Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Overarching conceptualizations propose a critical role of the default mode network (DMN) in self-referential mental time travel, particularly in autobiographical memory retrieval and episodic future thinking, and internal (intrinsic) emotion generation and regulation. However, these conceptualizations have not been directly evaluated. Against this background, the present fMRI study aimed to identify both shared and distinct neural systems underlying autobiographical episodic processing across different temporal contexts - specifically, episodic memory retrieval (EMR) and episodic future thinking (EFT) - and to examine how these systems interact with affective experiences, including valence and arousal. Our findings demonstrated the central role of the DMN - encompassing the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and medial temporal lobe (MTL) - in both EMR and EFT. Importantly, we identified a functional dissociation along both valence and temporal dimensions: the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was more strongly associated with positive experiences and simulations, whereas the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) was consistently engaged during the processing of negative affect across past and future contexts. Moreover, representational similarity and parametric analyses indicated that the hippocampus supports differential processing of valence and arousal across temporal domains. Together, these findings provide empirical evidence for the involvement of cortical midline core DMN systems in autobiographical processing across time and suggest overlapping and distinct systems for the integration of emotional experiences across mental time travel.

Humans form selective and enduring pair bonds with romantic partners, a principal feature of human sociality. Neuroimaging studies have shown that romantic partners are differentially represented from other individuals in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and anterior insula (aINS), and that the specificity of partner representations in the NAcc diminishes as relationships mature. However, it remains unclear whether such differentiation reflects partner-specific coding or mere differences in familiarity with others, and whether these regions play different roles in romantic bonding. To address these questions, we applied multiple regression representational similarity analysis to fMRI data from 51 heterosexual male participants in early romantic relationships. The data were acquired during a social incentive delay task, in which participants anticipated social approval from their female romantic partner, a female friend, or an unfamiliar female individual. This approach allowed us to dissociate partner-specific representations from familiarity-related effects in the NAcc and aINS. We found that both regions exhibited partner-specific representations that could not be explained by familiarity. Consistent with previous findings, partner specificity in the NAcc was negatively associated with relationship duration, indicating that partner-specific coding in this region is established early in romantic relationships and diminishes as relationships progress. Moreover, greater partner specificity in the aINS was associated with more frequent intrusive thoughts about the partner. Together, these findings demonstrate that romantic partners are represented in the NAcc and aINS in a qualitatively distinct manner from other individuals, and that these regions support dissociable aspects of romantic bonding. Key PointsO_LIMultiple regression representational similarity analysis revealed partner-specific representations in the nucleus accumbens and anterior insula that cannot be explained by familiarity. C_LIO_LIIndividuals in longer relationships showed reduced partner specificity in the nucleus accumbens, consistent with prior findings. C_LIO_LIIndividuals exhibiting greater partner specificity in the anterior insula reported more frequent intrusive thoughts about their partner, indicating dissociable psychological functions across regions. C_LI

Interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) in mother-child dyads is often interpreted as a neural marker of relational quality and sensitive caregiving, yet findings on its predictors remain heterogeneous. One possible source of this variability is the diversity of interactional paradigms used in hyperscanning research. This study examined how maternal personality, child temperament, and affective states relate to INS across interaction contexts varying in social interactivity. Thirty-three mother-child dyads (n = 20 female children) participated in a functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning experiment involving passive video co-exposure, a structured cooperative task, and free interaction. Fronto-temporal activity was recorded simultaneously, and INS was computed using wavelet transform coherence. Above-chance levels of INS emerged in inter-brain region combinations primarily involving the mothers left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the childs right IFG (adjusted ps < 0.030, Cohens d range = 0.14-0.31). Maternal neuroticism was the only significant predictor of INS, with higher levels associated with increased synchrony during passive video co-exposure (adjusted p = 0.012) and free interaction (adjusted p = 0.021), but not during the structured game. These findings indicate that maternal dispositional traits shape INS in a context-dependent manner. Notably, the positive association between neuroticism and INS suggests that heightened neural synchrony may reflect over-attunement in more anxious caregivers, rather than optimal coordination. Excessive synchrony may therefore index tightly coupled, over-monitoring interaction dynamics, consistent with models of affiliative vigilance in anxious parenting. Overall, INS may follow a non-linear pattern in which moderate levels are most adaptive, highlighting its flexible, dynamic, and context-sensitive nature.

