Esménio, S;
Soares, JM;
Oliveira-Silva, P;
Gonçalves, ÓF;
Friston, K;
Fernandes Coutinho, J;
(2020)
Changes in the Effective Connectivity of the Social Brain When Making Inferences About Close Others vs. the Self.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
, 14
, Article 151. 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00151.
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Abstract
Previous research showed that the ability to make inferences about our own and other's mental states rely on common brain pathways; particularly in the case of close relationships (e.g., romantic relationships). Despite the evidence for shared neural representations of self and others, less is known about the distributed processing within these common neural networks, particularly whether there are specific patterns of internode communication when focusing on other vs. self. This study aimed to characterize context-sensitive coupling among social brain regions involved in self and other understanding. Participants underwent an fMRI while watching emotional video vignettes of their romantic partner and elaborated on their partner's (other-condition) or on their own experience (self-condition). We used dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to quantify the associated changes in effective connectivity (EC) in a network of brain regions involved in social cognition including the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), the posterior cingulate (PCC)/precuneus and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). DCM revealed that: the PCC plays a central coordination role within this network, the bilateral MTG receives driving inputs from other nodes suggesting that social information is first processed in language comprehension regions; the right TPJ evidenced a selective increase in its sensitivity when focusing on the other's experience, relative to focusing on oneself.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Changes in the Effective Connectivity of the Social Brain When Making Inferences About Close Others vs. the Self |
| Location: | Switzerland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00151 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00151 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | DCM, PEB, brain network, effective connectivity, self and other, social cognition |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10098338 |
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