Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2025-02-01Epub Date: 2025-01-31DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2457954
G Nathzidy Rivera-Urbina, María Fernanda Orozco-Roldán, Andrés Molero-Chamizo
{"title":"Executive functions in adolescence: A longitudinal study comparing evaluations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"G Nathzidy Rivera-Urbina, María Fernanda Orozco-Roldán, Andrés Molero-Chamizo","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2457954","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2457954","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The change in the educational model derived from the COVID-19 pandemic might have an impact on cognitive development, particularly on Executive Functions (EFs). The aim of this study was to explore cognitive performance in adolescents at two time points (12 and 14 years of age), before and after the pandemic restrictions. We also analyzed possible sex differences in the results. We evaluated EFs using the Neuropsychological Battery of Executive Functions and Frontal Lobes (BANFE-2), which includes four cognitive indices corresponding to specific cognitive functions and associated prefrontal areas: Orbitofrontal Cortex (OC index -OCI-), Anterior Prefrontal Cortex (APCI), Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DCI), and Prefrontal cortex as an index of global EFs (EFI). The ANOVA conducted to compare the evaluations before and after the pandemic revealed no significant pre-post-pandemic differences in any sex and in any BANFE-2 index, except for the OCI, in which post-pandemic performance was impaired in boys (pre and post mean score = 96.61 vs. 66.53), but not in girls (pre and post mean score = 93.55 vs. 95.0). Our findings are thus compatible with the idea of a different vulnerability to change in the educational model between sexes, and they also reveal which specific EFs may have been affected during the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"16-24"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143076230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2025-02-01Epub Date: 2025-03-09DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2474401
Sebastian Scholz, Johanna Kissler
{"title":"Hemispheric alpha asymmetry differentiates within-participants social power states: high social power increases and low social power decreases left frontal cortical activity.","authors":"Sebastian Scholz, Johanna Kissler","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2474401","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2474401","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social power is linked to approach and withdrawal motivational systems, with frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) in the electroencephalogram (EEG) potentially reflecting these tendencies. Higher left-frontal activity suggests approach, while lower levels indicate withdrawal. In this study, we used a novel within-subject design to explore how social power affects FAA. Twenty-five participants completed an episodic recall task inducing high or low social power, or a neutral condition, in random order. EEG alpha power (8-12 hz) was measured to calculate FAA indices for frontal and parietal-occipital regions and compared to resting-state asymmetry. Results showed a significant increase in left-hemispheric activity during high social power recall, affecting both frontal and non-frontal regions, compared to low power and control conditions. Low social power was associated with the least left hemispheric activity. These findings highlight strong effects of social power on brain systems related to approach and avoidance but challenge the notion that FAA is confined to frontal regions. The study enhances understanding of the neural mechanisms behind social power and underscores the value of within-subject designs and baseline measurements in studying neural activity related alpha asymmetry and social power.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"25-36"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143587862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2025-02-01Epub Date: 2025-01-25DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2454257
Ye-Jin Kim, Young-A Lee
{"title":"Social group size alters social behavior and dopaminergic and serotonergic systems.","authors":"Ye-Jin Kim, Young-A Lee","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2454257","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2454257","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social behavior is affected by social structure type, but how neural function changes with social type remains unclear. We investigated whether social group size affects social behaviors based on dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) systems. Four-week-old male mice were housed under different social group sizes: one, two, four, and eight mice per cage (1mpc, 2mpc, 4mpc, 8mpc, respectively). After 4 weeks, social preference, social interaction, and forced swim tests were performed to test sociability and anxiety, respectively, followed by analysis of DA and 5-HT and their metabolites (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid [DOPAC], 3-methoxytyramine [3-MT], norepinephrine, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid [5-HIAA]). Social interactions and anxious behavior decreased with increased social group size. DA, 3-MT, and 5-HT levels decreased with increasing social group size, whereas DOPAC and 5-HIAA levels increased in the extended mesocorticolimbic system, including the dorsal striatum. Moreover, the increased social group size resulted in increased DOPAC/DA and 5-HIAA/5-HT ratios, accompanied by a decrease in the 3-MT/DA ratio within the extended mesocorticolimbic system. Linear regression analysis also revealed that social group size affects DA and 5-HT turnover. These suggest that social group size may influence behavior and monoamine levels, potentially contributing to DA- and 5-HT-related psychiatric disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143042968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2025-02-01Epub Date: 2025-03-09DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2474410
Hadi Mohamadpour, Mahdieh Goudarzi, Abdol-Hossein Vahabie, Soomaayeh Heysieattalab