Excessive self-blaming emotions are commonly observed in anxiety disorders, with qualitatively similar symptomatology reported in subclinical populations. Interpretation of moral information requires assessing the social conceptual information, a process overseen by the superior anterior temporal lobe (sATL). Feelings of self-blame evoke interactions of sATL and socio-affective regions, and previous research shows that subclinical anxiety modulates the organisation of the self-blame circuitry. This study aimed to extend these findings by exploring links of trait-anxiety with (i) self-blaming emotions and associated behaviours in an experimental task, and (ii) self-blame-dependent neural activity and connectivity, as observed during reliving of autobiographical guilt memories. We also explored the role of resting-state fMRI in linking these phenomena. Increased anxiety was linked to stronger self-blaming emotions, and more pronounced self-attacking and hiding. When experiencing negative emotions about themselves (i.e. shame and self-anger), anxious individuals were also less likely to disengage from self-focused thoughts. These behavioural findings were paralleled by enhanced self-blame-related connectivity between the left sATL and bilateral posterior subgenual cingulate cortex. Distinct patterns of activity and connectivity within the ATL-related circuitry were furthermore linked to individual differences in intensity of the self-blaming emotions and approach-avoidance motivation towards the guilt memories. As such, the results of the current study link stronger self-blaming emotions in anxious individuals with specific maladaptive patterns of behaviour. Furthermore, the work provides robust evidence for the important role of ATL-related circuitry in self-blame processing, supporting its broader involvement in social conceptual processing and its alterations in subclinical anxiety.

Social decision-making relies on dynamic affect-cognition interactions across distributed brain networks, yet how incidental positive affect modulates these mechanisms at a millisecond timescale remains unclear. This study investigated the impact of music-induced positive emotion on the neural dynamics of decision-making in the Ultimatum Game. Fifty-six participants were assigned to either a happy music group or an active control (rain sound) group. Fifty-six participants were assigned to either a happy music group or an active control (rain sound) group, while electroencephalography was recorded to capture rapid neural dynamics. Behaviorally, happy music accelerated reaction times (RTs) and decoupled the ERP-RT correlations observed in the control condition. Neurally, positive affect amplified event-related potential amplitudes during early conflict detection (220-280 ms) and late valuation (520-560 ms) stages. Multivariate pattern analysis further revealed that happy music enhanced the neural separability and temporal stability of decision states (accept vs. reject). Moreover, using support vector regression based on functional network features, we found that decision acceptance rates were predicted with significantly higher accuracy in the happy music group (R = 0.60) compared to controls (R = 0.41). Crucially, feature weight analysis indicated a topological shift in decision strategy: while the control group relied on frontal-central edges (implicating executive control), the happy music group was characterized by central-temporal connections (suggesting integrative processing). Collectively, these findings provide novel evidence that incidental emotion intervenes at the millisecond timescale to bias social choices, offering a dynamic network-based account of the affect-cognition interaction.

Obesity is a growing public health concern with more than 40% of adults meeting criteria for obesity in the United States. Although many treatments seek to lower individuals weight, few treatments have focused on cognitive strategies to change the way individuals think about food, therefore, decreasing consumption of non-nutrient-dense foods. Cognitive reappraisal is one strategy that involves changing the way one thinks about a situation and can be used to downregulate responses to those stimuli. Leveraging this intuitive, cost-effective strategy to decrease ones desire to eat unhealthy food and therefore, decrease overeating, could improve physical and mental health. The present study identified brain regions that are differentially activated when using cognitive reappraisal to downregulate responses to food (FR) versus when using the same strategy to downregulate negative emotions (ER). We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in 63 undergraduate students while participants completed both tasks. There was increased reappraisal-related activation in widespread regions across both tasks, including in expected subcortical (i.e., striatum) and cortical areas (i.e., visual, frontoparietal). We also found domain-specific activity, with greater insula activation in the FR than the ER task and greater hippocampal activation in the ER than the FR task. These results reveal domain-general and domain-specific effects of cognitive reappraisal in FR and ER tasks that inform future work examining eating behavior. Taken together, a better explication of the overlapping and discrete processes of food regulation, as it compares to other applications of this regulatory strategy can inform new intervention targets.

