Search

Humans are highly social, typically without this ability requiring noticeable efforts. Yet, such social fluency poses challenges both for the human brain to compute and for scientists to study. Over the last few decades, neuroscientific research of human sociality has witnessed a shift in focus from single-brain analysis to complex dynamics occurring across several brains, posing questions about what these dynamics mean and how they relate to multifaceted behavioural models. We propose the term 'Relational Neuroscience' to collate the interdisciplinary research field devoted to modelling the inter-brain dynamics subserving human connections, spanning from real-time joint experiences to long-term social bonds. Hyperscanning, i.e., simultaneously measuring brain activity from multiple individuals, has proven to be a highly promising technique to investigate inter-brain dynamics. Here, we discuss how hyperscanning can help investigate questions within the field of Relational Neuroscience, considering a variety of subfields, including cooperative interactions in dyads and groups, empathy, attachment and bonding, and developmental neuroscience. While presenting Relational Neuroscience in the light of hyperscanning, our discussion also takes into account behaviour, physiology and endocrinology to properly interpret inter-brain dynamics within social contexts. We consider the strengths but also the limitations and caveats of hyperscanning to answer questions about interacting people. The aim is to provide an integrative framework for future work to build better theories across a variety of contexts and research subfields to model human sociality., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is evidence that the processing of acute stress is altered in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but little is known about how this is manifested simultaneously across different stress parameters and which neural processes are involved. The current study examined physiological and affective responses to stress and functional connectivity in AUD., Methods: Salivary cortisol samples, pulse rate, and affect ratings were collected on 2 days from 34 individuals with moderate or severe AUD during early abstinence and 34 control participants. On one of the days, stress was induced, and on the other day, a nonstressful control task was performed. Following the intervention, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess functional connectivity, with a focus on cortical and subcortical seed regions previously reported to be involved in AUD and/or stress., Results: For pulse rate and cortisol, stress responses were blunted in AUD, whereas the affective response was stronger. Neuroimaging analyses revealed stress-related group differences in functional connectivity, involving the connectivity of striatal seeds with the posterior default mode network, cerebellum, and midcingulate cortex and of the posterior default mode network seed with the striatum and thalamus., Conclusions: The results suggest a dissociation between subjectively experienced distress and the physiological stress response in AUD as well as stress-related alterations in functional connectivity. These findings highlight the complex interplay between chronic alcohol use and acute stress regulation, offering valuable considerations for the development of therapeutic strategies., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Over the last decades, theoretical perspectives in the interdisciplinary field of the affective sciences have proliferated rather than converged due to differing assumptions about what human affective phenomena are and how they work. These metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions, shaped by academic context and values, have dictated affective constructs and operationalizations. However, an assumption about the purpose of affective phenomena can guide us to a common set of metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. In this capstone paper, we home in on a nested teleological principle for human affective phenomena in order to synthesize metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. Under this framework, human affective phenomena can collectively be considered algorithms that either adjust based on the human comfort zone (affective concerns) or monitor those adaptive processes (affective features). This teleologically-grounded framework offers a principled agenda and launchpad for both organizing existing perspectives and generating new ones. Ultimately, we hope the Human Affectome brings us a step closer to not only an integrated understanding of human affective phenomena, but an integrated field for affective research., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

How do we switch between "playing along" and treating robots as technical agents? We propose interaction breakdowns to help solve this "social artifact puzzle": Breaks cause changes from fluid interaction to explicit reasoning and interaction with the raw artifact. These changes are closely linked to understanding the technical architecture and could be used to design better human-robot interaction (HRI).

Social interactions are dynamic, context-dependent, and reciprocal events that influence prospective strategies and require constant practice and adaptation. This complexity of social interactions creates several research challenges. We propose a new framework encouraging future research to investigate not only individual differences in capacities relevant for social functioning and their underlying mechanisms, but also the flexibility to adapt or update one's social abilities. We suggest three key capacities relevant for social functioning: (1) social perception, (2) sharing emotions or empathizing, and (3) mentalizing. We elaborate on how adaptations in these capacities may be investigated on behavioral and neural levels. Research on these flexible adaptations of one's social behavior is needed to specify how humans actually "learn to be social". Learning to adapt implies plasticity of the relevant brain networks involved in the underlying social processes, indicating that social abilities are malleable for different contexts. To quantify such measures, researchers need to find ways to investigate learning through dynamic changes in adaptable social paradigms and examine several factors influencing social functioning within the three aformentioned social key capacities. This framework furthers insight concerning individual differences, provides a holistic approach to social functioning, and may improve interventions for ameliorating social abilities in patients., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest None., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The feedback people receive on their behavior shapes the process of belief formation and self-efficacy in mastering a particular task. However, the neural and computational mechanisms of how the subjective value of self-efficacy beliefs, and the corresponding affect, influence the learning process remain unclear. We investigated these mechanisms during self-efficacy belief formation using fMRI, pupillometry, and computational modeling, and by analyzing individual differences in affective experience. Biases in the formation of self-efficacy beliefs were associated with affect, pupil dilation, and neural activity within the anterior insula, amygdala, ventral tegmental area/ substantia nigra, and mPFC. Specifically, neural and pupil responses mapped the valence of the prediction errors in correspondence with individuals' experienced affective states and learning biases during self-efficacy belief formation. Together with the functional connectivity dynamics of the anterior insula within this network, our results provide evidence for neural and computational mechanisms of how we arrive at affected beliefs., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Several studies suggest a link between acute changes in inflammatory parameters due to an endotoxin or (psychological) stressor and the brain's stress response. The extent to which basal circulating levels of inflammatory markers are associated with the brain's stress response has been hardly investigated so far. In the present study, baseline plasma levels of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 were obtained and linked to neural markers of psychosocial stress using a modified version of the Montreal Imaging Stress Task in a sample of N  = 65 healthy subjects ( N  = 39 female). Of three a-priori defined regions of interest - the amygdala, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex - baseline IL-6 was significantly and negatively associated with stress-related neural activation in the right amygdala and left anterior insula. Our results suggest that baseline cytokines might be related to differences in the neural stress response and that this relationship could be inverse to that previously reported for induced acute changes in inflammation markers.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction, which have been related to atypical neural processing of rewards, especially in the social domain. As intranasal oxytocin has been shown to modulate activation of the brain's reward circuit, oxytocin might ameliorate the processing of social rewards in ASD and thus improve social difficulties., Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined effects of a 24-IU dose of intranasal oxytocin on reward-related brain function in 37 men with ASD without intellectual impairment and 37 age- and IQ-matched control participants. Participants performed an incentive delay task that allows the investigation of neural activity associated with the anticipation and receipt of monetary and social rewards., Results: Nonsignificant tests suggested that oxytocin did not influence neural processes related to the anticipation of social or monetary rewards in either group. Complementary Bayesian analyses indicated moderate evidence for a null model, relative to an alternative model. Our results were inconclusive regarding possible oxytocin effects on amygdala responsiveness to social rewards during reward consumption. There were no significant differences in reward-related brain function between the two groups under placebo., Conclusions: Our results do not support the hypothesis that intranasal oxytocin generally enhances activation of reward-related neural circuits in men with and without ASD., (© 2021 The Authors.)

