scholarly journals Representation of distinct reward variables for self and other in primate lateral hypothalamus

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (10) ◽  
pp. 5516-5524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Noritake ◽  
Taihei Ninomiya ◽  
Masaki Isoda
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Hypothalamus ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Signal Encoding ◽  
Lh Cells ◽  
Socially Motivated ◽  
Reward Availability

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) has long been implicated in maintaining behavioral homeostasis essential for the survival of an individual. However, recent evidence suggests its more widespread roles in behavioral coordination, extending to the social domain. The neuronal and circuit mechanisms behind the LH processing of social information are unknown. Here, we show that the LH represents distinct reward variables for “self” and “other” and is causally involved in shaping socially motivated behavior. During a Pavlovian conditioning procedure incorporating ubiquitous social experiences where rewards to others affect one’s motivation, LH cells encoded the subjective value of self-rewards, as well as the likelihood of self- or other-rewards. The other-reward coding was not a general consequence of other’s existence, but a specific effect of other’s reward availability. Coherent activity with and top-down information flow from the medial prefrontal cortex, a hub of social brain networks, contributed to signal encoding in the LH. Furthermore, deactivation of LH cells eliminated the motivational impact of other-rewards. These results indicate that the LH constitutes a subcortical node in social brain networks and shapes one’s motivation by integrating cortically derived, agent-specific reward information.

scholarly journals Gray-Matter Expansion of Social Brain Networks in Individuals High in Public Self-Consciousness

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
Tomoyo Morita ◽  
Minoru Asada ◽  
Eiichi Naito
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Japanese Version ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Public Self Consciousness

Self-consciousness is a personality trait associated with an individual’s concern regarding observable (public) and unobservable (private) aspects of self. Prompted by previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, we examined possible gray-matter expansions in emotion-related and default mode networks in individuals with higher public or private self-consciousness. One hundred healthy young adults answered the Japanese version of the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) questionnaire and underwent structural MRI. A voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed that individuals scoring higher on the public SCS showed expansions of gray matter in the emotion-related regions of the cingulate and insular cortices and in the default mode network of the precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex. In addition, these gray-matter expansions were particularly related to the trait of “concern about being evaluated by others”, which was one of the subfactors constituting public self-consciousness. Conversely, no relationship was observed between gray-matter volume in any brain regions and the private SCS scores. This is the first study showing that the personal trait of concern regarding public aspects of the self may cause long-term substantial structural changes in social brain networks.

scholarly journals Self-other representation in the social brain reflects social connection

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Courtney ◽  
Meghan L. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Brain

Social connection is critical to well-being, yet how the brain reflects our attachment to other people remains largely unknown. We combined univariate and multivariate brain imaging analyses to assess whether and how the brain organizes representations of others based on how connected they are to our own identity. During an fMRI scan, participants (N=43) completed a self- and other-reflection task for 16 targets: the self, five close others, five acquaintances, and five celebrities. In addition, they reported their subjective closeness to each target and their own trait loneliness. We examined neural responses to the self and others in a brain region that has been associated with self-representation (medial prefrontal cortex; MPFC) and across the whole brain. The structure of self-other representation in the MPFC and across the social brain appeared to cluster targets into three social categories: the self, social network members (including close others and acquaintances), and celebrities. Moreover, both univariate activation in MPFC and multivariate self-other similarity in MPFC and across the social brain increased with subjective self-other closeness ratings. Critically, participants who were less socially connected (i.e. lonelier) showed altered self-other mapping in social brain regions. Most notably, in MPFC, loneliness was associated with reduced representational similarity between the self and others. The social brain apparently maintains information about broad social categories as well as closeness to the self. Moreover, these results point to the possibility that feelings of chronic social disconnection may be mirrored by a ‘lonelier’ neural self-representation.Significance StatementSocial connection is critical to well-being, yet how the brain reflects our attachment to people remains unclear. We found that the social brain stratifies neural representations of people based on our subjective connection to them, separately clustering people who are and are not in our social network. Moreover, the people we feel closest to are represented most closely to ourselves. Finally, lonelier individuals also appeared to have a ‘lonelier’ neural self-representation in the MPFC, as loneliness attenuated the closeness between self and other neural representations in this region. The social brain appears to map our interpersonal ties, and alterations in this map may help explain why lonely individuals endorse statements such as ‘people are around me but not with me’.

scholarly journals Causation model of autism: Audiovisual brain specialization in infancy competes with social brain networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 114-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Frankel Heffler ◽  
Leonard M. Oestreicher
Keyword(s):  
Brain Networks ◽  
Social Brain

scholarly journals Early alterations of social brain networks in young children with autism

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Franz Sperdin ◽  
Ana Coito ◽  
Nada Kojovic ◽  
Tonia Anahi Rihs ◽  
Reem Kais Jan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms ◽  
Source Imaging ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
Cortical Regions

Social impairments are a hallmark of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but empirical evidence for early brain network alterations in response to social stimuli is scant in ASD. We recorded the gaze patterns and brain activity of toddlers with ASD and their typically developing peers while they explored dynamic social scenes. Directed functional connectivity analyses based on electrical source imaging revealed frequency specific network atypicalities in the theta and alpha frequency bands, manifesting as alterations in both the driving and the connections from key nodes of the social brain associated with autism. Analyses of brain-behavioural relationships within the ASD group suggested that compensatory mechanisms from dorsomedial frontal, inferior temporal and insular cortical regions were associated with less atypical gaze patterns and lower clinical impairment. Our results provide strong evidence that directed functional connectivity alterations of social brain networks is a core component of atypical brain development at early stages of ASD.

