Jeesung Ahn, Nicole Cooper, Yoona Kang, Matthew Brook O'Donnell, Mikella A Green, Nanna Notthoff, Laura L Carstensen, Gregory R Samanez-Larkin, Emily B Falk
{"title":"Baseline physical activity moderates brain-behaviour relationships in response to framed health messages.","authors":"Jeesung Ahn, Nicole Cooper, Yoona Kang, Matthew Brook O'Donnell, Mikella A Green, Nanna Notthoff, Laura L Carstensen, Gregory R Samanez-Larkin, Emily B Falk","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf046","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Health messaging often employs gain-framing (highlighting behaviour benefits) or loss-framing (emphasizing nonengagement risks) to promote behaviour change. This study examined how neural responses to gain- and loss-framed messages predict changes in physical activity. We conducted a mega-analysis of raw fMRI and pedometer/accelerometer data from four studies (N = 240) that tracked brain activity during message exposure and real-world physical activity longitudinally. Focusing on brain regions theorized by the Affect-Integration-Motivation framework-the anterior insula, ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal striatum, and presupplementary motor area-we found that baseline physical activity levels moderated brain-behaviour relationships in response to message framing. More active individuals increased physical activity post-intervention when these brain regions responded more strongly to loss-framed messages, suggesting that neural sensitivity to inactivity risks may reinforce behaviour maintenance in this group. Conversely, less active individuals increased physical activity when brain responses were stronger to gain-framed messages, indicating that sensitivity to activity benefits may facilitate action initiation in this group. These findings suggest that message effectiveness depends on the interaction between framing, neural processing, and pre-existing behavioural patterns. By linking neurocognitive mechanisms with real-world outcomes, we highlight the importance of personalized, neuroscience-informed health interventions tailored to individual neural and behavioural characteristics to optimize behaviour change strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12124189/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144063787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bojun He, Min Shao, Junyu Wu, Junyao Wang, Zilong Wei, Lu Chen, Jing Meng
{"title":"The analgesic effect and neural mechanism of spicy food intake.","authors":"Bojun He, Min Shao, Junyu Wu, Junyao Wang, Zilong Wei, Lu Chen, Jing Meng","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf040","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although published studies have shown that applying capsaicin to the skin can have an analgesic effect on other parts of the body, the impact of spicy food intake on pain perception and its neurological mechanism remains unclear. Thus, two studies utilizing questionnaires and experiments with event-related potential (ERP) technology were conducted to explore this question. Study 1 recruited 300 adults and found a negative correlation between spicy food cravings and pain perception in daily life. Study 2 involved 45 participants and examined behavioural and ERP responses to pain (including minor pain and moderate pain) stimuli following spicy and control treatments. Results showed that, compared to control treatments, spicy treatments led to shorter reaction times, lower accuracies and pain intensity ratings, less negative emotional responses, smaller N1 and P2 amplitudes, and shorter N1 and P2 latencies, especially for minor-pain stimuli. These findings indicate that spicy food intake may have an analgesic effect.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12108327/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144029080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Kroker, Maimu Alissa Rehbein, Miroslaw Wyczesany, Kati Roesmann, Ida Wessing, Markus Junghöfer
{"title":"Noninvasive ventromedial prefrontal cortex stimulation can enhance and impair affective learning from rewarding and threatening stimuli.","authors":"Thomas Kroker, Maimu Alissa Rehbein, Miroslaw Wyczesany, Kati Roesmann, Ida Wessing, Markus Junghöfer","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is known as a central hub involved in affective learning from appetitive/aversive stimuli, as demonstrated in numerous studies examining affective stimuli. We used vmPFC-stimulation to test whether the concept of enhanced affective learning applies to enhanced inhibition of risky decisions and overgeneralized fear. Therefore, we modulated vmPFC-excitability noninvasively via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using excitatory, inhibitory, and sham stimulation. We re-analysed previously published behavioural and magnetoencephalography data trial-wise to test whether improved learning is the mechanism underlying modulated gambling/fear generalization. Following excitatory vs. sham stimulation, participants gambled more rationally and got better at discriminating safe from threatening stimuli, as indicated by interactions between tDCS and gambling/fear stimuli. Three-way interactions with trial-number suggest that these improvements developed during the experiment. In contrast, in the inhibitory group, these abilities deteriorated over the paradigm. The neural data dovetailed with behavioural effects, in that neural correlates of modulated learning after stimulation also developed over time. Our results indicate an association between vmPFC activity and the ability to learn from appetitive/aversive stimuli. As impaired affective learning is a driving mechanism in mental disorders, these findings identify excitatory vmPFC-tDCS as a potential treatment, especially in combination with psychotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Kroker, Maimu Alissa Rehbein, Miroslaw Wyczesany, Kati Roesmann, Ida Wessing, Markus Junghöfer
