Social cognitive network neuroscience

Over the past three decades, research from the field of social neuroscience has identified a constellation of brain regions that relate to social cognition. Although these studies have provided important insights into the specific neural regions underlying social behavior, they may overlook the broader neural context in which those regions and the interactions between them are embedded. Network neuroscience is an emerging discipline that focuses on modeling and analyzing brain networks—collections of interacting neural elements. Because human cognition requires integrating information across multiple brain regions and systems, we argue that a novel social cognitive network neuroscience approach—which leverages methods from the field of network neuroscience and graph theory—can advance our understanding of how brain systems give rise to social behavior. This review provides an overview of the field of network neuroscience, discusses studies that have leveraged this approach to advance social neuroscience research, highlights the potential contributions of social cognitive network neuroscience to understanding social behavior and provides suggested tools and resources for conducting network neuroscience research.     

Social network analysis for social neuroscientists

Although social neuroscience is concerned with understanding how the brain interacts with its social environment, prevailing research in the field has primarily considered the human brain in isolation, deprived of its rich social context. Emerging work in social neuroscience that leverages tools from network analysis has begun to advance knowledge of how the human brain influences and is influenced by the structures of its social environment. In this paper, we provide an overview of key theory and methods in network analysis (especially for social systems) as an introduction for social neuroscientists who are interested in relating individual cognition to the structures of an individual’s social environments. We also highlight some exciting new work as examples of how to productively use these tools to investigate questions of relevance to social neuroscientists. We include tutorials to help with practical implementations of the concepts that we discuss. We conclude by highlighting a broad range of exciting research opportunities for social neuroscientists who are interested in using network analysis to study social systems.     

Social network size in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis

Aims

Adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis report few close friends. Social support has been linked to conversion to psychosis and psychosis relapse in CHR individuals. Expanding earlier research on loneliness and friendships at a single timepoint, this study described composition and changes in social network and its association with clinical and cognitive symptoms among CHR adolescents.

Methods

Ninety five individuals (46 CHR individuals, 49 healthy volunteers) completed baseline and 1-year follow-up Social Network Index (SNI) evaluations and clinical interviews. Analyses first examined SNI size and composition across 10 categories (e.g., family, close friends, coworkers, classmates) between groups. Then, the relationship between SNI size and baseline social symptoms (i.e., paranoia, social anhedonia, social anxiety, social cognition), social function, and changes in symptoms and social networks over 1-year were examined within the CHR group.

Results

CHR individuals showed smaller social networks overall, driven by fewer friendships and family relationships. Social cognition and social anxiety significantly related to SNI size at baseline, but social anhedonia and paranoia did not. SNI size related to social function, but with a modest effect size (r's = .45 and .56). Surprisingly, an increase in positive symptom severity related to an increase in familial but a decrease in coworker social network size.

Conclusions

The social support deficits in the CHR group were specific to relatives and friendships, with social anxiety and social cognition as implicated symptoms. Social relationships may serve as a promising early intervention target in individuals at CHR for psychosis.     

Life satisfaction and associations with social network and support variables in three samples of elderly people

Research evidence concerning the contributions of social networks and support to the subjective wellbeing (ie life satisfaction) of older persons is not consistent. This article reports the results of an investigation of social network type and health status and their effects on life satisfaction in relation to 1415 elderly people from three independent but comparable surveys: two in City and Hackney, London (urban area) and one in Braintree, Essex (semi-rural area). The percentages of the total variation in overall life satisfaction which was explained by the model ranged from 22% to 33% between samples. The most variation was explained among the sampleaged 85+ living in inner London. Although most of the variance remains unexplained, healthstatus was a more powerful predictor of life satisfaction among respondents living in City and Hackney, but not those living in Braintree.     

The relationship of personality to social network aspects and loneliness in depressed patients

In a study of 110 depressed patients possible relationships between personality and social contact features, loneliness and contact difficulties, have been investigated. The results yielded numerous correlations between personality characteristics and different aspects of the social environment. Most pronounced were the relationships with loneliness and contact difficulties.     