The perception of God can be as a transcendent entity that is infinite and outside of human beings, typical for religious traditions, or as an immanent entity that is outside and inside of human beings, typical for mystical traditions. These different perceptions of God may be associated with different neural correlates depending on which God we pray to. To elucidate the neural correlates of these different perceptions of the divine, we compared fMRI activation during praying between 18 Christians and 16 practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation, characterised by transcendent and immanent perceptions of God, respectively. The thalamus was deactivated during praying in Meditators relative to Christians. Due to the sensory relay function of thalamus, the thalamic deactivation in meditators presumably reflects a reduction in the perception of external stimuli in order to focus on the internal perception of an immanent God, while the activation of the thalamus in Christian prayers could be associated with the dialogue with an externally perceived transcendent God.

Mind-wandering (MW), the shift of attention away from an ongoing task, can be classified as either deliberate or spontaneous, depending on whether these internal thoughts arise intentionally or unintentionally. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging-based resting state studies have shown that spontaneous MW traits are positively correlated with coupling within the default mode network (DMN), whereas deliberate MW traits are positively correlated with coupling both within the DMN and between the DMN and control-or attention-related networks. However, state-based functional connectivity during each MW episode remains unknown. Addressing this knowledge gap, we investigated how deliberate and spontaneous MW differentially involve state-based large-scale network interactions during a sustained attention task using electroencephalography (EEG), which captures rapid network dynamics. Thirty-one participants performed the gradual-onset continuous performance task using 64-channel EEG. Mental states were classified via experience-sampling probes as on-task, deliberate, or spontaneous MW. EEG data from 1-s pre-probe epochs were analyzed using source estimation and the weighted phase lag index to assess functional connectivity within and across the DMN, control network (CN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and salience network (SN) in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. Relative to both spontaneous MW and the on-task state, deliberate MW was characterized by significantly stronger alpha band functional connectivity. A prominent connectivity cluster was centered on the right frontal operculum-insula of the SN, linking regions across the SN, CN, and DMN. In addition, deliberate MW exhibited enhanced SN-DAN-DMN coupling compared with the on-task state. By contrast, spontaneous MW did not show significant connectivity differences relative to the on-task state in any frequency band. Taken together, these results suggest that alpha band network interactions centered on the SN may contribute to the intentional regulation of internally directed thought during deliberate MW.

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is associated with impulsive aggression in ambiguous social contexts. Prior neuroimaging studies have treated IED as a homogenous group, but identical social situations may elicit divergent responses across IED individuals. Here, we test the hypothesis that IED is characterized by idiosyncratic neural responses to social cues during naturalistic social-emotional processing. IED individuals and healthy controls completed a validated paradigm where they were presented with video vignettes of interpersonal interactions while undergoing fMRI. We computed the intersubject correlation (ISC) in neural time courses between pairs of participants to quantify neural similarity, and assessed whether similarity differed between Healthy-Healthy and IED-IED dyads using Bayesian multilevel models, controlling for self-reported emotional responses and intention attributions for each vignette. Healthy-Healthy dyads showed significantly higher ISC than IED-IED dyads, indicating that neural responses to the videos were similar among healthy participants, but idiosyncratic in IED individuals. These effects were observed in regions in the default mode and salience networks, including the precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex, superior temporal sulcus, insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Individuals with IED exhibited idiosyncratic neural responses during naturalistic social-emotional processing, even after accounting for differences in emotional reaction and intention attribution. This neural idiosyncrasy may reflect atypical integration of social cues, giving rise to maladaptive interpretations and impulsive aggression. Assessing neural synchrony during ecologically valid paradigms offers a promising tool for identifying neural markers of interpersonal dysfunction and informing targeted interventions.

We investigated the neural substrates underlying the brain network shared by social exclusion and physiological needs, both viewed as instances of deprivation. Using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses, we examined brain activation patterns from studies where participants perceived food/water while hungry/thirsty and social interactions while experiencing exclusion. This analysis revealed overlapping activation in the mid-posterior insula, caudate head and ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as regions consistently engaged when perceiving relevant stimuli across both physiological and social deprivation. Furthermore, we found high spatial correlation between this shared network and the distribution of dopamine receptors, and we identified a significant positive correlation with the 5HT4 among serotonin receptors. Our findings suggest that perceiving deprivation-related stimuli activates brain regions and neurotransmitters involved in aversive affect and goal-directed behavior. These results highlight a neural bridge linking basic physiological drives with complex social needs, offering new insights into the neurobiological architecture of human affective states--while representing just one part of a much larger puzzle.

