Social cognitive and affective neuroscience最新文献

Facial expressions are ubiquitous and highly reliable social cues. Decades of research has shown that affective faces undergo facilitated processing across a distributed brain network. However, few studies have examined the multispectral brain dynamics underlying affective face processing, which is surprising given the multiple brain regions and rapid temporal dynamics thought to be involved. Herein, we used magnetoencephalography to derive dynamic functional maps of angry, neutral, and happy face processing in healthy adults. We found stronger theta oscillations shortly after the onset of affective relative to neutral faces (0-250 ms), within distributed ventral visual and parietal cortices, and the anterior hippocampus. Early gamma oscillations (100-275 ms) were strongest for angry faces in the inferior parietal lobule, temporoparietal junction, and presupplementary motor cortex. Finally, beta oscillations (175-575 ms) were stronger for neutral relative to affective expressions in the middle occipital and fusiform cortex. These results are consistent with the literature in regard to the critical brain regions, and delineate a distributed network where multispectral oscillatory dynamics support affective face processing through the rapid merging of low-level visual inputs to interpret the emotional meaning of each facial expression.

The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is a crucial region involved in modulating social exclusion. Although prior studies have focused primarily on how social exclusion influences the perception of single faces, the effect of social exclusion on the crowd emotional perception and the neural mechanisms remain elusive. The current research examined whether social exclusion causes a biased perception of crowd emotions, and whether this effect would be modulated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rVLPFC. Participants were either socially included or excluded, while TMS stimulation was applied over the rVLPFC or the vertex. Next, they viewed sets of happy or disgusted faces and assessed the mean emotions of each set. Socially excluded participants overestimated the mean emotions for disgusted crowd faces compared to socially included participants, which was positively correlated with need threat. Compared to the vertex, stimulating the rVLPFC reduced socially excluded participants' biased perception of disgusted crowd faces. Moreover, stimulation of the rVLPFC decreased discrimination performance for crowd faces expressing disgust but increased it for happy crowd faces. The results provide a causal test for the role of rVLPFC in alleviating the biased perception of negative crowd emotions following social exclusion.

The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is a crucial region involved in modulating social exclusion. Although prior studies have focused primarily on how social exclusion influences the perception of single faces, the effect of social exclusion on the crowd emotional perception and the neural mechanisms remain elusive. The current research examined whether social exclusion causes a biased perception of crowd emotions, and whether this effect would be modulated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rVLPFC. Participants were either socially included or excluded, while TMS stimulation was applied over the rVLPFC or the vertex. Next, they viewed sets of happy or disgusted faces and assessed the mean emotions of each set. Socially excluded participants overestimated the mean emotions for disgusted crowd faces compared to socially included participants, which was positively correlated with need threat. Compared to the vertex, stimulating the rVLPFC reduced socially excluded participants' biased perception of disgusted crowd faces. Moreover, stimulation of the rVLPFC decreased discrimination performance for crowd faces expressing disgust but increased it for happy crowd faces. The results provide a causal test for the role of rVLPFC in alleviating the biased perception of negative crowd emotions following social exclusion.

Facial expressions are ubiquitous and highly reliable social cues. Decades of research has shown that affective faces undergo facilitated processing across a distributed brain network. However, few studies have examined the multispectral brain dynamics underlying affective face processing, which is surprising given the multiple brain regions and rapid temporal dynamics thought to be involved. Herein, we used magnetoencephalography to derive dynamic functional maps of angry, neutral, and happy face processing in healthy adults. We found stronger theta oscillations shortly after the onset of affective relative to neutral faces (0-250 ms), within distributed ventral visual and parietal cortices, and the anterior hippocampus. Early gamma oscillations (100-275 ms) were strongest for angry faces in the inferior parietal lobule, temporoparietal junction, and presupplementary motor cortex. Finally, beta oscillations (175-575 ms) were stronger for neutral relative to affective expressions in the middle occipital and fusiform cortex. These results are consistent with the literature in regard to the critical brain regions, and delineate a distributed network where multispectral oscillatory dynamics support affective face processing through the rapid merging of low-level visual inputs to interpret the emotional meaning of each facial expression.

While knowledge and skill acquisition frequently occur in social interactions, the predominant focus of existing research remains centred on individual learning. Here, we investigate whether social interaction enhances language learning, and whether interbrain coupling changes across learning sessions. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy to assess teacher-learner dyads engaging in a two-session training on a set of words and their plural inflections in a novel language. We compared a group trained with mutual communication with a noninteractive group, in which the learner could see and hear the teacher, but the teacher was unable to see or hear the learner (one-way mirror). Results revealed that compared to the No-interaction group, the Interaction group exhibited faster reaction times for vocabulary recognition and morphological inflections for the first session. The neuroimaging data revealed that interbrain coupling between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) of the learner and the right IFG of the teacher positively predicted vocabulary accuracy in the first but not in the second session. The results collectively suggest that IFG interbrain coupling plays an essential role in the initial stages of learning, highlighting the significant impact of social interaction in enhancing learning, especially during the early phases of learning.