{"title":"Noninvasive ventromedial prefrontal cortex stimulation can enhance and impair affective learning from rewarding and threatening stimuli.","authors":"Thomas Kroker, Maimu Alissa Rehbein, Miroslaw Wyczesany, Kati Roesmann, Ida Wessing, Markus Junghöfer","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf041","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is known as a central hub involved in affective learning from appetitive/aversive stimuli, as demonstrated in numerous studies examining affective stimuli. We used vmPFC-stimulation to test whether the concept of enhanced affective learning applies to enhanced inhibition of risky decisions and overgeneralized fear. Therefore, we modulated vmPFC-excitability noninvasively via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using excitatory, inhibitory, and sham stimulation. We re-analysed previously published behavioural and magnetoencephalography data trial-wise to test whether improved learning is the mechanism underlying modulated gambling/fear generalization. Following excitatory vs. sham stimulation, participants gambled more rationally and got better at discriminating safe from threatening stimuli, as indicated by interactions between tDCS and gambling/fear stimuli. Three-way interactions with trial-number suggest that these improvements developed during the experiment. In contrast, in the inhibitory group, these abilities deteriorated over the paradigm. The neural data dovetailed with behavioural effects, in that neural correlates of modulated learning after stimulation also developed over time. Our results indicate an association between vmPFC activity and the ability to learn from appetitive/aversive stimuli. As impaired affective learning is a driving mechanism in mental disorders, these findings identify excitatory vmPFC-tDCS as a potential treatment, especially in combination with psychotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12097488/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144056980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A cross-cultural EEG study of how obedience and conformity influence reconciliation intentions.","authors":"Guillaume P Pech, Emilie A Caspar","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf038","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study investigated the influence of conformity and obedience on intentions to help a child whose relative had caused harm to the participant's family during historical events of violence. Participants from Belgium, Cambodia, and Rwanda faced different social scenarios with two types of social influence and had to choose whether to respond helpfully. A multi-method and cross-cultural approach combining self-reports, behaviours, decision times (DTs), and electroencephalography (EEG) data was used. Participants explicitly reported being more influenced by authority (obedience) than by a group (conformity), a finding supported by faster DTs when following authority recommendations compared to either a group or an individual alone (compliance). However, behavioural and neural data showed no distinction between obedience and conformity. Behaviourally, authority and group influences exceeded individual influence but did not differ significantly. EEG results revealed higher mid-frontal theta (FMθ) activity for both the authority and the group indicating stronger inhibition of alternative choices compared to individual compliance. These results suggest that the type of measurement impacts the observed influence of authority and conformity, thus posing interesting questions regarding what may influence real behaviours. Variations were observed between countries, highlighting the importance of accounting for cross-cultural differences and avoiding generalization from a single population sample.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12101351/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144059303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathan M Petro, Cooper L Livermore, Seth D Springer, Hannah J Okelberry, Jason A John, Ryan Glesinger, Lucy K Horne, Christine M Embury, Rachel K Spooner, Brittany K Taylor, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson
{"title":"Oscillatory brain dynamics underlying affective face processing.","authors":"Nathan M Petro, Cooper L Livermore, Seth D Springer, Hannah J Okelberry, Jason A John, Ryan Glesinger, Lucy K Horne, Christine M Embury, Rachel K Spooner, Brittany K Taylor, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Facial expressions are ubiquitous and highly reliable social cues. Decades of research has shown that affective faces undergo facilitated processing across a distributed brain network. However, few studies have examined the multispectral brain dynamics underlying affective face processing, which is surprising given the multiple brain regions and rapid temporal dynamics thought to be involved. Herein, we used magnetoencephalography to derive dynamic functional maps of angry, neutral, and happy face processing in healthy adults. We found stronger theta oscillations shortly after the onset of affective relative to neutral faces (0-250 ms), within distributed ventral visual and parietal cortices, and the anterior hippocampus. Early gamma oscillations (100-275 ms) were strongest for angry faces in the inferior parietal lobule, temporoparietal junction, and presupplementary motor cortex. Finally, beta oscillations (175-575 ms) were stronger for neutral relative to affective expressions in the middle occipital and fusiform cortex. These results are consistent with the literature in regard to the critical brain regions, and delineate a distributed network where multispectral oscillatory dynamics support affective face processing through the rapid merging of low-level visual inputs to interpret the emotional meaning of each facial expression.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144130000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modulatory role of the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in crowd emotional perception following social exclusion.","authors":"Peiyao Geng, Ping Li, Cong Fan, Mingming Zhang, Wenbo Luo, Weiqi He","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is a crucial region involved in modulating social exclusion. Although prior studies have focused primarily on how social exclusion influences the perception of single faces, the effect of social exclusion on the crowd emotional perception and the neural mechanisms remain elusive. The current research examined whether social exclusion causes a biased perception of crowd emotions, and whether this effect would be modulated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rVLPFC. Participants were either socially included or excluded, while TMS stimulation was applied over the rVLPFC or the vertex. Next, they viewed sets of happy or disgusted faces and assessed the mean emotions of each set. Socially excluded participants overestimated the mean emotions for disgusted