Social Neuroscience[JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Social isolation, loneliness, genetic susceptibility, and the risk of hypothyroidism.
Zhang J, Bonnet F, Liu Y … +10 more , Ji C, He Y, Shen J, Yang H, Chang Q, Zhao Y, Guo Z, Chen L, Liu L, Xia Y
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jul · PMID 42396994 · Publisher ↗
This study aimed to explore associations between social isolation, loneliness, and hypothyroidism risk, and whether genetic susceptibility modifies these links. It enrolled 434,628 hypothyroidism-free participants from t...
This study aimed to explore associations between social isolation, loneliness, and hypothyroidism risk, and whether genetic susceptibility modifies these links. It enrolled 434,628 hypothyroidism-free participants from the UK Biobank. Social isolation was assessed via 3 dichotomous questions, loneliness via 2 revised UCLA Loneliness Scale questions, and hypothyroidism cases via hospital/death records. Hypothyroidism polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were calculated using related genetic loci, with Cox proportional hazards models for analysis. Over a median 12.3-year follow-up, 9,873 hypothyroidism cases occurred. Demographically adjusted models showed social isolation (HR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.17-1.33) and loneliness (HR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.27-1.50) linked to higher risk. After full adjustment, only loneliness remained significant (HR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.02-1.24), while social isolation's association became insignificant. No significant interactions between loneliness/social isolation or loneliness/PRS were found. Joint analysis revealed highest risk in those with high PRS and loneliness. Findings indicate loneliness, not social isolation, is an independent hypothyroidism risk factor, regardless of genetic susceptibility and other factors.
The neuronal dynamics of different types of incentives on risk-taking: comparing financial and social rewards using fMRI.
Doehring N, Erhard P, Herrmann M
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jun · PMID 42378114 · Publisher ↗
Risk-taking behavior varies across different life domains, yet neuroimaging research has primarily focused on financial incentives, thus limiting our understanding of the neural basis for domain-specific risk-taking. Thi...
Risk-taking behavior varies across different life domains, yet neuroimaging research has primarily focused on financial incentives, thus limiting our understanding of the neural basis for domain-specific risk-taking. This study investigates whether neural correlates of risk-taking differ between financial and social incentive domains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thirty-nine participants completed an adapted Balloon Analogue Risk Task with financial (monetary rewards) and social (gifts for children) incentive conditions. Behavioral data show that participants demonstrate less risk-seeking behavior in the social compared to financial condition. Neuroimaging results revealed both domain-general and domain-specific components of risk processing. A conjunction analysis of both incentive conditions identified a common neural network across both incentive types, including bilateral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and left insular cortex, supporting theories of domain-general risk processing mechanisms. Contrasting both reward conditions revealed significantly stronger activation in the right inferior parietal lobule during financial compared to social risk-taking, thus indicating a neural substrate for domain-specific risk preferences. These data might bridge the gap between behavioral evidence for domain-specific risk-taking and neuroimaging research, highlighting the importance of considering the type of incentives when studying risk behavior and its neural correlates.
Variability in medial prefrontal cortex responses to smiles in human infants is linked to genetic variation in the oxytocin system.
Grossmann T
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jun · PMID 42257672 · Publisher ↗
Smiling plays a critical role in guiding behavior during social interactions from early in human ontogeny. The current study examined whether genetic variation in the oxytocin system is linked to individual differences i...
Smiling plays a critical role in guiding behavior during social interactions from early in human ontogeny. The current study examined whether genetic variation in the oxytocin system is linked to individual differences in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) responses to smiles in human infants. Results show that genetic variation in (rs3796863), linked in prior work to variation in oxytocin release, is associated with enhanced mPFC responses when 7-month-old infants were viewing smiles, but not when viewing angry or fearful faces. These findings provide novel evidence that oxytocin-related genetic variability contributes to early-emerging differences in social brain function and support the view that variability in processing of affiliative signals is influenced by neurogenetic mechanisms from early in human ontogeny.
Dyadic emotional and cognitive shifts in moral decision-making: EEG and autonomic similarity.
Angioletti L, Ciminaghi F, Balconi M
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jun · PMID 42234010 · Publisher ↗
This study examined how interpersonal neural and autonomic similarity varies when dyads shift their decision-making (DM) orientation (between cognitive and emotional orientations) while evaluating moral dilemmas with a f...