Social feelings have conceptual and empirical connections with affect and emotion. In this review, we discuss how they relate to cognition, emotion, behavior and well-being. We examine the functional neuroanatomy and neurobiology of social feelings and their role in adaptive social functioning. Existing neuroscience literature is reviewed to identify concepts, methods and challenges that might be addressed by social feelings research. Specific topic areas highlight the influence and modulation of social feelings on interpersonal affiliation, parent-child attachments, moral sentiments, interpersonal stressors, and emotional communication. Brain regions involved in social feelings were confirmed by meta-analysis using the Neurosynth platform for large-scale, automated synthesis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Words that relate specifically to social feelings were identfied as potential research variables. Topical inquiries into social media behaviors, loneliness, trauma, and social sensitivity, especially with recent physical distancing for guarding public and personal health, underscored the increasing importance of social feelings for affective and second person neuroscience research with implications for brain development, physical and mental health, and lifelong adaptive functioning., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Being confronted with social-evaluative stress elicits a physiological and a psychological stress response. This calls for regulatory processes to manage negative affect and maintain self-related optimistic beliefs. The aim of the current study was to investigate the affect-regulating potential of self-related updating of ability beliefs after exposure to social-evaluative stress, in comparison to non-social physical stress or no stress. We assessed self-related belief updating using trial-by-trial performance feedback and described the updating behavior in a mechanistic way using computational modeling. We found that social-evaluative stress was accompanied by an increase in cortisol and negative affect which was related to a positive shift in self-related belief updating. This self-beneficial belief updating, which was absent after physical stress or control, was associated with a better recovery from stress-induced negative affect. This indicates that enhanced integration of positive self-related feedback can act as a coping strategy to deal with social-evaluative stress., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Social lives have significantly changed since social distancing measures have been implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to investigate how our appraisal of social situations changed during the pandemic. Methods: In two online surveys, conducted in October 2019 and April 2020, 58 participants rated their personal level of comfort for sketches depicting social situations. Situations were separately categorized according to the risk of a possible COVID-19 infection and changes in ratings were analyzed by using a repeated measures ANOVA. Moreover, potential influencing factors on the change in ratings such as perceived infection risk and social factors like regular frequency and liking of social interactions were examined. Results: There was a significant interaction ( p < 0.001) between time of measurement and risk category. Comfort ratings of depicted situations with low and medium infection risk were higher during the second compared to the first survey period. Ratings of high-risk situations did not change significantly, although there was a tendency toward lower ratings during the pandemic. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceived probability of short-term infection could explain variance in the change of ratings of social situations with low- and medium risk, but not perceived probability of long-term infection or social factors. Conclusion: The results suggest that the change of participant's appraisal of the social situations during the COVID-19 pandemic relates to perceived infection risk. Both, the risk associated with the specific scenario as well as the general belief of short-term infection risk were associated with change. This change predominantly manifested in greater thought of comfort during low and medium risk situations, which might give a sense of safety during the pandemic. The finding that high-risk social situations were not rated as uncomfortable as expected must be considered with regard to the young sample and may not be generalizable to other individuals. Further research is necessary to evaluate long-term effects on social interactions caused by global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Stierand, Luebber, Krach, Paulus and Rademacher.)

