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Elucidating the role of the posterior medial frontal cortex in social conflict processing
No full textA fundamental function of the brain is learning via new information. Studies investigating the neural basis of information-based learning processes indicate an important role played by the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) in representing conflict between an individual's expectation and new information. However, specific function of the pMFC in this process remains relatively indistinct. Particularly, it’s unclear whether the pMFC plays a role in the detection of conflict of incoming information, or the update of their belief after new information is provided. In an fMRI scanner, twenty-eight Japanese students viewed scenarios depicting various pro-social/anti-social behaviors. Participants rated how likely Japanese and South Korean students would perform each behavior, followed by feedback of the actual likelihood. They were then asked to rerate the scenarios after the fMRI session. Participants updated their second estimates based on feedback, with estimate changes more pronounced for favorable feedback (e.g., higher likelihood of pro-social behavior than expected) despite nationality, indicating participants were willing to view other people favorably. The fMRI results demonstrated activity in a part of the pMFC, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), was correlated with social conflict (difference between participant's estimate and actual likelihood), but not the corresponding belief update. Importantly, activity in a different part within the dmPFC was more sensitive to unfavorable trials compared to favorable trials. These results indicate sensitivity in the pMFC (at least within the dmPFC) relates to conflict between desirable outcomes versus reality, as opposed to the associated update of belief
Dataset supporting PhD Thesis titled: "The neural representation of the self"
No full textThese are the dataset for chapter 2, 3 and 4 of the doctoral thesis titled: "The neural representation of the self".
It includes one behavioural data set and three fMRI data sets (unthresholded fMRI group-level statistical maps).</span
Decomposing cognitive processes in the mPFC during self-thinking
No full textPast cognitive neuroscience research has demonstrated that thinking about both the self and other activate the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a central hub of the default mode network. The mPFC is also implicated in other cognitive processes, such as introspection and autobiographical memory, rendering elusive its exact role during thinking about the self. Specifically, it is unclear whether the same cognitive process explains the common mPFC involvement or distinct processes are responsible for the mPFC activation overlap. In this preregistered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with 35 male and female human participants, we investigated whether and to what extent mPFC activation patterns during self-reference judgment could be explained by activation patterns during the tasks of other-reference judgment, introspection, and autobiographical memory. Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) showed that only in the mPFC were neural responses both concurrently different and similar across tasks. Furthermore, multiple regression and variance partitioning analyses indicated that each task (i.e., other-reference, introspection, memory) uniquely and jointly explained significant variances in mPFC activation during self-reference. These findings suggest that the self-reference task engages multiple cognitive processes shared with other tasks, with the mPFC serving as a crucial hub where essential information is gathered and integrated to support judgments based on internally constructed representations
Neural signals in amygdala predict implicit prejudice toward an ethnic outgroup
No full textRacial and ethnic prejudice is one of the most pressing problems in modern societies. Although previous social neuroscience research has suggested the amygdala as a key structure in racial prejudice, it still remains elusive whether the amygdala activity reflects negative attitudes toward an outgroup or other unrelated processes. The present study aims to rigorously test the role of the amygdala in negative prejudice toward an outgroup. Seventy Japanese individuals passively viewed images related to an ethnic outgroup (South Korea) inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Using Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA), we found that Japanese individuals' level of implicit (but not explicit) evaluations of South Korea could be predicted from neural signals in the left amygdala. Our result further suggested that the medial and lateral parts of amygdala play different roles in implicit evaluations. In contrast to the MVPA findings, conventional univariate analyses failed to find any reliable relationship between brain activation and both implicit and explicit evaluations. Our findings provide evidence for the amygdala's role in representing an implicit form of prejudice and highlight the utility of the multivariate approach to reveal neural signatures of this complex social phenomenon
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“Your Choice” motivates you in the brain: the emergence of autonomy neuroscience
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Social equality in the number of choice options is represented in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Full text linkA distinct aspect of the sense of fairness in humans is that we care not only about equality in material rewards but also about equality in non-material values. One such value is the opportunity to choose freely among many options, often regarded as a fundamental right to economic freedom. In modern developed societies, equal opportunities in work, living, and lifestyle are enforced by anti-discrimination laws. Despite the widespread endorsement of equal opportunity, no studies have explored how people assign value to it. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural substrates for subjective valuation of equality in choice opportunity. Participants performed a two-person choice task in which the number of choices available was varied across trials independently of choice outcomes. By using this procedure, we manipulated the degree of equality in choice opportunity between players and dissociated it from the value of reward outcomes and their equality. We found that activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex tracked the degree to which the number of options between the two players was equal. In contrast, activation in the ventral striatum tracked the number of options available to participants themselves but not the equality between players. Our results demonstrate that the vmPFC, a key brain region previously implicated in the processing of social values, is also involved in valuation of equality in choice opportunity between individuals. These findings may provide valuable insight into the human ability to value equal opportunity, a characteristic long emphasized in politics, economics, and philosophy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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