Reduced network integration in default mode and executive networks is associated with social and personal optimism biases

An optimism bias refers to the belief in good things happening to oneself in the future with a higher likelihood than is justified. Social optimism biases extend this concept to groups that one identifies with. Previous literature has found that both personal and social optimism biases are linked to brain structure and task‐related brain function. Less is known about whether optimism biases are also expressed in resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC). Forty‐two participants completed questionnaires on dispositional personal optimism (which is not necessarily unjustified) and comparative optimism (i.e., whether we see our own future as being rosier than a comparison person''s future) and underwent a resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. They further undertook an imaginative soccer task in order to assess both their personal and social optimism bias. We tested associations of these data with RSFC within and between 13 networks, using sparse canonical correlation analyses (sCCAs). We found that the primary sCCA component was positively connected to personal and social optimism bias and negatively connected to dispositional personal pessimism. This component was associated with (a) reduced integration of the default mode network, (b) reduced integration of the central executive and salience networks, and (c) reduced segregation between the default mode network and the central executive network. Our finding that optimism biases are linked to RSFC indicates that they may be rooted in neurobiology that exists outside of concurrent tasks. This poses questions as to what the limits of the malleability of such biases may be.     

Is the association between social network types,depressive symptoms and life satisfaction mediated by the perceived availability of social support? A cross-sectional analysis using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine: 1) whether the relationship between social network types, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction is mediated by different types of perceived social support; and, 2) whether social support plays a mediational role for married versus unmarried older adults.

Methods: The study was based on national, baseline data (Tracking Cohort) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging for participants aged 65 to 85 (N?=?8782). Five social network types derived from cluster analysis were used as predictors in the mediation analyses, with the four social support subscales of the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS) Social Support Survey (tangible, emotional, positive social interactions, and affectionate) included as mediators, and depressive symptoms and life satisfaction as outcome variables. Socio-demographic and physical health variables were included as covariates.

Results: Significant indirect effects emerged, with less diverse social network structures generally associated with less social support which, in turn, was related to more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. However, different findings emerged for different types of social support, for participants who were married and unmarried, and for depressive symptoms versus life satisfaction.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that restricted social networks that are reflective of social isolation, as well as those that are intermediate in terms of their diversity can create gaps in perceived social support and, consequently, can negatively impact mental health and life satisfaction.     

Theory of mind mediates the prospective relationship between abnormal social brain network morphology and chronic behavior problems after pediatric traumatic brain injury

Childhood and adolescence coincide with rapid maturation and synaptic reorganization of distributed neural networks that underlie complex cognitive-affective behaviors. These regions, referred to collectively as the ‘social brain network’ (SBN) are commonly vulnerable to disruption from pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the mechanisms that link morphological changes in the SBN to behavior problems in this population remain unclear. In 98 children and adolescents with mild to severe TBI, we acquired 3D T1-weighted MRIs at 2–8 weeks post-injury. For comparison, 33 typically developing controls of similar age, sex and education were scanned. All participants were assessed on measures of Theory of Mind (ToM) at 6 months post-injury and parents provided ratings of behavior problems at 24-months post-injury. Severe TBI was associated with volumetric reductions in the overall SBN package, as well as regional gray matter structural change in multiple component regions of the SBN. When compared with TD controls and children with milder injuries, the severe TBI group had significantly poorer ToM, which was associated with more frequent behavior problems and abnormal SBN morphology. Mediation analysis indicated that impaired theory of mind mediated the prospective relationship between abnormal SBN morphology and more frequent chronic behavior problems. Our findings suggest that sub-acute alterations in SBN morphology indirectly contribute to long-term behavior problems via their influence on ToM. Volumetric change in the SBN and its putative hub regions may represent useful imaging biomarkers for prediction of post-acute social cognitive impairment, which may in turn elevate risk for chronic behavior problems.     

Association between perceived social support and strain, and positive and negative outcome for adults with mild intellectual disability

Social strain has been identified as a trigger for both depression and physical health problems, but has not been well researched in people with intellectual disability (ID). The present study contrasted the effects of social support with social strain on depressive symptoms, somatic complaints and quality of life over time in adults with mild ID. The level of social support explained a significant proportion of variance in quality of life 6 months later, but not depressive symptoms or somatic complaints. In contrast, the level of social strain accounted for a significant proportion of variance in depressive symptoms and somatic complaints 6 months later, but not quality of life. The results suggest that interpersonal relationships can be both positively and negatively associated with physical and mental health for people with ID.     

Social network types and well-being among South Korean older adults

Objective: The social networks of older individuals reflect personal life history and cultural factors. Despite these two sources of variation, four similar network types have been identified in Europe, North America, Japan, and China: namely ‘restricted’, ‘family’, ‘friend’, and ‘diverse’. This study identified the social network types of Korean older adults and examined differential associations of the network types with well-being.