Social cognition allows humans to understand and predict other people's behavior by inferring or sharing their emotions, intentions and beliefs. Few studies have investigated the impact of one's own emotional state on understanding others. Here, we tested the effect of being in an angry state on empathy and theory of mind (ToM). In a between-groups design we manipulated anger status with different paradigms in three studies (autobiographical recall (N = 45), negative feedback (N = 49), frustration (N = 46)) and checked how this manipulation affected empathic accuracy and performance in the EmpaToM. All paradigms were successful in inducing mild anger. We did not find the expected effect of anger on empathy or ToM performance but observed small behavioral changes. Together, our results validate the use of three different anger induction paradigms and speak for rather weak behavioral effects of mild state anger on empathy and ToM., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Evidence suggests that intranasal application of oxytocin facilitates empathy and modulates its underlying neural processes, which are often impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Oxytocin has therefore been considered a promising candidate for the treatment of social difficulties in ASD. However, evidence linking oxytocin treatment to social behavior and brain function in ASD is limited and heterogeneous effects might depend on variations in the oxytocin-receptor gene (OXTR). We examined 25 male ASD patients without intellectual disability in a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled fMRI-protocol, in which a single dose of oxytocin or placebo was applied intranasally. Patients performed three experiments in the MRI examining empathy for other's physical pain, basic emotions, and social pain. All participants were genotyped for the rs53576 single-nucleotide polymorphism of the OXTR. Oxytocin increased bilateral amygdala responsiveness during the physical pain task for both painful and neutral stimuli. Other than that, there were no effects of oxytocin treatment. OXTR genotype did not significantly interact with oxytocin treatment. Our results contribute to the growing body of empirical literature suggesting heterogenous effects of oxytocin administration in ASD. To draw clinically relevant conclusions regarding the usefulness of oxytocin treatment, however, empirical studies need to consider methods of delivery, dose, and moderating individual factors more carefully in larger samples., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) entails severe impairments in interpersonal functioning that are likely driven by self-beneficial and exploitative behavior. Here, we investigate the underlying motivational and neural mechanisms of prosocial decision-making by experimentally manipulating motivational conflict between self-beneficial and prosocial incentives. One group of patients diagnosed with NPD and a group of healthy controls (CTL) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a prosocial decision-making task. In this task, we systematically varied the level of conflict between self-beneficial and prosocial options on each trial. We analyzed choice behavior, response times, and neural activity in regions associated with conflict monitoring to test how motivational conflict drives prosocial choice behavior. Participants in the NPD group behaved less prosocially than the CTL group overall. Varying degrees of motivational conflict between self-beneficial and prosocial options induced response variability in both groups, but more so in the CTL group. The NPD group responded faster than the CTL group, unless choosing prosocially, which slowed response times to a level comparable to the CTL group. Additionally, neural activity tracking motivational conflict in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was reduced in the NPD group. Collectively, low generosity in NPD appears to arise from reduced consideration of prosocial motives, which obviates motivational conflict with self-beneficial motives and entails reduced activity in neural conflict monitoring systems. Yet, our data also indicate that NPD is not marked by an absolute indifference to others' needs. This points to potentials for improving interpersonal relationships, effectively supporting the well-being of patients and their peers., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Healthy sleep, positive general affect, and the ability to regulate emotional experiences are fundamental for well-being. In contrast, various mental disorders are associated with altered rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, negative affect, and diminished emotion regulation abilities. However, the neural processes mediating the relationship between these different phenomena are still not fully understood. In the present study of 42 healthy volunteers, we investigated the effects of selective REM sleep suppression (REMS) on general affect, as well as on feelings of social exclusion, cognitive reappraisal (CRA) of emotions, and their neural underpinnings. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we show that, on the morning following sleep suppression, REMS increases general negative affect, enhances amygdala responses and alters its functional connectivity with anterior cingulate cortex during passively experienced experimental social exclusion. However, we did not find effects of REMS on subjective emotional ratings in response to social exclusion, their regulation using CRA, nor on functional amygdala connectivity while participants employed CRA. Our study supports the notion that REM sleep is important for affective processes, but emphasizes the need for future research to systematically investigate how REMS impacts different domains of affective experience and their neural correlates, in both healthy and (sub-)clinical populations.

Humans experience vicarious embarrassment when they observe other's mishaps in public settings, even when the protagonist is not embarrassed at all. Though neural correlates of vicarious embarrassment have been studied before, it is yet poorly understood how they are influenced by egocentric or allocentric processes of perspective-taking. In the present study we examined the effects of deliberate allocentric and egocentric perspectives during the evaluation of others' public mishaps that pose a threat to the protagonist's reputation. Forty-three participants were shown sketches depicting a protagonist's mishaps and were asked to rate either their own vicarious embarrassment as observers (egocentric perspective) or the protagonist's embarrassment (allocentric perspective). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that observing others' mishaps engaged the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, irrespective of the adopted mental perspective. Further, as part of the mentalizing network, the right middle temporal gyrus and right temporo-parietal junction were exclusively engaged when participants adopted an allocentric perspective while observing others' mishaps. Activation within bilateral areas of the inferior parietal cortex extending to the somatosensory cortex varied as a function of the protagonist's awareness of the blunder and the adopted perspective. In this study, we for the first time dissociate regions within the mentalizing network that contribute to a rather spontaneous versus a rather deliberate and motivated act of understanding other's mental states in the context of vicarious embarrassment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Experiencing events as controllable is essential for human well-being. Based on classic psychological theory, we test how internal control beliefs impact the affective valuation of task outcomes, neural dynamics and ensuing behavioral preferences. In three consecutive studies we show that dynamics in positive affect increase, with a qualitative shift towards self-evaluative pride, when agents believe they caused a given outcome. We demonstrate that these outcomes engage brain networks processing self-referential information in the cortical midline. Here, activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex tracks outcome valence regarding both success as well as internal control, and covaries with positive affect in response to outcomes. These affective dynamics also relate to increased functional coupling between the ventral striatum and cortical midline structures. Finally, we show that pride predicts preferences for control, even at monetary costs. Our investigations extend recent models of positive affect and well-being, and emphasize that control beliefs drive intrinsic motivation.

During everyday interactions people constantly receive feedback on their behavior, which shapes their beliefs about themselves. While classic studies in the field of social learning suggest that people have a tendency to learn better from good news (positivity bias) when they perceive little opportunities to immediately improve their own performance, we show updating is biased towards negative information when participants perceive the opportunity to adapt their performance during learning. In three consecutive experiments we applied a computational modeling approach on the subjects' learning behavior and reveal the negativity bias was specific for learning about own compared to others' performances and was modulated by prior beliefs about the self, i.e. stronger negativity bias in individuals lower in self-esteem. Social anxiety affected self-related negativity biases only when individuals were exposed to a judging audience thereby potentially explaining the persistence of negative self-images in socially anxious individuals which commonly surfaces in social settings. Self-related belief formation is therefore surprisingly negatively biased in situations suggesting opportunities to improve and this bias is shaped by trait differences in self-esteem and social anxiety.