Transcendent thinking (TT) is an enduring affective and cognitive process characterized by abstract meaning-making, moral reflection, self-referential integration, and strong emotional engagement. Despite growing interest in its developmental and affective significance, the intrinsic neural dynamics that predict individual differences in disposition to TT remain poorly understood. Most prior work has relied on linear functional connectivity measures, which may be insufficient to capture the nonlinear and multiscale nature of brain dynamics underlying higher-order affective dispositions like TT. Here, we introduce a nonlinear functional brain network (FBN) framework based on multiscale entropy (MSE) to investigate whether intrinsic resting-state nonlinear brain dynamics predict disposition to TT in adolescents. Functional connectivity was defined as inter-regional similarity in MSE profiles derived from resting-state fMRI, yielding weighted networks that capture scale-dependent dynamical correspondence rather than linear synchrony. Graph-theoretical, spectral, and information-theoretic measures were computed and evaluated against signal-level and network-level null models. Predictive performance was assessed using machine-learning models and compared with conventional time series-based FBNs. Global intelligence (IQ) was examined as a control cognitive variable. MSE-based network features, particularly spectral energy and Shannon entropy, showed significant associations with TT and enabled reliable prediction of individual differences, whereas time series-based network measures failed to predict TT. No network measures reliably predicted IQ. Overall, these results indicate that intrinsic nonlinear brain dynamics carry predictive information about affective dispositions, rather than domainspecific or network-localized cognitive abilities such as IQ. This work demonstrates that nonlinear, multiscale network representations of resting-state brain activity provide a principled and predictive framework for modeling individual differences in enduring affective dispositions.

High neuroticism is a risk factor for mental disorders. Understanding whether individuals share a common foundation in brain function underlying neuroticism is therefore an essential goal of neuroscience. We applied Inter-Subject Representational Similarity Analysis on data from 174 Human Connectome Project participants to investigate if their similarity in neuroticism is reflected in their similarity of fMRI-recorded brain activity during movie watching. To test behavioral personality theories that consider trait expression as dependent on situational context, we examined whether brain-trait representational similarity varied between trait-relevant and trait-irrelevant movie scenes (independently rated, N = 86). Higher neuroticism was associated with greater heterogeneity in brain responses, a pattern that was particularly pronounced during trait-relevant scenes. Our study informs dimensional conceptualizations of psychopathology viewing neuroticism as risk factor and extends behavioral personality theories to the neural level. Broadly, it highlights the value of naturalistic imaging and underscores the importance of stimulus selection when investigating brain-behavior associations.

3.The fusiform face area (FFA) preferentially responds to faces within the first months of life. One hypothesis is that higher-order social responses in middle medial prefrontal cortex (MMPFC) or face responses in superior temporal sulcus (STS) drive the development of face-selective responses in FFA, with right-hemisphere dominance in FFA eventually arising from lateralised connections to these regions. Another hypothesis proposes an innate face template in the amygdala guides attention to face-like shapes. This study opportunistically examined the development of the FFA, MMPFC, STS, and amygdala in childhood using an open cross-sectional movie-viewing fMRI dataset with 3-12-year-olds (N=117, M=6.77 years) and adults (N=33, M=24.77 years). We tested for correlations between FFA development and development in MMPFC, STS, and amygdala on the premise that associations between these regions may be observable even in children, and such associations could constrain hypotheses and analytic approaches in future studies with infants. First, we measured functional maturity-how similar each childs response to the movie was to an adult average response timecourse. In all regions, older childrens responses were more adult-like. Next, we tested whether FFA maturity correlated with functional connectivity with, or functional maturity of, MMPFC, STS, or amygdala. Children with more mature right FFA responses showed stronger right FFA-right MMPFC connectivity. Children with more mature FFA responses also had more mature STS responses, bilaterally. This study provides preliminary evidence that FFA co-develops with higher-order social brain regions and specific metrics to take forward in future research with infants. HighlightsO_LIWhat drives face selective responses in FFA is the subject of recent debate. C_LIO_LI117 children aged 3 to 12 years watched a short movie while undergoing fMRI. C_LIO_LIRight FFA development correlated with functional connectivity to right MMPFC C_LIO_LIFFA development correlated with STS development, bilaterally. C_LIO_LIFFA codevelops with higher-order social brain regions (controlling for age). C_LI