This study examined how interpersonal neural and autonomic similarity varies when dyads shift their decision-making (DM) orientation (between cognitive and emotional orientations) while evaluating moral dilemmas with a first- and third-person perspective. Thirteen dyads participated in two interactive conditions in which they jointly negotiated moral decisions (first vs third perspective), while their electrophysiological (EEG) and autonomic activity were continuously recorded. Before each interaction, participants' DM orientations were assessed, and dyads' orientation shift was classified according to whether one or both members changed orientation between the dilemmas (single-shift vs. dual-shift dyads). Interpersonal dissimilarity was quantified through Euclidean Distance (EuDist) across EEG frequency bands and Skin Conductance Level (SCL), Heart Rate (HR), HR Variability (HRV). Delta and gamma bands showed greater inter-brain dissimilarity in frontal than temporo-central and parieto-occipital regions, indicating region-specific recruitment for moral negotiation. Regarding orientation shift, dual-shift dyads displayed significantly higher gamma-band similarity compared to single-shift dyads, regardless of moral perspective. About perspective, autonomic results revealed greater inter-individual dissimilarity during first- than third-person perspective across SCL, HR, and HRV. Current findings suggest that DM orientation shift impacts neural coherence in dyads negotiating moral dilemmas (especially gamma band), while moral dilemmas perspective influences individual autonomic engagement in dyads.
The relationship between social reward behavior and mesolimbic dopamine release.
Erickson T, Franks H, Young L … +1 more , Lester D
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jun · PMID 42032886 · Publisher ↗
Deficits in social behavior, such as reduced motivation and social avoidance, are key symptoms in several psychiatric disorders. Distinct modes of reward, such as drug and social, may rely on different dopamine release p...
Deficits in social behavior, such as reduced motivation and social avoidance, are key symptoms in several psychiatric disorders. Distinct modes of reward, such as drug and social, may rely on different dopamine release patterns in the mesolimbic pathway. We investigated the relationship between social reward behaviors and dopamine release elicited by phasic and tonic stimulation patterns in C57BL/6J mice. Cocaine (10 mg/kg, ip) was administered during dopamine recordings to assess drug-evoked dopamine release in relation to social reward behaviors. Social conditioned place preference was used to assess social reward, and in vivo fixed potential amperometry was used to measure nucleus accumbens dopamine release. Additional measures included the frequency and duration of social interactions during conditioning sessions. No relationship was found between baseline (pre-cocaine) dopamine and social place preference in either sex. However, in males, social place preference negatively correlated with cocaine-induced phasic dopamine release, indicating that increased social motivation was associated with a reduced phasic dopaminergic response to cocaine. In contrast, greater novel social interaction was associated with increased baseline dopamine elicited by tonic stimulations. These relationships were not observed in females. Overall, these findings suggest distinct, sex-dependent roles for phasic and tonic dopamine release in mediating social reward.
Attachment Modulates Neural Responses to Social Exclusion vs. Inclusion: An fMRI Cyberball Study in Children.
Krasberg-Schoett MJS, Deichmann R, Fischmann T … +1 more , Fiebach CJ
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Apr · PMID 41947580 · Publisher ↗
Individual differences in attachment classification reflect children's social expectations given early relational experiences with primary caregivers. When experiencing rejection - when affective needs are unmet - childr...
Individual differences in attachment classification reflect children's social expectations given early relational experiences with primary caregivers. When experiencing rejection - when affective needs are unmet - children can develop avoidant attachment strategies, including suppression of negative emotions and inhibition of observable reactions to adversity. A key aversive situation is social rejection, but how attachment differences affect neural responses to it is poorly understood. We combined functional MRI and the Cyberball paradigm to investigate responses to social rejection in 38 children (9-11 years) classified using the Child Attachment Interview. BOLD activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) was increased for events of social exclusion relative to inclusion. Dorsal to this effect, right vlPFC showed a negative correlation between exclusion-related BOLD activity and attachment dismissal, a continuous marker for avoidant attachment, reflecting greater vlPFC responses during inclusion (fair play) for avoidant attachment but unchanged responses to exclusion, suggesting increased regulatory monitoring during fair play in higher-dismissal children, rather than altered exclusion reactivity. This may be related to greater expressed worry about exclusion despite fair play in the inclusion condition. Our results suggest that avoidant attachment in children may be associated with impaired emotion regulation and greater expectation of rejection.
Neural correlates of social exclusion in fathers with and without a history of intimate partner violence use: an event-related potential study.