Objective: Despite the fact that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common psychiatric diagnosis, knowledge about the special behavioral and neurobiological female phenotype is still scarce. The present study aimed to investigate neural correlates of empathy for physical and social pain and to assess the impact of egocentric perspective taking on social pain empathy in complex social situations in women and girls with ASD. Methods: Nine female individuals with high functioning ASD were compared to nine matched peers without ASD during two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, examining empathy for physical and social pain using well-established paradigms. Participants viewed multiple pictorial stimuli depicting a social target in either physically painful or socially unpleasant situations. In the social situations, the participant either shared the social target's knowledge about the inappropriateness of the situation (observed social target is aware about the embarrassment of the situation; e.g., tripping in public) or not (observed social target is unaware about the embarrassment of the situation; e.g., open zipper). Results: Females with ASD did not rate the physical pain stimuli differently from non-clinical controls. Social pain situations, however, posed a greater challenge to females with ASD: For non-shared knowledge situations, females with ASD rated the social target's embarrassment as more intense. Thus, compared to non-clinical controls, females with ASD had a stronger egocentric perspective of the situation rather than sharing the social target's perspective. On the neural systems level, both groups showed activation of areas of the so-called empathy network that was attenuated in females with ASD during empathy for physical and social pain with a particular reduction in insula activation. Conclusion: Females with high functioning ASD are able to share another person's physical or social pain on the neural systems level. However, hypoactivation of the anterior insula in contrast to individuals without ASD suggests that they are less able to rely on their shared representations of emotions along with difficulties to take over a person's perspective and to make a clear distinction between their own and someone else's experience of embarrassment.

Humans have the capacity to share others' emotions, be they positive or negative. Elicited by the observed or imagined emotion of another person, an observer develops a similar emotional state herself. This capacity, empathy, is one of the pillars of social understanding and interaction as it creates a representation of another's inner, mental state. Empathy needs to be dissociated from other social emotions and, crucially, also from cognitive mechanisms of understanding others, the ability to take others' perspective. Here, we describe the conceptual distinctions of these constructs and review behavioral and neural evidence that dissociates them. The main focus of the present review lies on the intraindividual changes in empathy and perspective-taking across the lifespan and on interindividual differences on subclinical and clinical levels. The data show that empathy and perspective-taking recruit distinct neural circuits and can be discerned already during early and throughout adult development. Both capacities also vary substantially between situations and people. Differences can be systematically related to situational characteristics as well as personality traits and mental disorders. The clear distinction of affect sharing from other social emotions like compassion and from cognitive perspective-taking, argues for a clear-cut terminology to describe these constructs. In our view, this speaks against using empathy as an umbrella term encompassing all affective and cognitive routes to understanding others. Unifying the way we speak about these phenomena will help to further research on their underlying mechanisms, psychopathological alterations, and plasticity in training and therapy.

The emotional matching paradigm, introduced by Hariri and colleagues in 2000, is a widely used neuroimaging experiment that reliably activates the amygdala. In the classic version of the experiment faces with negative emotional expression and scenes depicting distressing events are compared with geometric shapes instead of neutral stimuli of the same category (i.e. faces or scenes). This makes it difficult to clearly attribute amygdala activation to the emotional valence and not to the social content. To improve this paradigm, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which emotionally neutral and, additionally, positive stimuli within each stimulus category (i.e. faces, social and non-social scenes) were included. These categories enabled us to differentiate the exact nature of observed effects in the amygdala. First, the main findings of the original paradigm were replicated. Second, we observed amygdala activation when comparing negative to neutral stimuli of the same category. However, for negative faces, the amygdala response habituated rapidly. Third, positive stimuli were associated with widespread activation including the insula and the caudate. This validated adaption study enables more precise statements on the neural activation underlying emotional processing. These advances may benefit future studies on identifying selective impairments in emotional and social stimulus processing.

The use of the journal impact factor (JIF) as a measure for the quality of individual manuscripts and the merits of scientists has faced significant criticism in recent years. We add to the current criticism in arguing that such an application of the JIF in policy and decision making in academia is based on false beliefs and unwarranted inferences. To approach the problem, we use principles of deductive and inductive reasoning to illustrate the fallacies that are inherent to using journal-based metrics for evaluating the work of scientists. In doing so, we elaborate that if we judge scientific quality based on the JIF or other journal-based metrics we are either guided by invalid or weak arguments or in fact consider our uncertainty about the quality of the work and not the quality itself.

Witnessing others' plights can be funny for observers, but may also trigger one to empathically cringe with the victim of the predicament. In the present study, we examined the common and distinct neural networks involved in schadenfreude (i.e. pleasure derived from another's misfortune) and fremdscham (i.e. empathically sharing the embarrassment about another's misfortune). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we examined a total of N = 34 participants while they observed social integrity threats of a misfortunate other and either reported on their schadenfreude or fremdscham. In this between-subject design, we found that despite a broad overlap in brain regions involved in social cognition, the left anterior insula (AI) was activated less if observers were asked to focus on their schadenfreude. Further, the nucleus accumben's activity exclusively covaried with the intensity of the schadenfreude experience and had a higher functional connectivity with the left AI in the context of schadenfreude than during fremdscham. With the present findings, we demonstrate that the valence and intensity of interpersonal emotions strongly depend on the experimental context and that empathy and reward circuits are involved in shaping the subjective experience., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Humans are highly social animals who critically need to remember information from social episodes in order to successfully navigate future social interactions. We propose that such episodic memories about social encounters are processed during sleep, following the learning experience, with sleep abstracting and consolidating social gist knowledge (e.g., beliefs, first impressions, or stereotypes) about others that supports relationships and interpersonal communication.