An increasing number of studies are currently focusing on personality neuroscience, a term denoting the research aimed at neuroimaging correlates of inter-individual temperament and character variability. Among other methods, a graph theoretical analysis of the functional connectivity in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data was applied in a study by Gao et al. (2013), reporting novel functional connectivity correlates of personality traits. The current paper presents a conceptual replication of the results of this study and discusses the related challenges, including an extension of the original statistical methods in order to illustrate the effect of the multiple comparison problem. Five personality dimensions were obtained using the revised Big Five Personality Inventory, including scores of Extraversion and Neuroticism covered in the original paper. Using a larger sample (84 subjects) with adequate statistical power (ranging from 0.75 to 0.95 across analyses), we failed to replicate any of the nine specific neuroimaging correlates of personality presented by Gao et al. While acknowledging differences in the experimental procedures, we discuss that the lack of replication might be caused by the relatively liberal control of false positives in the original study. Indeed, the original testing scheme leads to an expected count of about 10 false positive observations among all tests; applying this scheme to our data we observed a similar number of positive tests, albeit for different relations. No significant correlations were found in our data when standard family-wise error control was applied. These results illustrate the importance of combining exploration with independent validation, use of large datasets, as well as appropriate control of multiple comparison problem in order to prevent false alarms in research into neural substrates of personality differences. Importantly, our findings do not disprove the existence of a link between personality and the brains intrinsic functional architecture; but rather suggest that such a link might be even more subtle and elusive than previously reported.

Systematic focus training is increasingly recognized for its therapeutic benefits, with equanimity, the ability to maintain an open and accepting attitude towards all experience, identified as a critical mechanism for improving well-being. Physiologically, experienced meditators demonstrate reduced activity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a hub of the default mode network (DMN), and increased segregation between the DMN and the central executive network (CEN). This study investigated whether non-invasive neuromodulation could facilitate these neural and behavioral shifts in novice practitioners. We conducted a single-blind, randomized controlled trial with 24 meditation-naive participants who engaged in a two-week "Body Focus" mindfulness training program. Participants were randomized to receive either active (n=16) or sham (n=8) suppressive transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) targeting the PCC during four in-person meditation sessions. Resting-state fMRI analysis revealed a robust Condition x Session interaction in functional connectivity. While the sham group showed a trend toward increased coupling, the active tFUS group demonstrated significant decoupling (increased segregation) between the DMN and CEN, a pattern characteristic of advanced meditators. Subnetwork analysis indicated these effects were driven primarily by the decoupling of the core self-referential system in DMN (DMNA) from the external-oriented control system of the CEN (CENB). Behaviorally, greater reductions in DMN-CEN connectivity within the active group predicted larger increases in self-reported acceptance and longer duration of voluntary meditation practice. These findings suggest that tFUS targeting the PCC can acutely redirect neuroplastic trajectories during early mindfulness training, potentially accelerating the acquisition of equanimity and distinct network configurations associated with effortless awareness. Significance StatementThis study demonstrates that transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) targeting the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) can synergistically enhance mindfulness training in novices. By inducing a robust decoupling between the default mode and central executive networks - a neural signature typically acquired only after hundreds of hours of practice - this intervention effectively redirected the neural trajectory of novice practitioners toward that of experienced meditators in just two weeks. These findings suggest that targeted neuromodulation can bypass early obstacles in meditation practice, offering a promising "precision wellness" avenue for accelerating the acquisition of equanimity and its associated well-being benefits.

BackgroundDepression is associated with social dysfunction, but the mechanisms linking affective symptoms to disrupted close relationships remain poorly understood. One possibility is that depression alters how people experience rewards shared with close others and how they interpret partners actions. It remains unclear whether neural sensitivity to shared reward predicts social valuation during more complex interactions such as reciprocated trust. MethodsIn this preregistered fMRI study, participants completed a reward-sharing task and a Trust Game with a close friend, a stranger, and a computer. We measured striatal shared reward sensitivity (SRS; friend > computer) and tested whether it related to subsequent investment behavior and brain responses to trust reciprocation. Depressive symptoms and perceived closeness were assessed via self-report. ResultsIn a final sample of n = 123, participants reporting more depressive symptoms invested more in their friend than in the computer. Striatal SRS predicted temporoparietal junction responses to reciprocated trust, but this association depended jointly on social closeness and depression -- with depression reversing the expected pattern among individuals reporting closer relationships. Striatal SRS was also inversely associated with connectivity between the default mode network and cerebellum during reciprocity. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that closeness calibrates the striatal SRS link to regional activity and network-level responses during social exchange, while depression alters how striatal SRS relates to regional activity, potentially disrupting how individuals interpret and respond to close others.

