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International audience; Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers’ lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society

Personal space, defined as the distance individuals choose to maintain between themselves and others, is an indicator of affiliation and closeness. Most paradigms that measure personal space preferences involve explicit choice and therefore fail to examine the implicit aspects of such preferences. In the current study, we sought to investigate an implicit form of interpersonal space that is more closely related to real-life situations involving affiliation. We studied the effects of oxytocin (OT) on neural networks that involve affiliation and tested the impact on personal space preferences. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, we asked participants to choose between two rooms that differed only in the distances between two stimuli. The stimuli were either social stimuli (two chairs) or non-social stimuli (table and plant). The behavioral results showed that OT caused participants to choose a closer space in social blocks but did not affect their choices in non-social blocks. Imaging results revealed an interaction between stimulus and treatment (OT/PL) in the dorsal striatum, an area that is related to approach motivation and is part of the reward circuitry. Specifically, OT increased activity in the dorsal striatum in the social blocks and decreased this activity in the non-social blocks. The results of the study strengthen the social salience theory regarding OT, indicating that OT does not uniformly affect all social responses and that context has a determining impact on our behavior.

Mu suppression is the attenuation of EEG power in the alpha frequency range (8-12 Hz), recorded over the sensorimotor cortex during execution and observation of motor actions. Based on this dual characteristic mu suppression is thought to signalize activation of a human analogue of the mirror neuron system (MNS) found in macaque monkeys. However, much uncertainty remains concerning its specificity and full significance. To further explore the hypothesized relationship between mu suppression and MNS activation, we investigated how it is affected by damage to cortical regions, including areas where the MNS is thought to reside. EEG was recorded in 33 first-event stroke patients during observation of video clips showing reaching and grasping hand movements. We examined the modulation of EEG oscillations at central and occipital sites, and analyzed separately the lower (8-10 Hz) and higher (10-12 Hz) segments of the alpha/mu range. Suppression was determined relative to observation of a non-biological movement. Normalized lesion data were used to investigate how damage to regions of the fronto-parietal cortex affects the pattern of suppression. The magnitude of mu suppression during action observation was significantly reduced in the affected hemisphere compared to the unaffected hemisphere. Differences between the hemispheres were significant at central (sensorimotor) sites but not at occipital (visual) sites. Total hemispheric volume loss did not correlate with mu suppression. Suppression in the lower mu range in the unaffected hemisphere (C3) correlated with lesion extent within the right inferior parietal cortex. Our lesion study supports the role of mu suppression as a marker of MNS activation, confirming previous studies in normal subjects.

The space between people, or interpersonal distance, creates and defines the dynamics of social interactions. Given that invasion of one's interpersonal space may trigger threat and anxiety, a critical question is if high vulnerability to social anxiety (SA) is associated with avoidance and attentional biases when anticipating invasion to one's interpersonal space. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the behavioral mechanisms, time course and neural correlates underlying the threat of interpersonal distance invasion with a focus on different SA levels, using both a behavioral and an ERP experiment. Preferred interpersonal distance was assessed using a paradigm that involves responding to different virtual protagonists (friend or stranger) approaching the participant by indicating where one would like the protagonist to stop. In addition, participants' level of social anxiety was measured. The behavioral experiment indicated that levels of SA predicted one's preferred interpersonal distance such that higher SA individuals preferred further distance from a stranger. At the neural level, across groups, early (N1) but not late (LPP) differences were found between stranger and friend conditions. Importantly, SA individuals were characterized by attenuated early ERP responses, suggesting less attentional resources allocated to social stimuli. The results suggest that high SA individuals feel discomfort earlier than others in social engagement, which may lead them to stand further away, thus creating less communicative social interactions.