It has been shown, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), that hemispheric lateralization of brain activity depends on the requirements of the cognitive task performed during the processing of a sensory stimulus rather than on the intrinsic characteristics of that stimulus [Stephan et al., 2003, Science 301 (5631): 384-6]. Task-dependent increase in the coupling of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region involved in cognitive control, and brain areas in the left prefrontal and right parietal cortex, respectively, regions involved in task execution, was proposed as the mechanism underlying this task-dependency of hemispheric lateralization. The aim of the present study was two-fold: First, we aimed for a conceptual replication of these findings in an independent sample of subjects. Second, we investigated the test-retest reliability of the imaging paradigm to assess whether the task can be used to capture reliable measures of inter-individual differences in hemispheric lateralization. We were able to confirm previous findings showing that hemispheric lateralization depends on the nature of the cognitive task rather than on the nature of the processed stimuli. The task-related brain activation patterns were highly reliable across sessions (as indicated by intra-class correlation coefficients - ICCs, ≥.51). We could, however, not replicate previous results proposing task-dependent changes in the coupling between ACC and brain regions for task execution as the mechanism underlying hemispheric lateralization. This re-opens the question which mechanisms could determine the task-dependent functional asymmetries that were observed previously and replicated in this study., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, promote health, and well-being, as well as to increase compassionate behavior toward others. It reduces distress to one's own painful experiences, going along with altered neural responses, by enhancing self-regulatory processes and decreasing emotional reactivity. In order to investigate if mindfulness similarly reduces distress and neural activations associated with empathy for others' socially painful experiences, which might in the following more strongly motivate prosocial behavior, the present study compared trait, and state effects of long-term mindfulness meditation (LTM) practice. To do so we acquired behavioral data and neural activity measures using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an empathy for social pain task while manipulating the meditation state between two groups of LTM practitioners that were matched with a control group. The results show increased activations of the anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as well as the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal pole when sharing others' social suffering, both in LTM practitioners and controls. However, in LTM practitioners, who practiced mindfulness meditation just prior to observing others' social pain, left AI activation was lower and the strength of AI activation following the mindfulness meditation was negatively associated with trait compassion in LTM practitioners. The findings suggest that current mindfulness meditation could provide an adaptive mechanism in coping with distress due to the empathic sharing of others' suffering, thereby possibly enabling compassionate behavior. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4034-4046, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a severe, lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder with early onset that places a heavy burden on affected individuals and their families. Due to the need for highly specialized health, educational and vocational services, ASD is a cost-intensive disorder, and strain on health care systems increases with increasing age of the affected individual., Methods: The ASD-Net will study Germany's largest cohort of patients with ASD over the lifespan. By combining methodological expertise from all levels of clinical research, the ASD-Net will follow a translational approach necessary to identify neurobiological pathways of different phenotypes and their appropriate identification and treatment. The work of the ASD-Net will be organized into three clusters concentrating on diagnostics, therapy and health economics. In the diagnostic cluster, data from a large, well-characterized sample (N = 2568) will be analyzed to improve the efficiency of diagnostic procedures. Pattern classification methods (machine learning) will be used to identify algorithms for screening purposes. In a second step, the developed algorithm will be tested in an independent sample. In the therapy cluster, we will unravel how an ASD-specific social skills training with concomitant oxytocin administration can modulate behavior through neurobiological pathways. For the first time, we will characterize long-term effects of a social skills training combined with oxytocin treatment on behavioral and neurobiological phenotypes. Also acute effects of oxytocin will be investigated to delineate general and specific effects of additional oxytocin treatment in order to develop biologically plausible models for symptoms and successful therapeutic interventions in ASD. Finally, in the health economics cluster, we will assess service utilization and ASD-related costs in order to identify potential needs and cost savings specifically tailored to Germany. The ASD-Net has been established as part of the German Research Network for Mental Disorders, funded by the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research)., Discussion: The highly integrated structure of the ASD-Net guarantees sustained collaboration of clinicians and researchers to alleviate individual distress, harm, and social disability of patients with ASD and reduce costs to the German health care system., Trial Registration: Both clinical trials of the ASD-Net are registered in the German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00008952 (registered on August 4, 2015) and DRKS00010053 (registered on April 8, 2016).