McGlade D, McFaul C, Crowley MJ … +3 more , Wu J, Rutherford HJV, Stover CS
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Jun · PMID 41925302 · Publisher ↗
Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts individuals, families, and wider society. Sensitivity to rejection is reliably associated with IPV use. Yet with IPV-users often demonstrating reduced emotional clarity, such sensi...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts individuals, families, and wider society. Sensitivity to rejection is reliably associated with IPV use. Yet with IPV-users often demonstrating reduced emotional clarity, such sensitivity may not always be accessible to verbal reporting. Electroencephalography may circumvent this issue by capturing sensitivity to rejection at the neural level. Using event-related potentials, the neural processing of social exclusion has been explicated and is often linked to reductions in frontal slow wave (FSW) amplitude. This study examined FSW amplitude as elicited by the social exclusion game, Cyberball, to investigate the neural mechanisms of social exclusion processing in 43 fathers with and without histories of IPV use. We further investigate group differences in self-reported ostracism distress and emotional clarity across IPV-using and control fathers. IPV-using fathers displayed significantly lower exclusion evoked FSW amplitude, possibly reflecting stress-induced disruptions to mentalizing. Additionally, IPV-using fathers reported no significant differences in ostracism distress but increased difficulties in emotional clarity. Overall, findings suggest that IPV-using fathers display a profile of heightened neural sensitivity to social exclusion and a reduced ability to access their emotional states. These findings shed light on potential mechanisms of IPV to inform future research and interventions.
Lovers' creativity sparks under stress: fNIRS hyperscanning evidence of dating couples' creative problem-solving under stress.
Zhang J, Wang Y, Zhao H … +6 more , Duan W, Kan Y, Yang T, Ball LJ, Lin S, Duan H
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Apr · PMID 41801039 · Publisher ↗
In an age flooded with pressure, lovers' resilience under stress and ability to creatively solve problems are highly valued. It is hoped that stress could become the crucible that forges lovers' creative sparks. Understa...
In an age flooded with pressure, lovers' resilience under stress and ability to creatively solve problems are highly valued. It is hoped that stress could become the crucible that forges lovers' creative sparks. Understanding the associations among romantic love, stress and advanced cognitive functions is highly topical. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning, the current study investigated dating couples' creative problem-solving performance under the effect of acute stress and the corresponding underlying neural mechanism. Results indicated that when faced with stressful situations, couples showed higher fluency and flexibility in creative problem-solving than those under non-stressful conditions. In addition, the couples showed greater synchronization in the frontopolar region under stress, with the direction from males to females, unveiling a distinct cooperative pattern of males leading and females receiving. Furthermore, interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) mediated the effects that both salivary cortisol and heart rate level had on dating couples' creativity. These findings provide evidence supporting an integrative view for understanding relationships under adverse conditions, highlighting the different roles played by different genders in coping with stress.
Advances in understanding mentalizing: exploring neurobiological and behavioral perspectives across diverse populations.
Pluta A, Golec-Staśkiewicz K
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Dec · PMID 41761473 · Publisher ↗
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Deciphering the mechanisms of impaired decision-making.
Anderson SW
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41738752 · Publisher ↗
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Interpersonal coordination with a virtual outgroup increases motor preparation demands but it is not modulated by mPFC inhibition.
Placidi V, Cuomo G, Boukarras S … +3 more , Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41674214 · Publisher ↗
Ethnic differences trigger immediate implicit stereotyping, potentially influencing intergroup interactions and reinforcing social inequality. Studies indicate that ethnic biases can reduce sensorimotor resonance toward...
Ethnic differences trigger immediate implicit stereotyping, potentially influencing intergroup interactions and reinforcing social inequality. Studies indicate that ethnic biases can reduce sensorimotor resonance toward out-group members, identifying the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as part of a network involved in ethnic stereotyping regulation. The specific impact of ethnic biases on individuals' ability to coordinate actions with others and the role of mPFC in mediating in-/out-group interactions remain unclear. We investigated whether: i) interfering with mPFC activity modulates ethnic biases measured through affective misattribution procedure (AMP); ii) this interference affects coordination during a joint action task with ethnic out/in-group virtual partners. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) was used to interfere with the activity of mPFC (Experiments 1, 3) or left ventral Premotor Cortex (Experiment 2), and Vertex stimulation was included as active control site. Stimulating mPFC did not significantly affect either ethnic bias as measured through AMP nor individuals' interaction abilities when coordinating with out-/in-group members. However, participants' motor preparation times increased when interacting with an ethnic out-group compared to an in-group partner, regardless of the stimulation site. These findings highlight how ethnic membership influences social categorization and motor abilities during interpersonal interactions while limiting the role of mPFC in mediating inter-group motor coordination as measured in the present study.
