Social Neuroscience Iii

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Social Neuroscience Iii

• psy400

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Topics

• What is social neuroscience? (15)
• Neuroimaging and TMS Tools of SN (35)

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What is Social Neuroscience (SN)?
ecosystems
math
Physics
biology
neuroscience
chemistry
Cognitive psychology
Social psychology
sociology
economics
anthropology
humanities
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What is Social Neuroscience (SN)?

• SN An interdisciplinary field that uses
  methodologies from both the neuro and social
  sciences to better understand the biological
  mechanism that underlie social processes and
  behaviour
• Holds that this multi-level analysis can
  enlighten both social psychology and neuroscience

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What is Social Neuroscience (SN)?

• SN is a new field,
• Partly because the tools did not exist to
  appropriately study SN
• Partly because social psychology is messier
  than, say, cognitive. Therefore many
  neuroscientists ignored it, in order to simplify
  a dauntingly complex brain.

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EEG(Electroencephelagram)

• How it works Electrodes placed on the scalp
  record voltage differences between different
  parts of the brain
• Pros
• High temporal resolution,
• Measures neuronal activity directly (via
  electrical output),
• Relatively easy to use.
• Cons
• Limited to surface (cortical) activity
• Limited spatial resolution/anatomical specificity

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Pet(Positron emission tomography)

• How it works A scanning device reads the
  positron emissions that are released as a
  previously injected sugar decays. Thus, it can
  assess the blood flow, oxygen and glucose
  consumption in different parts of the brain.
• Pros
• Unlike EEG, offers 3D resolution
• Can measure several metabolic indicators
• Tracers can reveal neurotransmitter
  receptors/transporters
• Cons
• Requires radioactive injections
• Radioactive half life means only short tasks can
  be measured
• Blood flow, oxygen and glucose consumption are
  all indirect correlates of brain activity

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MRI(magnetic resonance imaging)

• How it works Uses magnetic fields and radio
  waves to produce high quality images by
  manipulating the spin of hydrogen protons
• Pros
• No radioactive tracers needed
• High resolution imaging
• Can register water content, inflammation and
  bleeding
• Cons
• Can only register structure, and not function

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fMRI(functional magnetic resonance imaging)

• How it works Adapts MRI to register the magnetic
  properties of oxygenated and deoxygenated
  hemoglobin, allowing real-time blood flow to be
  imaged
• Pros
• Can see activation in addition to high res brain
  structures
• Scanners can be fitted to present stimuli
• Higher spatial and temporal resolution than PET
• Cons
• Cannot trace neurotransmission like PET
• Blood flow is, again, only an indirect correlate
  of brain activity

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TMs(transcranial magnetic stimulation)

• How it works Targeted magnetic pulses
  temporarily excite sugar-cube sized groups of
  neurons, allowing increases or decreases in
  neuronal excitability
• Pros
• Can manipulate activation rather than just image
  it, allowing causality to be inferred
• Temporary with no lasting damage
• Cons
• Researchers still unclear on how it works, exactly

1cm3
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BeyondIt happens in the brain!

• Only a deeply ingrained dualism makes people
  amazed when behaviours are tied to brain regions
  Wow, that happens in the brain?!-ism.
• But of course it does. SCN goes beyond this,
  requiring the neural correlates (or causes) of
  social behaviour do edify it, rather than merely
  locate it.

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Other tools

• Animal Models
• From Aplysia to Rattus and Hominoidea
• Neuro-endocrinology
• The roles of, e.g.
• Androgens and estrogens
• Corticosteroids
• Oxytocin and vasopressin
• Clinical patients

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Social Neuroscience Ii

• psy400

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Topics

• Key Studies in SN
• Stereotyping (35)
• Social Rejection (15)

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Some Social areas under sn study

• Stereotyping
• Social Rejection
• Social Emotions
• Attitudes and Attitude Change

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stereotyping

• What can social neuroscience tell us about
  stereotyping that we dont already know?
• How does stereotyping arise in the brain?
• How automatic is it?
• How difficult is it to prevent?

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stereotyping

• Hart et al. (2000). Differential response in the
  human amygdala to racial outgroup vs. ingroup
  face stimuli. Neuroreport, 11, 2351-2355
• Used fMRI to compare amygdalic activation when
  Black and White subjects were presented with
  unfamiliar Black and White faces.
• In first block, amygdala activation found for
  both race congruent (ingroup) and race
  incongruent faces (outgroup
• But in second block, activation had habituated
  for ingroup faces, but not for outgroup faces.

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stereotyping

• Hart et al. (2000). Differential response in the
  human amygdala to racial outgroup vs. ingroup
  face stimuli. Neuroreport, 11, 2351-2355

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stereotyping

• Phelps et al. (2000). Performance on indirect
  measures of race evaluation predicts amygdala
  activation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,
  12, 729-738.
• Found positive correlation between amygdala
  activation and Implicit Associations Task scores
  of anti-Black prejudice, but not with self-report
  measures of anti-Black prejudice
• Familiar and high regarded black faces, like Bill
  Cosby and Will Smith, however, showed no more IAT
  prejudice or amygdala activation than ingroup
  White faces.

