Lecture 1: Introduction & Methods (NSBED, UU)

Social neuroscience is a combination of sociology, psychology and neuroscience.

The social brain is non-modular: social behavior is the result of a network.

Evolution of social (and non-social) behavior:

  • Bigger brains lead to changes in both social and non-social intelligence
  • Alternative (social intelligence hypothesis): social pressure to outwit peers may lead to increased intelligence in social and non-social domains.

Triune brain model: the human brain is an accumulation of brain regions that can be roughly divided in three phylogenetic stages:

  • The reptilian brain (sub-cortex)

    • Action-reaction machinery
  • The mammalian brain (limbic system)
    • Emotionality: behavioral flexibility
  • The primate brain (neo-cortex)
    • Rationality: the behavioral control

 

 

 

 

Sometimes a part of our behavior is still driven by similar brain mechanisms.

Reptilian brain: quite modular. Consists of small nuclei with distinct (non)social roles.

Mammalian brain: module-like. Amygdala/insula – fear/disgust

The primate brain: non-modular. But: mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons: neurons that respond to both self-behavior and other-behavior. Thought to serve observational learning. Are not tightly localized to one region.

Conclusion: the social brain might be a mixed mode of modularity.

Psychological methods in which we can measure behavioral and cognitive measures

Subjective measures

  • Emotional experience (interview or POMS)
  • Personality questionaires (e.g. STAI/STAS)
  • Use it for:
    • Control variable
    • Correlation with other measure
    • To compare different studies

Observational measures

  • What will the participant do?
  • But also eye tracking

Performance measures

  • Speed and accuracy
  • IQ tests
  • Recognition tests
  • Selective attention

Phychophysiology --> controlled by the brain through the spinal cord. ((Para)sympathetic nervous systems). 

Physiological methods

  • Skin conductance (sweat gland activity)
  • Heart rate, respiration (preparation for fight/flight
  • Electromyography (EMG; muscle activity)

Skin conductance (SCR)

  • You measure sweat gland activity
  • Peak between 1-5s

Heart rate

  • Deceleration: preparing for danger
  • Acceleration: active escape or attack
  • Heart rate variability (HRV)
    • More variability = rest = parasympathetic
    • Less = concentration, enhanced attention = sympathetic

Electromyography (EMG)

  • Measures potential between pairs of close elektrodes
  • Muscle activity
  • Application:
    • Mimicking facial expressions (affective empathy)
    • Startle potentiation

Brain imaging methods

  1. Electrophysiology
  • Single-cell recordings
  • Electroencephalography (EEG)
    • Possible to the column-like organization of the cortex (therefore also limited to the cortex)
    • Frequency bands approach
      • Delta-waves (1-4 Hz): motivational system (bottom-up drive)
      • Beta-waves (12-30 Hz): cortex: top-down modulation
    • Event-related potentials approach: EEG signal that is averaged over many trials. The resulting ERP is a series of positive and negatieve peaks.
      • Tells you something about location, amplitude, and timing in response to the event
      • Advantage: has an excellent temporal resolution

Disadvantage: poor spatial resolution (derived from multiple

sources in the brain)

  1. Structural imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging

  • Relies on alignment of water molecules, aligned in a strong magnet

The strength of the realignment signal is different for different types of tissue. So you can tell the tissue type and structure.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

  • Used to map the white matter microstructure
  • You measure the communication bundles of the brain
  • Uses the diffusion of water molecules
  • You emit a radio signal and then measure the direction of the realignment of the water molecules. The directions are more limited in myelinated areas than in grey matter.
  • Is also MRI, but from multiple angles and time-points
  1. Functional imaging

Functional MRI

  • Relies on the hemodynamic method: neural activity consumes oxygen, thus needs blood.
  • Measures blood oxygenation
    • Oxygen slows re-alignment of water molecules
    • Non-invasive (unlike PET)
  • A region is active if it shows a greater response in one condition RELATIVE to another
  • Good spatial resolution! Voxel-size can be as low as 1 mm3. But bad temporal resolution because of the hemodynamic response function (BOLD response): the signal is a few seconds late.
  1. Lesion methods

Reversed engineering: infer the function of a region by removing it and measuring the effect on the rest of the system

Human models:

  • Accidents
  • Stroke
  • Lobectomy
  • Genetic disorders

TMS

  • Coil --> the magnetic field will evoke action potentials in the brain
  • Will disrupt the cognitive function
  • Advantage: the fake lesion is focal, but no deep brain regions. It’s reversible and moveable. You can investigate the time-course of cognition
  • Disadvantages: there is not a good placebo condition. Solutions (partly):
    • Different time windows act as control conditions
    • Different spatial locations act as control conditions
    • Different task used as control
    • Different stimuli used as a control

 

 

 

 

 

 

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