Socially Induced Negative Emotions Elicit Neural Activity in the Mentalizing Network in a Subsequent Inhibitory Task. (21st August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Senderecka, Magdalena; Matyjek, Magdalena; Kroczek, Bartłomiej; Ociepka, Michał
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience. Volume 470(2021)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 15
• Publication Date: 2021-08-21
• Subjects: EEG electroencephalography -- ERP event-related potential -- rmANOVA repeated-measures analyses of variance -- sLORETA standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography -- SSD stop-signal delay -- SSRT stop-signal reaction time; event-related potentials -- response inhibition -- social emotion -- stop-signal task -- trust game; Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurochimie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurochemistry; Neurophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.06.032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4522

Abstract

Highlights: The trust game is a valid paradigm for inducing differently valenced emotions. Emotional valences of facial stimuli may be acquired through social learning. Social emotions do not influence response inhibition on the behavioral level. Socially induced negative emotions elicit a reduced inhibitory P3 component. Socially induced negative emotions evoke activity within a mentalizing network. Abstract: Despite the growing emphasis on embedding interactive social paradigms in the field of cognitive and affective neuroscience, the impact of socially induced emotions on cognition remains widely unknown. The aim of the present study was to fill this gap by testing whether facial stimuli whose emotional valence was acquired through social learning in an economic trust game may influence cognitive performance in a subsequent stop-signal task. The study was designed as a conceptual replication of previous event-related potential experiments, extending them to more naturalistic settings. We hypothesized that response inhibition to briefly presented faces of negative and positive game partners would be enhanced on the behavioral and neural levels as compared to trials with a neutral player. The results revealed that the trust game was an effective paradigm for the induction of differently valenced emotions towards players; however, behavioral inhibitory performance was comparable in all stop-signal conditions. On the neural level, we found decreased P3 amplitude in negative trials due to significantly stronger activation in the right frontoparietal control network, which is involved in theory-of-mind operations and underlies social abilities in humans, especially memory-guided inference of others' mental states. Our findings make an important contribution to the cognition–emotion literature by showing that social interactions that take place during an economic game may influence brain activity within the mentalizing network in a subsequent cognitive task.