Mu suppression is the attenuation of EEG power in the alpha frequency range (8-12 Hz) while executing or observing a motor action. Whereas typically observed at central scalp sites, there are diverging reports about the extent of the attenuation over the cortical mantle, its exact frequency range and the specificity of this phenomenon. We investigated the modulation of EEG oscillations in frequency-bands between 4 to 12 Hz at frontal, central, parietal and occipital sites during the execution of manual movements and during observation of similar actions from allocentric (i.e., facing the actor) and egocentric (i.e., seeing the actor from behind) viewpoints. Suppression was determined relative to observation of a non-biological movement. Action observation elicited greater suppression in the lower (8-10 Hz) compared to the higher mu range (10-12 Hz), and greater suppression in the entire range (4-12 Hz) at frontal and central sites compared to parietal and occipital sites. In addition, suppression tended to be greater during observation of a motor action from allocentric compared to egocentric viewpoints. During execution of movement, suppression of the EEG occurred primarily in the higher alpha range and was absent at occipital sites. In the theta range (4-8 Hz), the EEG amplitude was suppressed during action observation and execution. The results suggest a functional distinction between modulation of mu and alpha rhythms, and between the higher and lower ranges of the mu rhythms. The activity of the presumed human mirror-neuron system seems primarily evident in the lower mu range and in the theta range.

Mu rhythms are EEG oscillations in the 8-13 Hz recorded at sites located roughly over the sensory-motor cortex. There is reliable evidence that the amplitude of mu rhythms is reduced when the participant performs a motor act (mu suppression). Recent studies found mu suppression not only in response to actual movements but also while the participant observes actions executed by someone else. This finding putatively associates the mu suppression to the activity of a mirror neurons system which, in humans, has been suggested to contribute to social skills. In the present study we explored the effects of different levels of social interaction on mu suppression. Participants observed dynamic displays of hand gestures performing actions used in the Rock-Scissors-Paper game. In different blocks, participants passively viewed identical video clips with no game context and in the context of a game, or while being actually engaged in the game either by imagining actions or by actual playing. As a baseline for calculating mu suppression we used a dynamic display of a rolling ball. In addition, to isolate the social aspect of the actual movements, participants performed the same acts outside the game context. Mu suppression was larger while participants were engaged in the social game than when they passively looked at the "opponent" actions or when they performed movements without the game context. This effect was found while viewing the opponent play as well as while actually playing, which supports the view that mu suppression is affected not only by motion, but also by the social context of the motion. However, we did not find differences in mu suppression between perception segments in which the participant did not actually play. Furthermore, in all perception segments occipital alpha suppression was more robust than mu suppression suggesting the involvement of a strong attentional component. While actually playing, however, mu suppression was stronger than alpha suppression.

Mu (μ) rhythms are EEG oscillations between 8–13 Hz distinguished from alpha by having more anterior distribution and being desynchronized by motor rather than visual activity. Evidence accumulating during the last decade suggests that the desynchronization of μ rhythms (μ suppression) might be also a manifestation of a human Mirror Neuron System (MNS). To further explore this hypothesis we used a paradigm that, in a previous fMRI study, successfully activated this putative MNS in humans. Our direct goal was to provide further support for a link between modulation of μ rhythms and the MNS, by finding parallels between the reported patterns of fMRI activations and patterns of μ suppression. The EEG power in the μ range has been recorded while participants passively observed either a left or a right hand, reaching to and grasping objects, and compared it with that recorded while participants observed the movement of a ball, and while observing static grasping scenes or still objects. Mirroring fMRI results (Shmuelof, L., Zohary, E., 2005. Dissociation between ventral and dorsal fMRI activation during object and action recognition. Neuron 47, 457–470), μ suppression was larger in the hemisphere contra-lateral to the moving hand and larger when the hands grasped different objects in different ways than when the movement was repetitive. No suppression was found while participants observed still objects but μ suppression was also found while seeing static grasping postures. These data are discussed in light of similar parallels between modulations of alpha waves and fMRI while recording EEG in the magnet. The present data support a link between μ suppression and a human MNS.