In our daily lives, we constantly engage in reciprocal interactions with other individuals and represent ourselves in the context of our surrounding social world. Within social interactions, humans often experience interpersonal emotions such as embarrassment, shame, guilt, or pride. How interpersonal emotions are processed on the neural systems level is of major interest for social neuroscience research. While the configuration of laboratory settings in general is constraining for emotion research, recent neuroimaging investigations came up with new approaches to implement socially interactive and immersive scenarios for the real-life investigation of interpersonal emotions. These studies could show that among other brain regions the so-called mentalizing network, which is typically involved when we represent and make sense of others' states of mind, is associated with interpersonal emotions. The anterior insula/anterior cingulate cortex network at the same time processes one's own bodily arousal during such interpersonal emotional experiences. Current research aimed to explore how we make sense of others' emotional states during social interactions and investigates the modulating factors of our emotional experiences during social interactions. Understanding how interpersonal emotions are processed on the neural systems level may yield significant implications for neuropsychiatric disorders that affect social behavior such as social anxiety disorders or autism.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental conditions with severe impairments in social communication and interaction. Pioneering research suggests that oxytocin can improve motivation, cognition and attention to social cues in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this clinical trial is to characterize basic mechanisms of action of acute oxytocin treatment on neural levels and to relate these to changes in different levels of socio-affective and -cognitive functioning., Methods: This clinical study is a randomized, double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled, multicenter functional magnetic resonance imaging study with two arms. A sample of 102 male autism spectrum disorder patients, diagnosed with Infantile Autistic Disorder (F84.0 according to ICD-10), Asperger Syndrome (F84.5 according to ICD-10), or Atypical Autism (F84.1 according to ICD-10) will be recruited and will receive oxytocin and placebo nasal spray on two different days. Autism spectrum disorder patients will be randomized to determine who receives oxytocin on the first and who on the second visit. Healthy control participants will be recruited and case-control matched to the autism spectrum disorder patients. The primary outcome will be neural network activity, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants perform socio-affective and -cognitive tasks. Behavioral markers such as theory of mind accuracy ratings and response times will be assessed as secondary outcomes in addition to physiological measures such as skin conductance. Trait measures for alexithymia, interpersonal reactivity, and social anxiety will also be evaluated. Additionally, we will analyze the effect of oxytocin receptor gene variants and how these potentially influence the primary and secondary outcome measures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging assessments will take place at two time points which will be scheduled at least two weeks apart to ensure a sufficient wash-out time after oxytocin treatment. The study has been approved by an ethical review board and the competent authority., Discussion: Revealing the mechanisms of acute oxytocin administration, especially on the socio-affective and -cognitive domains at hand, will be a further step towards novel therapeutic interventions regarding autism., Trial Registration: German Clinical Trial Register DRKS00010053 . The trial was registered on the 8 th of April 2016.

While the right-hemispheric lateralization of the face perception network is well established, recent evidence suggests that handedness affects the cerebral lateralization of face processing at the hierarchical level of the fusiform face area (FFA). However, the neural mechanisms underlying differential hemispheric lateralization of face perception in right- and left-handers are largely unknown. Using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) for fMRI, we aimed to unravel the putative processes that mediate handedness-related differences by investigating the effective connectivity in the bilateral core face perception network. Our results reveal an enhanced recruitment of the left FFA in left-handers compared to right-handers, as evidenced by more pronounced face-specific modulatory influences on both intra- and interhemispheric connections. As structural and physiological correlates of handedness-related differences in face processing, right- and left-handers varied with regard to their gray matter volume in the left fusiform gyrus and their pupil responses to face stimuli. Overall, these results describe how handedness is related to the lateralization of the core face perception network, and point to different neural mechanisms underlying face processing in right- and left-handers. In a wider context, this demonstrates the entanglement of structurally and functionally remote brain networks, suggesting a broader underlying process regulating brain lateralization.