{"title":"The role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in social decision-making against high- and low-rank opponents: a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) study.","authors":"Hadi Mohamadpour, Mahdieh Goudarzi, Abdol-Hossein Vahabie, Soomaayeh Heysieattalab","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2474410","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2474410","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social hierarchy is a key determinant of behavior and individuals interact with others based on their social rank. Previous research has emphasized the role of the mPFC in learning social hierarchies. This study employed a social rank learning task alongside a modified version of the Ultimatum Game (UG) to investigate how individuals respond to monetary offers from different social ranks and whether the mPFC modulates these reactions. Our findings indicate that unfair offers are more likely to be rejected and offers made by individuals of lower social rank are more likely to be rejected compared to those from higher social rank. Additionally, men tend to respond quicker than women in the UG. Remarkably, participants who received tDCS over the mPFC demonstrated higher rejection rates and faster response times for offers of low-rank individuals, while the lower rejection rates and slower responses to offers from high-rank opponents. These results shed light on the neural mechanisms involved in social decision-making in competitive contexts. In particular, they reveal increased sensitivity of the mPFC to social ranks after electrical stimulation, which might be an evidence for its role in shaping decisions and reactions toward unfairness within the existing social hierarchies.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"37-52"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143587864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jan Szczypiński, Karolina Golec-Staśkiewicz, Agnieszka Pluta, Artur Marchewka
{"title":"How does teaching experience impact brain processes underlying the theory of mind? Study on primary school educators.","authors":"Jan Szczypiński, Karolina Golec-Staśkiewicz, Agnieszka Pluta, Artur Marchewka","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2437404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2024.2437404","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite its importance for daily social interactions, few studies have explored interindividual differences in the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of healthy adults. We used Children's False-Attribution (CFA), Children's False-Beliefs (CFB), and Belief-Desire Reasoning tasks, along with fMRI-based assessments, in a comparative analysis of ToM among primary school teachers (PST; <i>n</i> = 27), skilled in social interactions with children, and matched controls (MC; <i>n</i> = 24), who lacked such experience. PST demonstrated slower reaction times than MC in Adult and Child false-belief stories of CFB. However, no other behavioral differences between the groups and between-group differences were observed at the brain level. Both groups presented similar valence ratings for stories in the CFA. Notably, fMRI analysis revealed a group-by-condition interaction effect in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In PSTs, OFC activation decreased during negative false-attribution stories regarding children compared to stories related to adults, whereas MC demonstrated an opposite activation pattern. Between-group differences in right lateral OFC activity possibly signify a neural efficiency effect secondary to frequent social interactions of PSTs, unlike the MCs, with children in the working environment. These results underscore the significance of everyday social experiences in the functional plasticity of ToM networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142786379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aitana Grasso-Cladera, Stefanella Costa-Cordella, Josefina Mattoli-Sánchez, Erich Vilina, Valentina Santander, Shari E Hiltner, Francisco J Parada
{"title":"<i>Embodied hyperscanning</i> for studying social interaction: A scoping review of simultaneous brain and body measurements.","authors":"Aitana Grasso-Cladera, Stefanella Costa-Cordella, Josefina Mattoli-Sánchez, Erich Vilina, Valentina Santander, Shari E Hiltner, Francisco J Parada","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2409758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2024.2409758","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We systematically investigated the application of embodied hyperscanning methodologies in social neuroscience research. Hyperscanning enables the simultaneous recording of neurophysiological and physiological signals from multiple participants. We highlight the trend toward integrating Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) within the 4E research framework, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of brain, body, and environment. Our analysis revealed a geographic concentration of studies in the Global North, calling for global collaboration and transcultural research to balance the field. The predominant use of Magneto/Electroencephalogram (M/EEG) in these studies suggests a traditional brain-centric perspective in social neuroscience. Future research directions should focus on integrating diverse techniques to capture the dynamic interplay between brain and body functions in real-world contexts. Our review also finds a preference for tasks involving natural settings. Nevertheless, the analysis in hyperscanning studies is often limited to physiological signal synchrony between participants. This suggests a need for more holistic and complex approaches that combine inter-corporeal synchrony with intra-individual measures. We believe that the future of the neuroscience of relationships lies in embracing the complexity of cognition, integrating diverse methods and theories to enrich our grasp of human social behavior in its natural contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142478954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-12-18DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2024.2441524
Daniela Altavilla, Ines Adornetti, Valentina Deriu, Alessandra Chiera, Francesco Ferretti
{"title":"Exploring how first- and third-person narrative modulates neural activation during a social cognition task. An event-related potentials (ERPs) study.","authors":"Daniela Altavilla, Ines Adornetti, Valentina Deriu, Alessandra Chiera, Francesco Ferretti","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2441524","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2441524","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several studies showed a positive effect of stories on Theory of Mind (ToM) performance. The aim of the present exploratory study was to investigate whether and how a specific aspect of narrative, i.e., character perspective, modulates the brain activation in response to a ToM task and improve the accuracy. Fifty participants were divided in three groups based on the text assigned: first-person perspective group (1 G; <i>n</i> = 16), third-person perspective group (3 G; <i>n</i> = 18) and a scientific essay group (EG; <i>n</i> = 16). The electroencephalographic and behavioral responses to eyes expressions, taken from the \"Reading the Mind in the Eyes\" test, were recorded pre-(T0) and post-(T1) reading task. The main results showed a greater N100 on left fronto-central electrodes and a greater P220-400 on right temporo-parietal electrodes in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 in 3 G. A lower N220-400 was found on right fronto-central in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 in 1 G and 3 G. The results suggest that, although reading first- and third-person stories modulates self-processes in a similar way, third-person stories involve an early stage of processing and a more extended neural network including anterior-posterior brain sites.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"307-325"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142856489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-12-26DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2024.2446816
