RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Brain connectivity dynamics during social interaction reflect social network structure
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 096420
DO 10.1101/096420
A1 Ralf Schmälzle
A1 Matthew Brook O’Donnell
A1 Javier O. Garcia
A1 Christopher N. Cascio
A1 Joseph Bayer
A1 Danielle S. Bassett
A1 Jean Vettel
A1 Emily B. Falk
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/01/02/096420.abstract
AB Social ties are crucial for humans. Disruption of ties through social exclusion has a marked effect on our thoughts and feelings; however, such effects can be tempered by broader social network resources. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired from 80 male adolescents to investigate how social exclusion modulates functional connectivity within and across brain networks involved in social pain and understanding the mental states of others (i.e., mentalizing). Furthermore, using objectively logged friendship network data, we examine how individual variability in brain reactivity to social exclusion relates to the density of participants’ friendship networks, an important aspect of social network structure. We find increased connectivity within a set of regions previously identified as a mentalizing system during exclusion relative to inclusion. These results are consistent across the regions of interest as well as a whole-brain analysis. Next, examining how social network characteristics are associated with task-based connectivity dynamics, participants who showed greater changes in connectivity within the mentalizing system when socially excluded by peers had less dense friendship networks. This work provides novel insight to understand how distributed brain systems respond to social and emotional challenges, and how such brain dynamics might vary based on broader social network characteristics.