Social closeness is a potent moderator of vicarious affect and specifically vicarious embarrassment. The neural pathways of how social closeness to another person affects our experience of vicarious embarrassment for the other's public flaws, failures and norm violations are yet unknown. To bridge this gap, we examined the neural response of participants while witnessing threats to either a friend's or a stranger's social integrity. The results show consistent responses of the anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), shared circuits of the aversive quality of affect, as well as the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal pole, central structures of the mentalizing network. However, the ACC/AI network activation was increased during vicarious embarrassment in response to a friend's failures. At the same time, the precuneus, a brain region associated with self-related thoughts, showed a specific activation and an increase in functional connectivity with the shared circuits in the frontal lobe while observing friends. This might indicate a neural systems mechanism for greater affective sharing and self-involvement while people interact with close others that are relevant to oneself., (© The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Computational approaches have great potential for moving neuroscience toward mechanistic models of the functional integration among brain regions. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) offers a promising framework for inferring the effective connectivity among brain regions and thus unraveling the neural mechanisms of both normal cognitive function and psychiatric disorders. While the benefit of such approaches depends heavily on their reliability, systematic analyses of the within-subject stability are rare. Here, we present a thorough investigation of the test-retest reliability of an fMRI paradigm for DCM analysis dedicated to unraveling intra- and interhemispheric integration among the core regions of the face perception network. First, we examined the reliability of face-specific BOLD activity in 25 healthy volunteers, who performed a face perception paradigm in two separate sessions. We found good to excellent reliability of BOLD activity within the DCM-relevant regions. Second, we assessed the stability of effective connectivity among these regions by analyzing the reliability of Bayesian model selection and model parameter estimation in DCM. Reliability was excellent for the negative free energy and good for model parameter estimation, when restricting the analysis to parameters with substantial effect sizes. Third, even when the experiment was shortened, reliability of BOLD activity and DCM results dropped only slightly as a function of the length of the experiment. This suggests that the face perception paradigm presented here provides reliable estimates for both conventional activation and effective connectivity measures. We conclude this paper with an outlook on potential clinical applications of the paradigm for studying psychiatric disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 37:730-744, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Perceiving human faces constitutes a fundamental ability of the human mind, integrating a wealth of information essential for social interactions in everyday life. Neuroimaging studies have unveiled a distributed neural network consisting of multiple brain regions in both hemispheres. Whereas the individual regions in the face perception network and the right-hemispheric dominance for face processing have been subject to intensive research, the functional integration among these regions and hemispheres has received considerably less attention. Using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) for fMRI, we analyzed the effective connectivity between the core regions in the face perception network of healthy humans to unveil the mechanisms underlying both intra- and interhemispheric integration. Our results suggest that the right-hemispheric lateralization of the network is due to an asymmetric face-specific interhemispheric recruitment at an early processing stage - that is, at the level of the occipital face area (OFA) but not the fusiform face area (FFA). As a structural correlate, we found that OFA gray matter volume was correlated with this asymmetric interhemispheric recruitment. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed that interhemispheric connection asymmetries were correlated with the strength of pupil constriction in response to faces, a measure with potential sensitivity to holistic (as opposed to feature-based) processing of faces. Overall, our findings thus provide a mechanistic description for lateralized processes in the core face perception network, point to a decisive role of interhemispheric integration at an early stage of face processing among bilateral OFA, and tentatively indicate a relation to individual variability in processing strategies for faces. These findings provide a promising avenue for systematic investigations of the potential role of interhemispheric integration in future studies., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The incentive structure of a scientist's life is increasingly mimicking economic principles. While intensely criticized, the journal impact factor (JIF) has taken a role as the new currency for scientists. Successful goal-directed behavior in academia thus requires knowledge about the JIF. Using functional neuroimaging we examined how the JIF, as a powerful incentive in academia, has shaped the behavior of scientists and the reward signal in the striatum. We demonstrate that the reward signal in the nucleus accumbens increases with higher JIF during the anticipation of a publication and found a positive correlation with the personal publication record (pJIF) supporting the notion that scientists have incorporated the predominant reward principle of the scientific community in their reward system. The implications of this behavioral adaptation within the ecological niche of the scientist's habitat remain unknown, but may also have effects which were not intended by the community.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by substantial social deficits. The notion that dysfunctions in neural circuits involved in sharing another's affect explain these deficits is appealing, but has received only modest experimental support. Here we evaluated a complex paradigm on the vicarious social pain of embarrassment to probe social deficits in ASD as to whether it is more potent than paradigms currently in use. To do so we acquired pupillometry and fMRI in young adults with ASD and matched healthy controls. During a simple vicarious physical pain task no differences emerged between groups in behavior, pupillometry, and neural activation of the anterior insula (AIC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In contrast, processing complex vicarious social pain yielded reduced responses in ASD on all physiological measures of sharing another's affect. The reduced activity within the AIC was thereby explained by the severity of autistic symptoms in the social and affective domain. Additionally, behavioral responses lacked correspondence with the anterior cingulate and anterior insula cortex activity found in controls. Instead, behavioral responses in ASD were associated with hippocampal activity. The observed dissociation echoes the clinical observations that deficits in ASD are most pronounced in complex social situations and simple tasks may not probe the dysfunctions in neural pathways involved in sharing affect. Our results are highly relevant because individuals with ASD may have preserved abilities to share another's physical pain but still have problems with the vicarious representation of more complex emotions that matter in life., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) is a Bayesian framework for inferring effective connectivity among brain regions from neuroimaging data. While the validity of DCM has been investigated in various previous studies, the reliability of DCM parameter estimates across sessions has been examined less systematically. Here, we report results of a software comparison with regard to test-retest reliability of DCM for fMRI, using a challenging scenario where complex models with many parameters were applied to relatively few data points. Specifically, we examined the reliability of different DCM implementations (in terms of the intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) based on fMRI data from 35 human subjects performing a simple motor task in two separate sessions, one month apart. We constructed DCMs of motor regions with fair to excellent reliability of conventional activation measures. Using classical DCM (cDCM) in SPM5, we found that the test-retest reliability of DCM results was high, both concerning the model evidence (ICC=0.94) and the model parameter estimates (median ICC=0.47). However, when using a more recent DCM version (DCM10 in SPM8), test-retest reliability was reduced notably. Analyses indicated that, in our particular case, the prior distributions played a crucial role in this change in reliability across software versions. Specifically, when using cDCM priors for model inversion in DCM10, this not only restored reliability but yielded even better results than in cDCM. Analyzing each component of the objective function in DCM, we found a selective change in the reliability of posterior mean estimates. This suggests that tighter regularization afforded by cDCM priors reduces the possibility of local extrema in the objective function. We conclude this paper with an outlook to ongoing developments for overcoming the software-dependency of reliability observed in this study, including global optimization and empirical Bayesian procedures., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The experience of embarrassment provides a highly salient cue for the human moral apparatus. Interestingly, people also experience embarrassment on behalf of others' inappropriate conditions. The perceiver's embarrassment often lacks an equivalent expression of embarrassment in the social counterpart. The present study examines this phenomenon and distinguishes neural circuits involved in embarrassment with and embarrassment for another person's mishaps. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that the embarrassment on behalf of others engages the temporal pole and the medial prefrontal cortex, central structures of the mentalizing network, together with the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, sharing others' embarrassment additionally stimulated the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), which exhibited increased functional integration with inferior parietal and insular cortex areas. These findings characterize common neural circuits involved in the embodied representation of embarrassment and further unravel the unique role of the posterior STS in sharing others' affective state., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Emotional instability, difficulties in social adjustment, and disinhibited behavior are the most common symptoms of the psychiatric comorbidities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). This psychopathology has been associated with dysfunctions of mesial-frontal brain circuits. The present work is a first direct test of this link and adapted a paradigm for probing frontal circuits during empathy for pain. Neural and psychophysiological parameters of pain empathy were assessed by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with simultaneous pupillometry in 15 JME patients and 15 matched healthy controls. In JME patients, we observed reduced neural activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the anterior insula (AI), and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). This modulation was paralleled by reduced pupil dilation during empathy for pain in patients. At the same time, pupil dilation was positively related to neural activity of the ACC, AI, and VLPFC. In JME patients, the ACC additionally showed reduced functional connectivity with the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex, areas fundamentally implicated in processing the somatic cause of another's pain. Our results provide first evidence that alterations of mesial-frontal circuits directly affect psychosocial functioning in JME patients and draw a link of pupil dynamics with brain activity during emotional processing. The findings of reduced pain empathy related activation of the ACC and AI and aberrant functional integration of the ACC with somatosensory cortex areas provide further evidence for this network's role in social behavior and helps explaining the JME psychopathology and patients' difficulties in social adjustment., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this Hypothesis and Theory is to question the recently increasing use of the "race" concept in contemporary genetic, psychiatric, neuroscience as well as social studies. We discuss "race" and related terms used to assign individuals to distinct groups and caution that also concepts such as "ethnicity" or "culture" unduly neglect diversity. We suggest that one factor contributing to the dangerous nature of the "race" concept is that it is based on a mixture of traditional stereotypes about "physiognomy", which are deeply imbued by colonial traditions. Furthermore, the social impact of "race classifications" will be critically reflected. We then examine current ways to apply the term "culture" and caution that while originally derived from a fundamentally different background, "culture" is all too often used as a proxy for "race", particularly when referring to the population of a certain national state or wider region. When used in such contexts, suggesting that all inhabitants of a geographical or political unit belong to a certain "culture" tends to ignore diversity and to suggest a homogeneity, which consciously or unconsciously appears to extend into the realm of biological similarities and differences. Finally, we discuss alternative approaches and their respective relevance to biological and cultural studies.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified the rs1006737 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the CACNA1C gene as a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. On the neural systems level this association is explained by altered functioning of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the hippocampal formation (HF), brain regions also affected by mental illness. In the present study we investigated the association of rs1006737 genotype with prefrontal activation and fronto-hippocampal connectivity., Methods: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activation during an n-back working memory task in 94 healthy subjects. All subjects were genotyped for the SNP rs1006737. We tested associations of the rs1006737 genotype with changes in working-memory-related DLPFC activation and functional integration using a seed region functional connectivity approach., Results: Rs1006737 genotype was associated with altered right-hemispheric DLPFC activation. The homozygous A (risk) group showed decreased activation compared to G-allele carriers. Further, the functional connectivity analysis revealed a positive association of fronto-hippocampal connectivity with rs1006737 A alleles., Conclusions: We did not replicate the previous findings of increased right DLPFC activation in CACNA1C rs1006737 A homozygotes. In fact, we found the opposite effect, thus questioning prefrontal inefficiency as rs1006737 genotype-related intermediate phenotype. On the other hand, our results indicate that alterations in the functional coupling between the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe could represent a neural system phenotype that is mediated by CACNA1C rs1006737 and other genetic susceptibility loci for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The mechanisms underlying hemispheric specialization of memory are not completely understood. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to develop and test models of hemispheric specialization. In particular for memory tasks however, the interpretation of fMRI results is often hampered by the low reliability of the data. In the present study we therefore analyzed the test-retest reliability of fMRI brain activation related to an implicit memory encoding task, with a particular focus on brain activity of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). Fifteen healthy subjects were scanned with fMRI on two sessions (average retest interval 35 days) using a commonly applied novelty encoding paradigm contrasting known and unknown stimuli. To assess brain lateralization, we used three different stimuli classes that differed in their verbalizability (words, scenes, fractals). Test-retest reliability of fMRI brain activation was assessed by an intraclass-correlation coefficient (ICC), describing the stability of inter-individual differences in the brain activation magnitude over time. We found as expected a left-lateralized brain activation network for the words paradigm, a bilateral network for the scenes paradigm, and predominantly right-hemispheric brain activation for the fractals paradigm. Although these networks were consistently activated in both sessions on the group level, across-subject reliabilities were only poor to fair (ICCs ≤ 0.45). Overall, the highest ICC values were obtained for the scenes paradigm, but only in strongly activated brain regions. In particular the reliability of brain activity of the MTL was poor for all paradigms. In conclusion, for novelty encoding paradigms the interpretation of fMRI results on a single subject level is hampered by its low reliability. More studies are needed to optimize the retest reliability of fMRI activation for memory tasks.

