroscience and brain plasticity, spiritual and wisdom traditions, the lifeways of original cultures, and material consumption behaviours. We set out a simple metaphor for brain function: a bottom brain stem that is fast-acting, involuntary, impulsive, and the driver of fight and flight behaviours; a top brain cortex that is slower, voluntary, the centre for learning, and the driver of rest and digest. The bottom brain reacts before thought and directs the sympathetic nervous system. The top brain is calming, directing the parasympathetic nervous system. Here, we call the top brain blue and the bottom brain red; too much red brain is bad for health. In modern high-consumption economies, life has often come to be lived on red alert. An over-active red mode impacts the gastrointestinal, immune, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems. We develop our knowledge of nature-based interventions, and suggest a framework for the blue brain-red brain-green mind. We show how activities involving immersive-attention quieten internal chatter, how habits affect behaviours across the lifecourse, how long habits take to be formed and hard-wired into daily practice, the role of place making, and finally how green minds could foster prosocial and greener economies. We conclude with observations on twelve research priorities and health interventions, and ten calls to action. PMID:28665327

Green Mind Theory: How Brain-Body-Behaviour Links into Natural and Social Environments for Healthy Habits.

PubMed

Pretty, Jules; Rogerson, Mike; Barton, Jo

2017-06-30

We propose a Green Mind Theory (GMT) to link the human mind with the brain and body, and connect the body into natural and social environments. The processes are reciprocal: environments shape bodies, brains, and minds; minds change body behaviours that shape the external environment. GMT offers routes to improved individual well-being whilst building towards greener economies. It builds upon research on green exercise and nature-based therapies, and draws on understanding derived from neuroscience and brain plasticity, spiritual and wisdom traditions, the lifeways of original cultures, and material consumption behaviours. We set out a simple metaphor for brain function: a bottom brain stem that is fast-acting, involuntary, impulsive, and the driver of fight and flight behaviours; a top brain cortex that is slower, voluntary, the centre for learning, and the driver of rest and digest. The bottom brain reacts before thought and directs the sympathetic nervous system. The top brain is calming, directing the parasympathetic nervous system. Here, we call the top brain blue and the bottom brain red; too much red brain is bad for health. In modern high-consumption economies, life has often come to be lived on red alert. An over-active red mode impacts the gastrointestinal, immune, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems. We develop our knowledge of nature-based interventions, and suggest a framework for the blue brain-red brain-green mind. We show how activities involving immersive-attention quieten internal chatter, how habits affect behaviours across the lifecourse, how long habits take to be formed and hard-wired into daily practice, the role of place making, and finally how green minds could foster prosocial and greener economies. We conclude with observations on twelve research priorities and health interventions, and ten calls to action.

Social and Behavioral Outcomes following Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury: What Predicts Outcome at 12 Months Post-Insult?

PubMed

Catroppa, Cathy; Hearps, Stephen; Crossley, Louise; Yeates, Keith; Beauchamp, Miriam; Fusella, Jessica; Anderson, Vicki

2017-04-01

This study sought to investigate social and behavioral outcomes 12 months following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to identify predictors of these outcomes. The study also compared rates of impairment in social and behavioral outcomes at 12 months post-injury between children with TBI and a typically developing (TD) control group. The study comprised 114 children ages 5.5 to 16.0 years, 79 with mild, moderate, or severe TBI and 35 TD children, group-matched for age, sex and socio-economic status. Children with TBI were recruited via consecutive hospital admissions and TD children from the community. Social and behavioral outcomes were measured via parent-rated questionnaires. Analysis of covariance models identified a significant mean difference between the mild and moderate groups for social problems only, but the moderate and severe TBI groups showed a higher rate of impairment, particularly in externalizing problems. Pre-injury function, injury severity, parent mental health, and child self-esteem all contributed significantly to predicting social and behavioral outcomes. Both injury and non-injury factors should be considered when identifying children at risk for long-term difficulties in social and behavioral domains.