Method: The analysis used data from the 2008 wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA: N = 4251, age range 65–108). We used a two-step cluster analytical approach to identify network types from seven indicators of network structure and function. Regression models determined associations between network types and well-being outcomes, including life satisfaction and depressive symptomatology.

Results: Cluster analysis of indicators of network structure and function revealed four types, including the restricted, friend, and diverse types. Instead of a family type, we found a couple-focused type. The young–old (age 65–74) were more likely to be in the couple-focused type and more of the oldest old (age 85+) belonged to the restricted type. Compared with the restricted network, older adults in all other networks were more likely to report higher life satisfaction and lower depressive symptomatology.

Discussion: Life course and cohort-related factors contribute to similarities across societies in network types and their associations with well-being. Korean-specific life course and socio-historical factors, however, may contribute to our unique findings about network types.     

Moderators in the relationship between social contact and psychological distress among widowed adults

Objectives: This study examines: (1) the effect of widowed persons’ frequency of contact with friends and relatives on their depressive and grief symptoms six months following spousal loss and (2) the extent to which the effects of social contact are contingent upon the degree of emotional support received from these relationships and the congruence between widowed persons’ preferred and actual levels of social contact.

Method: Analyses are based on the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study, a prospective study of a two-stage area probability sample of 1532 married men and women aged 65 or older. Depressive and grief symptoms, six months after spousal loss, were regressed on social contact, support, and congruence between preferred and actual social contact.

Results: Frequency of contact did not have a significant influence on psychological distress when contextual factors are controlled. Social support and the incongruence between preferred and actual social contact were significantly associated with decreased psychological distress for several outcomes. As for the moderating effects of social support and incongruence on the link between social contact and distress, those who had high social contact and high social support experienced less anger and fewer intrusive thoughts than their counterparts; and those who had low social contact but preferred high social contact experienced greater anger.

Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of understanding the quality of widowed persons’ relationships as well as the congruence between their preferred and actual social contact.     

Relationship between ADIS clinician's severity rating and self-report measures among social phobics

Although global clinical rating scales have been a mainstay of clinical research, little is known about the relationship between these measures and other assessment modalities. The present study examined the Clinician's Severity Rating (CSR) from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule in a sample of 186 social phobics. It was hypothesized that the CSR would be related to higher fear of negative evaluation, behavioral avoidance, social anxiety, and dysphoria, and that four self-report measures reflecting each of these common features of social phobia would contribute individually to predict clinicians' judgments of clinical severity using the CSR. Multiple regression analyses supported these hypotheses, accounting for nearly 33% of the variance in the CSR. The role of subtype of social phobia was also investigated. Overall, these results support the utility of the CSR for use with social phobics, but the relatively low proportion of variance accounted for raises further questions. Directions for future research are also discussed. Depression and Anxiety 4:120–125, 1996/1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Neural similarity between mentalizing and live social interaction during the transition to adolescence

Social interactions are essential for human development, yet little neuroimaging research has examined their underlying neurocognitive mechanisms using socially interactive paradigms during childhood and adolescence. Recent neuroimaging research has revealed activity in the mentalizing network when children engage with a live social partner, even when mentalizing is not required. While this finding suggests that social‐interactive contexts may spontaneously engage mentalizing, it is not a direct test of how similarly the brain responds to these two contexts. The current study used representational similarity analysis on data from 8‐ to 14‐year‐olds who made mental and nonmental judgments about an abstract character and a live interaction partner during fMRI. A within‐subject, 2 (Mental/Nonmental) × 2 (Peer/Character) design enabled us to examine response pattern similarity between conditions, and estimate fit to three conceptual models of how the two contexts relate: (1) social interaction and mentalizing about an abstract character are represented similarly; (2) interactive peers and abstract characters are represented differently regardless of the evaluation type; and (3) mental and nonmental states are represented dissimilarly regardless of target. We found that the temporal poles represent mentalizing and peer interactions similarly (Model 1), suggesting a neurocognitive link between the two in these regions. Much of the rest of the social brain exhibits different representations of interactive peers and abstract characters (Model 2). Our findings highlight the importance of studying social‐cognitive processes using interactive approaches, and the utility of pattern‐based analyses for understanding how social‐cognitive processes relate to each other.     