Schizophrenia is a disease of general connectivity more than a specifically “social brain” network

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 856-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrado Bosman ◽  
Enzo Brunetti ◽  
Francisco Aboitiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
The Social

Dysfunctions of the neural circuits that implement social behavior are necessary but not a sufficient condition to develop schizophrenia. We propose that schizophrenia represents a disease of general connectivity that impairs not only the “social brain” networks, but also different neural circuits related with higher cognitive and perceptual functions. We discuss possible mechanisms and evolutionary considerations.

scholarly journals Developmental Precursors of Social Brain Networks: The Emergence of Attentional and Cortical Sensitivity to Facial Expressions in 5 to 7 Months Old Infants

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e100811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santeri Yrttiaho ◽  
Linda Forssman ◽  
Jussi Kaatiala ◽  
Jukka M. Leppänen
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Social Brain

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

2008 ◽  
Vol 364 (1519) ◽  
pp. 895-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Brancucci ◽  
Giuliana Lucci ◽  
Andrea Mazzatenta ◽  
Luca Tommasi
Keyword(s):  
Impression Formation ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Social World ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

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.

scholarly journals Reorganization of the Social Brain in Individuals with Only One Intact Cerebral Hemisphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 965
Author(s):  
Dorit Kliemann ◽  
Ralph Adolphs ◽  
Lynn K. Paul ◽  
J. Michael Tyszka ◽  
Daniel Tranel
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Left And Right

Social cognition and emotion are ubiquitous human processes that recruit a reliable set of brain networks in healthy individuals. These brain networks typically comprise midline (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex) as well as lateral regions of the brain including homotopic regions in both hemispheres (e.g., left and right temporo-parietal junction). Yet the necessary roles of these networks, and the broader roles of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in socioemotional functioning, remains debated. Here, we investigated these questions in four rare adults whose right (three cases) or left (one case) cerebral hemisphere had been surgically removed (to a large extent) to treat epilepsy. We studied four closely matched healthy comparison participants, and also compared the patient findings to data from a previously published larger healthy comparison sample (n = 33). Participants completed standardized socioemotional and cognitive assessments to investigate social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained during passive viewing of a short, animated movie that distinctively recruits two social brain networks: one engaged when thinking about other agents’ internal mental states (e.g., beliefs, desires, emotions; so-called Theory of Mind or ToM network), and the second engaged when thinking about bodily states (e.g., pain, hunger; so-called PAIN network). Behavioral assessments demonstrated remarkably intact general cognitive functioning in all individuals with hemispherectomy. Social-emotional functioning was somewhat variable in the hemispherectomy participants, but strikingly, none of these individuals had consistently impaired social-emotional processing and none of the assessment scores were consistent with a psychiatric disorder. Using inter-region correlation analyses, we also found surprisingly typical ToM and PAIN networks, as well as typical differentiation of the two networks (in the intact hemisphere of patients with either right or left hemispherectomy), based on idiosyncratic reorganization of cortical activation. The findings argue that compensatory brain networks can process social and emotional information following hemispherectomy across different age levels (from 3 months to 20 years old), and suggest that social brain networks typically distributed across midline and lateral brain regions in this domain can be reorganized, to a substantial degree.

scholarly journals A low-dimensional connectome manifold governs the organization and plasticity of social brain functions in humans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie L Valk ◽  
Philipp Kanske ◽  
Bo-yong Park ◽  
Seok-Jun Hong ◽  
Anne Böckler-Raettig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Dimensional Manifold ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Low Dimensional

SUMMARYSocial skills such as our abilities to understand feelings and thoughts are at the core of what makes us human. Here, we combined a unique longitudinal intervention study with cutting-edge connectomics to study the organization and plasticity of brain networks associated with different social skills (socio-affective, socio-cognitive, and attention-mindfulness). Baseline analysis in our cohort (n=332) showed that social brain networks have (i) compact and dissociable signatures in a low-dimensional manifold governed by gradients of brain connectivity, (ii) specific neurobiological underpinnings, and (iii) reflect inter-individual variations in social behavior. Furthermore, longitudinal brain network analyses following a 9-month training intervention indicated (iv) domain-specific reorganization of these signatures that was furthermore predictive of behavioral change in social functions. Multiple sensitivity analyses supported robustness. Our findings, thus, provide novel evidence on macroscale network organization and plasticity underlying human social cognition and behavior, and suggest connectome-reconfigurations as a mechanism of adult skill learning.

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