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stereotyping

• Discussion
• What are the implications of Hart et al, 2000?
• Discussion question How does Phelps et al. jive
  with Hart et al.?
• Can unfamiliarity and threat be parsed as
  explanations? If so, how?

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stereotyping

• Cunningham et al. (2004). Separable Neural
  Components in the Processing of Black and White
  Faces. Psychological Science, 15, 806-813.
• Used fMRI to measure amygdala and prefrontal
  activation while presenting Black or White faces
  to White participants for either 30msec
  (subliminal) or 525msec (supraliminal)
• For subliminally presented faces, found greater
  amygdala activation Black than White
• For supraliminally presented faces, found greater
  PFC activation for Black than White

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stereotyping

• For 30msec, subliminal condition

Amygdala activation is associated with threat,
vigilance, emotional arousal and ambiguity
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stereotyping

• For 525msec, supraliminal condition

The prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate are
associated with inhibition, conflict and control.
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stereotyping

• Discussion Questions
• What does Cunningham et al. suggest about the
  automaticity of racial prejudice?
• Why do you think there was PFC and ACC activation
  for Black faces presented supraliminally?
• What implications does the difference between the
  sub and supraliminal presentations have for
  research on racism?

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social rejection

• Eisenberger and Lieberman (2004) Why rejection
  hurts a common neural alarm system for physical
  and social pain. TICS, 8, 294300

- Found an overlap between the neural regions
activated during physical experiences of pain, as
well as those involved is social pain or
rejection
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social rejection

• Eisenberger and Lieberman (2004)
• Suggest that the ACC plays a key role in a
  neural alarm system

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social rejection

• Eisenberger et al. (2006) An experimental study
  of shared sensitivity to physical pain and social
  rejection. Pain, 126, 132-138
• Demonstrate that those with greater baseline
  sensitivity (trait) to pain also self-report more
  social distress in social rejection situations
• Greater social distress is also associated with
  greater pain unpleasantness (state) administered
  experimentally

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social rejection

• Eisenberger and Lieberman (2004) and Eisenberger,
  et al. (2006)
• Classic example of how social neuroscience
  studies can enlighten our understanding of both
  social psychology and neuroscience
• It can also shed light on the evolutionary
  origins of neural and cognitive brain mechanisms.
  DISCUSSION How?

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Social Neuroscience Iii

• psy400

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Topics

• Key studies in SN II
• Empathy (20)
• Attitude change (15)
• Central Questions and Future Directions Towards
  an integrated understanding of how human
  behaviour happens (15)

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empathy

• Singer et al. (2004). Empathy for pain involves
  the affective but not sensory components of pain.
  Science, 303, 1157-1162
• Used fMRI to observe brain activation when pain
  was administered to a subject, or to the
  subjects loved one, who was seated in the same
  room
• Empathizing with an others pain activates the
  regions associated with the affective, but not
  sensorimotor areas of pain

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empathy

• Singer et al. (2004). Empathy for pain involves
  the affective but not sensory components of pain.
  Science, 303, 1157-1162

Green areas show activation in the self
condition Red areas show activation in the
other condition
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empathy

• Singer et al. (2006). Empathic neural responses
  are modulated by the perceived fairness of
  others. Nature, 439, 466-9.
• Male and female subjects watched confederates
  play an economic game where one confederate
  played fairly and the other played unfairly
• Subsequently, brain activation was monitored in
  the watching subjects while the game confederates
  were exposed to pain

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empathy

• Singer et al. (2006). Empathic neural responses
  are modulated by the perceived fairness of
  others. Nature, 439, 466-9.
• Both sexes responded towards the fair players
  with the affective pain area activation
  associated with empathic pain
• For the unfair player, however, males showed
  marked decreases in this empathic response and,
  instead showed increased activation in areas of
  the nucleus accumbens typically associated with
  reward suggesting a punishment thrill

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empathy

• Singer et al. (2006). Empathic neural responses
  are modulated by the perceived fairness of
  others. Nature, 439, 466-9.

females
males
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Attitude change

• Lieberman et al. (2001). Do amnesics exhibit
  cognitive dissonance reduction? The role of
  explicit memory and attention in attitude change.
  Psychological Science, 12, 135-140.
• Sought to see if attitude change always requires
  consciousness
• Exposed anterograde amnesic patients to the free
  choice paradigm. The patients were given two
  pictures and told to choose the one they
  preferred. Over time, they grew to like the
  preferred picture more, and dislike the other
  picture more, in comparison with other pictures,
  despite not having conscious recollection over
  making the initial decision that prompted the
  attitude change.