Empathy boosts the comprehension of nonverbal behavior.
Proverbio AM, Baraldi B
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Dec · PMID 41664527 · Publisher ↗
Empathy is a fundamental component of social cognition, yet its influence on the neural processing of non-verbal cues in neurotypical populations remains insufficiently explored. Using EEG/ERPs, we examined empathy-depen...
Empathy is a fundamental component of social cognition, yet its influence on the neural processing of non-verbal cues in neurotypical populations remains insufficiently explored. Using EEG/ERPs, we examined empathy-dependent modulation of gesture recognition during a caption - gesture congruence task, manipulating face visibility in participants with high versus low Empathy Quotients (EQ). Participants, classified via two standardized empathy scales, viewed 800 gesture images preceded by short textual descriptions, while their EEG activity was recorded. High-EQ individuals exhibited faster reaction times, particularly when facial cues were absent, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to degraded social information. ERP analyses focused on the N250, N400, and late positivity (LP) components revealed empathy-related modulations, with high-EQ individuals showing amplified anterior N250 responses, associated with social cognition, emotional processing, and reward-related face recognition, whose amplitude increased linearly with empathy scores. Enhanced N400 and LP amplitudes further suggested more efficient semantic integration and decision confidence in high-EQ individuals. Source reconstruction identified greater activation in the posterior cingulate cortex, limbic structures, fusiform face area, superior temporal gyrus, and fronto-parietal mirror neuron networks, regions critical for social and non-verbal cue processing. These findings highlight a robust empathy-dependent network supporting spontaneous gesture interpretation and the flexible decoding of social meaning.
The role of executive functions and cognitive estimation in decision-making: a study with patients with prefrontal cortex damage.
Ouerchefani R, Kammoun B, Ben Rejeb MR … +1 more , Le Gall D
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41640360 · Publisher ↗
Evidence remained conflicting regarding how the prefrontal cortex supported decision-making abilities, particularly in patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions. While damage to this region was known to impair execut...
Evidence remained conflicting regarding how the prefrontal cortex supported decision-making abilities, particularly in patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions. While damage to this region was known to impair executive functioning, the precise contribution of such deficits to decision-making performance - especially under varying levels of uncertainty - remained debated. Moreover, cognitive estimation processes, which were associated with logical reasoning and prefrontal involvement, had rarely been examined in relation to decision-making tasks. To clarify these associations, we administered a cognitive estimation task and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), alongside a battery of executive function tests, to 30 patients with focal prefrontal damage and 30 matched control subjects. Our results indicated that patients showed consistent impairment across executive functions, cognitive estimation, and decision-making under risk. Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses revealed that performance on executive tasks and cognitive estimation predicted IGT outcomes, particularly under risk conditions. Finally, voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping identified a bilateral prefrontal network - spanning ventromedial, dorsomedial, and dorsolateral regions - associated with impaired IGT performance. These findings suggested that the multidimensional nature of the IGT was associated with complex executive and inferential reasoning demands and implicated diverse patterns of frontal dysfunction beyond the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Neural signatures of promotion and prevention goal activation in adolescence.
Daffre C, Detloff AM, Brewster AB … +1 more , Strauman TJ
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Apr · PMID 41635066 · Publisher ↗
Adolescence is marked by major changes in self-regulation, goal pursuit, and brain function. Regulatory focus theory (RFT) distinguishes between promotion and prevention self-regulatory systems, activated by ideal and ou...
Adolescence is marked by major changes in self-regulation, goal pursuit, and brain function. Regulatory focus theory (RFT) distinguishes between promotion and prevention self-regulatory systems, activated by ideal and ought goals, respectively. These systems have been studied in adults using fMRI; however, adolescent-specific patterns of activation are not yet well understood. In a normative adult sample, observed shared and unique regions of activation associated with idiographically assessed promotion vs. prevention priming, as well as variations in BOLD response depending on whether participants believed they were or were not making progress attaining the goal. In the present developmental extension, we examined whether adolescents exhibited neural activation patterns in response to ideal and ought priming consistent with adult findings. We measured brain activation during goal priming in 47 healthy adolescents (ages 13-17). Analyses revealed a linear increase in BOLD response to personally meaningful (vs. yoked control) goal-related adjectives across repeated priming blocks in regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus - regions associated with self-referential processing and regulatory focus. These results suggest that adolescents recruit neural circuits associated with self-relevant cognition in response to promotion and prevention goals.