Rapid eye movement (REM) dreaming results in "emotionally intelligent encoding," according to the target article. Building on this, we argue that elaborative encoding alters emotional processing of upcoming events and thereby functions as prospective emotion regulation. After elaborative encoding, future events are appraised differently and result in a redirected emotional response. Disturbed elaborative encoding might be relevant for emotional dysregulation in psychopathology.

Second-person neuroscience offers a framework for the study of social emotions, such as embarrassment and pride. However, we propose that an enduring mental representation of oneself in relation to others without a continuous direct social interaction is possible. We call this state "social immersion" and will explain its impact on the neuroscience of social emotions.

'Crossed language dominance' is a rare form of language lateralization, characterized by a dissociation of anterior and posterior language regions. We present the case of a healthy subject whose language lateralization pattern, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging, is reliably characterized as crossed language dominance based on a word generation task, but typical left-lateralized when a semantic decision task is applied. A single language task is therefore not sufficient to characterize language lateralization, at least not for subjects with rare forms of language dominance. In the pre-surgical diagnostic of language lateralization, several language tasks tapping into different aspects of language functions should be applied.

In the introduction to the special issue "The Neural Underpinnings of Vicarious Experience" the editors state that one "may feel embarrassed when witnessing another making a social faux pas". In our commentary we address this statement and ask whether this example introduces a vicarious or an empathic form of embarrassment. We elaborate commonalities and differences between these two forms of emotional experiences and discuss their underlying mechanisms. We suggest that both, vicarious and empathic emotions, originate from the simulation processes mirroring and mentalizing that depend on anchoring and adjustment. We claim the term "empathic emotion" to be reserved exclusively for incidents where perceivers and social targets have shared affective experience, whereas "vicarious emotion" offers a wider scope and also includes non-shared affective experiences. Both are supposed to be highly functional in social interactions.

The penetrance of genetic variation has been assumed to be higher at the level of neural phenotypes than at the level of behavioral phenotypes. One of the few attempts to validate this assumption is the study of Rose and Donohoe published in this issue. In this article, we will address 2 methodological issues we believe have to be considered for a better understanding of the present results. We briefly discuss potential solutions that might also help improve future meta-analyses of effect sizes in neuroimaging data.