crowd faces compared to socially included participants, which was positively correlated with need threat. Compared to the vertex, stimulating the rVLPFC reduced socially excluded participants' biased perception of disgusted crowd faces. Moreover, stimulation of the rVLPFC decreased discrimination performance for crowd faces expressing disgust but increased it for happy crowd faces. The results provide a causal test for the role of rVLPFC in alleviating the biased perception of negative crowd emotions following social exclusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modulatory role of the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in crowd emotional perception following social exclusion.","authors":"Peiyao Geng, Ping Li, Cong Fan, Mingming Zhang, Wenbo Luo, Weiqi He","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf029","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) is a crucial region involved in modulating social exclusion. Although prior studies have focused primarily on how social exclusion influences the perception of single faces, the effect of social exclusion on the crowd emotional perception and the neural mechanisms remain elusive. The current research examined whether social exclusion causes a biased perception of crowd emotions, and whether this effect would be modulated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rVLPFC. Participants were either socially included or excluded, while TMS stimulation was applied over the rVLPFC or the vertex. Next, they viewed sets of happy or disgusted faces and assessed the mean emotions of each set. Socially excluded participants overestimated the mean emotions for disgusted crowd faces compared to socially included participants, which was positively correlated with need threat. Compared to the vertex, stimulating the rVLPFC reduced socially excluded participants' biased perception of disgusted crowd faces. Moreover, stimulation of the rVLPFC decreased discrimination performance for crowd faces expressing disgust but increased it for happy crowd faces. The results provide a causal test for the role of rVLPFC in alleviating the biased perception of negative crowd emotions following social exclusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12094163/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144039473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathan M Petro, Cooper L Livermore, Seth D Springer, Hannah J Okelberry, Jason A John, Ryan Glesinger, Lucy K Horne, Christine M Embury, Rachel K Spooner, Brittany K Taylor, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson
{"title":"Oscillatory brain dynamics underlying affective face processing.","authors":"Nathan M Petro, Cooper L Livermore, Seth D Springer, Hannah J Okelberry, Jason A John, Ryan Glesinger, Lucy K Horne, Christine M Embury, Rachel K Spooner, Brittany K Taylor, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf047","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Facial expressions are ubiquitous and highly reliable social cues. Decades of research has shown that affective faces undergo facilitated processing across a distributed brain network. However, few studies have examined the multispectral brain dynamics underlying affective face processing, which is surprising given the multiple brain regions and rapid temporal dynamics thought to be involved. Herein, we used magnetoencephalography to derive dynamic functional maps of angry, neutral, and happy face processing in healthy adults. We found stronger theta oscillations shortly after the onset of affective relative to neutral faces (0-250 ms), within distributed ventral visual and parietal cortices, and the anterior hippocampus. Early gamma oscillations (100-275 ms) were strongest for angry faces in the inferior parietal lobule, temporoparietal junction, and presupplementary motor cortex. Finally, beta oscillations (175-575 ms) were stronger for neutral relative to affective expressions in the middle occipital and fusiform cortex. These results are consistent with the literature in regard to the critical brain regions, and delineate a distributed network where multispectral oscillatory dynamics support affective face processing through the rapid merging of low-level visual inputs to interpret the emotional meaning of each facial expression.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12094162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144056303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Simone G Shamay-Tsoory, Anna Markovich, Andrey Markus, Tali Bitan
{"title":"Interbrain coupling during language learning contributes to learning outcomes.","authors":"Simone G Shamay-Tsoory, Anna Markovich, Andrey Markus, Tali Bitan","doi":"10.1093/scan/nsaf045","DOIUrl":"10.1093/scan/nsaf045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While knowledge and skill acquisition frequently occur in social interactions, the predominant focus of existing research remains centred on individual learning. Here, we investigate whether social interaction enhances language learning, and whether interbrain coupling changes across learning sessions. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy to assess teacher-learner dyads engaging in a two-session training on a set of words and their plural inflections in a novel language. We compared a group trained with mutual communication with a noninteractive group, in which the learner could see and hear the teacher, but the teacher was unable to see or hear the learner (one-way mirror). Results revealed that compared to the No-interaction group, the Interaction group exhibited faster reaction times for vocabulary recognition and morphological inflections for the first session. The neuroimaging data revealed that interbrain coupling between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) of the learner and the right IFG of the teacher positively predicted vocabulary accuracy in the first but not in the second session. The results collectively suggest that IFG interbrain coupling plays an essential role in the initial stages of learning, highlighting the significant impact of social interaction in enhancing learning, especially during the early phases of learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":94208,"journal":{"name":"Social cognitive and affective neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12151009/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144048916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}