Life events and social network in relation to the onset of depression. A controlled study

In this article we present the results of a study on the role of life events and social network in the onset of depression. We compared 24 new outpatients with major depression or a dysthymic disorder with 24 healthy matched controls. The patient group was interviewed about the year before the onset of depression; the control group about the year preceding the interview. The results show a significant difference between the 2 groups in occurrence of life events and quality of social network.     

Neural evidence for an association between social proficiency and sensitivity to social reward

Data from developmental psychology suggests a link between the growth of socio-emotional competences and the infant''s sensitivity to the salience of social stimuli. The aim of the present study was to find evidence for this relationship in healthy adults. Thirty-five participants were recruited based on their score above the 85th or below the 15th percentile of the empathy quotient questionnaire (EQ, Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2004). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare neural responses to cues of social and non-social (monetary) reward. When compared to the high-EQ group, the low-EQ group showed reduced activity of the brain s reward system, specifically the right nucleus accumbens, in response to cues predictive of social reward (videos showing gestures of approval)—but increased activation in this area for monetary incentives. Our data provide evidence for a link between self-reported deficits in social proficiency and reduced sensitivity to the motivational salience of positive social stimuli.     

Correspondence between evoked and intrinsic functional brain network configurations

Much of the literature exploring differences between intrinsic and task‐evoked brain architectures has examined changes in functional connectivity patterns between specific brain regions. While informative, this approach overlooks important overall functional changes in hub organization and network topology that may provide insights about differences in integration between intrinsic and task‐evoked states. Examination of changes in overall network organization, such as a change in the concentration of hub nodes or a quantitative change in network organization, is important for understanding the underlying processes that differ between intrinsic and task‐evoked brain architectures. The present study used graph‐theoretical techniques applied to publicly available neuroimaging data collected from a large sample of individuals (N = 202), and a within‐subject design where resting‐state and several task scans were collected from each participant as part of the Human Connectome Project. We demonstrate that differences between intrinsic and task‐evoked brain networks are characterized by a task‐general shift in high‐connectivity hubs from primarily sensorimotor/auditory processing areas during the intrinsic state to executive control/salience network areas during task performance. In addition, we demonstrate that differences between intrinsic and task‐evoked architectures are associated with changes in overall network organization, such as increases in network clustering, global efficiency and integration between modules. These findings offer a new perspective on the principles guiding functional brain organization by identifying unique and divergent properties of overall network organization between the resting‐state and task performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1992–2007, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: a comparative synthesis

All animals evaluate the salience of external stimuli and integrate them with internal physiological information into adaptive behavior. Natural and sexual selection impinge on these processes, yet our understanding of behavioral decision-making mechanisms and their evolution is still very limited. Insights from mammals indicate that two neural circuits are of crucial importance in this context: the social behavior network and the mesolimbic reward system. Here we review evidence from neurochemical, tract-tracing, developmental, and functional lesion/stimulation studies that delineates homology relationships for most of the nodes of these two circuits across the five major vertebrate lineages: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and teleost fish. We provide for the first time a comprehensive comparative analysis of the two neural circuits and conclude that they were already present in early vertebrates. We also propose that these circuits form a larger social decision-making (SDM) network that regulates adaptive behavior. Our synthesis thus provides an important foundation for understanding the evolution of the neural mechanisms underlying reward processing and behavioral regulation.     

Association between the psychosocial network and dementia--a case-control study

In a case-control study, we investigated the possible etiological relevance to dementia of psychosocial network factors, such as marital status, confidants and close relatives, sports activities, cultural activities, club membership; and education. In 23 general practices we recruited 195 patients with dementia. Of these, 108 were suffering from possible Alzheimer's disease, 59 from possible vascular dementia and 28 from secondary or unclassified dementia. A total of 229 control subjects was recruited: 122 population controls and 107 dementia-free ambulatory patients. Data were gathered in a structured personal interview and analyzed using logistic regression, to control for age, region, sex, dementia in parents, education and smoking. There were significantly decreased odds ratios for the number of confidants, sports activities, and cultural activities at age 30, at age 50 and at 10 years before data collection. When all psychosocial network factors were included simultaneously in the logistic regression model, these factors remained statistically significant, indicating independent effects. Restriction of the analysis to cases with possible Alzheimer's disease or to cases with possible vascular dementia led to similar results. Adjustment for the psychosocial network neutralized the otherwise protective effect of education for dementia of any type and for possible vascular dementia. In keeping with the results from recently published studies, these results support a protective role for the psychosocial network-especially for the number of confidants and for sports and cultural activities-in the etiology of dementia.