Childhood and adolescence are sensitive periods for the refinement of increasingly complex executive and social functions. A particularly important skill is the ability to navigate and interpret interpersonal relationships, which is reflected in part by the maturation of distributed resting networks. However, the relationships between negative social perceptions in youth and long-term alterations in between-network connectivity are limited. To partially address this gap, we utilized longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (N = 93) with social pain measures from the NIH Toolbox Emotion Battery to determine the links between negative social perceptions on the trajectory of connectivity between the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks in the triple network model of psychopathology. Higher scores of perceived hostility, but not perceived rejection, tended to increase functional connectivity between the salience and both frontoparietal and default mode networks over time. These results suggest that more direct forms of threat (hostility) may be more impactful than rejection (limited desired social interactions), highlighting the importance of a dimensional approach to understanding developmental trajectories. While these connectivity changes align with several aberrant connectivity signatures observed across mental health disorders, these phenotypes are not pathognomonic of psychopathology and may reflect adaptive mechanisms in the context of social adversity.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a portable, cost-effective alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for noninvasively measuring neural activity. However, fNIRS measurements are limited to cortical regions near the scalp, missing important medial and deeper brain areas. We introduce a predictive model that maps prefrontal fNIRS signals to whole-brain fMRI activity during movie-watching. By aligning neural responses to a common audiovisual stimulus, our approach leverages shared dynamics across imaging modalities to map fNIRS signals to broader neural activity patterns. We scanned participants with fNIRS and utilized a publicly available fMRI dataset of participants watching the same TV episode. The model was trained on the first half of the episode and tested on a held-out participant watching the second half to assess cross-individual and cross-stimulus generalizability. The model significantly predicted fMRI time courses in 66 out of 122 brain regions, including areas otherwise inaccessible to fNIRS. It also replicated intersubject functional connectivity patterns and retained semantic information about the movie content. The model generalized to an independent dataset from a different TV series, suggesting it captures robust cross-modal mappings across stimuli. Our publicly available models enable researchers to infer broader neural dynamics from localized fNIRS data during naturalistic tasks.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a portable, cost-effective alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for noninvasively measuring neural activity. However, fNIRS measurements are limited to cortical regions near the scalp, missing important medial and deeper brain areas. We introduce a predictive model that maps prefrontal fNIRS signals to whole-brain fMRI activity during movie-watching. By aligning neural responses to a common audiovisual stimulus, our approach leverages shared dynamics across imaging modalities to map fNIRS signals to broader neural activity patterns. We scanned participants with fNIRS and utilized a publicly available fMRI dataset of participants watching the same TV episode. The model was trained on the first half of the episode and tested on a held-out participant watching the second half to assess cross-individual and cross-stimulus generalizability. The model significantly predicted fMRI time courses in 66 out of 122 brain regions, including areas otherwise inaccessible to fNIRS. It also replicated intersubject functional connectivity patterns and retained semantic information about the movie content. The model generalized to an independent dataset from a different TV series, suggesting it captures robust cross-modal mappings across stimuli. Our publicly available models enable researchers to infer broader neural dynamics from localized fNIRS data during naturalistic tasks.

While knowledge and skill acquisition frequently occur in social interactions, the predominant focus of existing research remains centred on individual learning. Here, we investigate whether social interaction enhances language learning, and whether interbrain coupling changes across learning sessions. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy to assess teacher-learner dyads engaging in a two-session training on a set of words and their plural inflections in a novel language. We compared a group trained with mutual communication with a noninteractive group, in which the learner could see and hear the teacher, but the teacher was unable to see or hear the learner (one-way mirror). Results revealed that compared to the No-interaction group, the Interaction group exhibited faster reaction times for vocabulary recognition and morphological inflections for the first session. The neuroimaging data revealed that interbrain coupling between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) of the learner and the right IFG of the teacher positively predicted vocabulary accuracy in the first but not in the second session. The results collectively suggest that IFG interbrain coupling plays an essential role in the initial stages of learning, highlighting the significant impact of social interaction in enhancing learning, especially during the early phases of learning.

Although most individuals strongly prefer social fairness and punish behaviours that violate fairness norms, recent psychological studies have shown that empathy towards 'perpetrators' who violate fairness norms can affect people's fairness decision-making, resulting in tolerance for unfair behaviour, even as direct 'victims' of unfair behaviour. However, in real life, people more often view unfair events from a third-party perspective, and little is known about how empathy affects fairness decisions by third parties whose self-interests are not threatened and their neurocognitive mechanisms. The present study examined effects of empathy directed towards a 'perpetrator' on third-party punishment using event-related potentials. The results suggest that, in the nonempathy condition, unfair offers induced stronger unfairness aversion in third-party decision makers and increased motivation and cognitive resource investment to alleviate this negative emotion compared to fair offers, reflecting the greater amplitude differences of fairness effects on the anterior N1 component, medial frontal negative, and smaller late positive components in the nonempathy condition. However, in the empathy condition, the differential impact of the fairness effect disappeared. These findings reveal the neural basis for trade-offs between altruistic and fairness motives in third-party fairness decision-making processes involving empathy.