Emilie A Caspar, Eva Nicolay, Félix Banderembaho, Guillaume P Pech
{"title":"Volition as a modulator of the intergroup empathy bias.","authors":"Emilie A Caspar, Eva Nicolay, Félix Banderembaho, Guillaume P Pech","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2446816","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2024.2446816","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neural reactions to others' pain are usually lower when the individual is of a different ethnicity than when they are of the same ethnicity. This suggests that empathy is not only an automatic phenomenon but also a motivated one. In the present study, we tested whether one's willingness to increase or decrease empathy would correspondingly increase or decrease the neural empathic response, as measured with electroencephalography (EEG), irrespective of ethnicity. In Study 1, participants were presented with pictures displaying painful or non-painful stimulations on an individual from a similar or different ethnic group. In Study 2, the procedure was relatively similar but employed a within-subject design and was conducted in two countries: Belgium and Rwanda. Overall, EEG results showed that participants successfully increased their neural response to the pain of others, irrespective of the others' ethnicity in Study 1. However, the within-subject design used in Study 2 revealed additional nuances, as we observed that participants increased their neural pain response selectively toward ingroup individuals. Our findings indicate that observing the pain of a single person, regardless of ethnicity, can heighten one's neural reaction. Yet, when both ingroup and outgroup members are present, the neural response intensifies only for ingroup members.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"326-339"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142899805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2025-01-14DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2452545
Laura Angioletti, Carlotta Acconito, Michela Balconi
{"title":"An EEG hyperscanning study during persuasion toward groupness. The frontal brain area activation as a function of role.","authors":"Laura Angioletti, Carlotta Acconito, Michela Balconi","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2452545","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2452545","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This hyperscanning study explored the electrophysiological (EEG) patterns of dyads during a naturalistic persuasive interaction, in which the persuader had to convince the receiver that choosing a group solution was the most effective way to solve a group hypothetical everyday situation. Fifteen dyads composed of a persuader and a receiver were involved in a persuasive interaction while EEG data were recorded. EEG frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands) were analyzed, first, considering the distinct role of the participants and, second, dividing the dyads according to the perceived effectiveness of persuasion. The intra-brain results showed greater activation of the delta, theta and alpha bands in the frontal area of the persuader compared to the receiver. The inter-brain analyses reported a significantly increased dissimilarity activation for delta and theta band in the frontal area compared to more temporo-central and parieto-occipital regions, regardless of the perceived effectiveness of persuasion. To summarize, the process of enhancing groupness during a persuasive interaction generates in the persuader a specific EEG pattern involving mainly low frequency bands activation in the frontal brain regions, suggesting a significant attentional effort and emotional involvement.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"340-353"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142985242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2025-01-15DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2025.2453528
Jin Gong, WenJing Qi, Li Sui
{"title":"Readiness potentials changed by decision-making in the chicken game.","authors":"Jin Gong, WenJing Qi, Li Sui","doi":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2453528","DOIUrl":"10.1080/17470919.2025.2453528","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The chicken game, a well-established social dilemma paradigm, is widely used to study cooperative and competitive behaviors. Strategic decision-making in this game is influenced by the outcomes of cooperative and competitive interactions, with feedback-related event-related potentials (ERPs) during the feedback phase being a primary research focus. However, it remains unclear whether specific ERP components associated with strategic decision-making are present during the response phase. This study implemented a computerized chicken game featuring two cars - one representing the participant and the other the opponent - driving toward each other. Players chose to \"give way\" or \"go straight,\" with the opponent's decisions controlled by a computer under high-cooperation (70% \"give way\") and low-cooperation (30% \"give way\") conditions. Participants made their choices via key presses, and outcomes were presented during the feedback phase. Results revealed a readiness potential (RP) during the response phase, with increased RP amplitudes observed when participants could not accurately predict the opponent's choice, regardless of cooperation condition. These findings suggest that the RP component reflects strategic adjustments and decision-making processes in social dilemmas, providing a potential ERP marker for such contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":49511,"journal":{"name":"Social Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"361-366"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142985244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}