Arousal and valence are fundamental dimensions of affective experience signifying levels of activation and pleasantness, respectively. These dimensions play a crucial role in shaping emotional responses and behaviors, with significant implications for psychopathology. Previous machine learning studies had some success decoding these states from brain activation patterns observed during task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but the results have varied across studies. Moreover, prior studies have often been limited by small sample sizes, weak decoding performance, and non-whole-brain analyses, leaving the neural representations of arousal and valence largely unresolved. Here we successfully decoded arousal and valence from whole-brain task-fMRI data collected from 132 participants during exposure to 300 unique emotional stimuli, including 150 movie clips and 150 text scenarios that reliably induced a wide range of arousal and valence states. Mass univariate general linear models identified block-level activation (emotion stimuli > washout) from all gray matter voxels. Multivariate regression analysis predicted arousal and valence ratings based on these gray matter activations. Patterns in the fMRI data underlying arousal and valence were robust, as they were successfully decoded across both induction modalities using five different linear multivariate regression models. Although significant, decoding from scenarios was less successful than from movies, likely due to their more imaginative nature. In particular, decoding arousal from scenarios only showed low predictive utility. Representations of arousal and valence were widespread throughout the brain, and we reveal cerebellar and brainstem contributions that have largely been absent in past fMRI decoding studies. These findings clarify the distributed neural basis of arousal and valence and provide a foundation for future clinical research on the role of these constructs in affective dysregulation.

Arousal relates to cognitive performance, but the neural underpinnings of this relationship remain unclear. One candidate marker is switching rate, a dynamic measure that has been linked to cognition and has been speculated to be sensitive to arousal. However, whether switching rate is altered across arousal states has not been directly tested. Here, using fMRI together with concurrent eye monitoring and EEG, we examined how the switching rates of the default mode, salience, and central executive networks are altered across arousal states. Default mode and anterior salience networks exhibited significant differences in switching rates across arousal states determined with eye tracking. Notably, thalamic subregions showed arousal-dependent changes in switching rate that were replicated across independent datasets and arousal measures. Additionally, arousal moderated the relationship between average network switching and performance on a relational processing task. Together, these findings suggest that switching rate may index neural underpinnings of arousal-dependent cognition.

By relying on the observation of others experiences, humans learn about threat while avoiding harmful experiences. Yet, previous neuroscience research has focused on observational threats that are predictable. While the neurobiological distinction between temporally predictable (cued) and unpredictable (contextual) threats has been well-characterized in firsthand learning. In this study, we developed a novel observational paradigm in which participants learned from predictable (P) and unpredictable (U) observational threats, as well as a no-threat (N) condition and encountered the same conditions during an expression phase based on the NPU paradigm to investigate how the brain encodes predictable and unpredictable threat cues observed in others. Participants in Experiment 1 (n=20, male and female) and Experiment 2 (n=23, male and female) successfully learned threat contingencies, showing heightened threat expectations for predictable cues and unpredictable contexts. This converged with neural (fMRI, Experiment 2) responses in the anterior insula during the expression phase. Reflecting the dynamic process of learning, the amygdala responded to predictable threat cues with a linear decrease across trials. Interestingly, we found that responses to others pain was enhanced within the amygdala, insula and hippocampus, when participant could learn to predict threats, as compared to unpredictable conditions. Our findings suggest that humans learn to resolve temporal uncertainty, relying solely on observation, which thereby lays a foundation to the concept of fear and anxiety in social groups.

Research on the relationship between digital media and neurocognitive function has blossomed with the rising digital age and advent of social media, producing a growing literature focused on how technological developments may be affecting users brains. Much of the science has focused on the involvement of specific brain systems that support reward (e.g., nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex), cognitive control (e.g., lateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate), and socio-emotional processes (e.g., temporo-parietal junction) and why they might be especially relevant to digital media engagement. However, a broad and systematic analysis of the consistency of findings across neuroimaging studies has not yet been published. Here, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis based on published structural and functional MRI studies exploring habitual digital media engagement. Adopting a granular approach to summation of this literature, we use Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) and find that the most consistent effects arise in the anterior insular cortex, a region implicated in the integration of social and emotional information that has not been frequently highlighted in the prior literature on digital media effects in the brain. This discovery encourages reconsideration of how the brain is likely to affect, and be affected by, digital media engagement and online behavior.