Context-dependent hierarchical categorization of human faces: behavioral and EEG/MEG evidence.
Wang X, Han S
Soc Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41609426 · Publisher ↗
Social categorization of faces provides a key cognitive basis of human behavior and may occur along various dimensions of facial attributes. The present study investigated a potential hierarchical structure of social cat...
Social categorization of faces provides a key cognitive basis of human behavior and may occur along various dimensions of facial attributes. The present study investigated a potential hierarchical structure of social categorization of faces based on a superordinate (Species) versus a subordinate (Race) level of abstraction of facial attributes. We recorded behavioral performances in a face classification task and found faster responses to the same set of Asian faces when presented alternately with dog faces (a species context) relative to Black faces (a race context). In addition, using a repetition suppression (RS) paradigm, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals to Asian faces in the species and race contexts, respectively. Our analyses of the RS effects on EEG/MEG signals revealed earlier neural encoding of similarity of Asian faces in the right fusiform gyrus at 140-200 ms and in the left temporoparietal junction at 317-413 ms after stimulus onset when Asian faces were displayed in the species (vs. race) context. These behavioral and EEG/MEG findings unravel the neurocognitive mechanisms of context-dependent social categorization of faces by highlighting its hierarchically organized structure based on different levels of facial attributes.
Is transition from failing to passing False Belief Task reflected in the social brain? Insights from an fNIRS study with preschoolers.
Wysocka J, Golec-Staśkiewicz K, Haman M … +2 more , Wolak T, Pluta A
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Dec · PMID 41562655 · Publisher ↗
The preschool years are crucial for developing theory of mind (ToM) - understanding others' mental states. During this period, children transition from failing to passing explicit False Belief Tasks (eFBT), but the neura...
The preschool years are crucial for developing theory of mind (ToM) - understanding others' mental states. During this period, children transition from failing to passing explicit False Belief Tasks (eFBT), but the neural mechanisms behind this shift remain unclear. While the adult ToM brain network is well-studied, neuroimaging of children under six is limited. Most studies treat eFBT as a single process, overlooking distinct neurocognitive mechanisms in forming mental state representations (belief formation phase) and applying them to complete tasks (explicit answer phase). To address this gap, we investigated brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during eFBT completion in preschoolers. Results show that the key brain regions critical for mentalizing (temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) activate in children regardless of their eFBT performance. This pattern was observed during the belief formation phase, when the discrepancy between the child's belief and the protagonist's belief is introduced. In addition, greater activity in the right IFG was observed in Passers compared to Non Passers during the explicit answer phase, regardless of condition. This suggests that Passers exerted more attention, possibly becoming more effective at applying belief-related knowledge during response selection. Findings align with developmental continuity approach to ToM development.
Moral belief updating (MBU) as a neurocognitive and communicative process: a multidimensional perspective.
Rovelli K, Balconi M
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Oct · PMID 41424026 · Publisher ↗
This study investigates the neural correlates of MBU within dyadic moral communication, using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning paradigm. Thirty participants engaged in a structured exchange o...
This study investigates the neural correlates of MBU within dyadic moral communication, using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning paradigm. Thirty participants engaged in a structured exchange on a moral dilemma, assuming one of two roles: the facilitator and the adjuster. Hemodynamic activity was recorded across prefrontal channels. Results revealed a significant increase of oxygenated hemoglobin in right lateral prefrontal cortex activation (Ch4) in adjusters compared to facilitators, highlighting the role of this region in social metacognition, behavioral regulation, and high-level cognitive control during MBU. Exploratory correlations further indicated that facilitators' neural activation was associated by dispositional traits such as decision-making style, empathy, and conscientiousness. These findings highlight the role of interpersonal co-construction and individual meaning-making processes in influencing neurocognitive responses to moral discussions. The study presents a multidimensional model of MBU as a socially embedded, emotionally modulated, and cognitively demanding process, impacting moral and communication psychology and organizational ethics.
Threat and cognitive control in anti-Asian bias.
Elahi RI, Benson JM, Loebach JL
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Oct · PMID 41399189 · Publisher ↗
Social threat is both a source and consequence of implicit bias against Asian Americans, who are often stereotyped as "perpetual foreigners," posing some threat to (white) American values. The implicit nature of these at...
Social threat is both a source and consequence of implicit bias against Asian Americans, who are often stereotyped as "perpetual foreigners," posing some threat to (white) American values. The implicit nature of these attitudes makes investigating anti-Asian bias difficult as self-report and behavioral data suffer from social desirability and learning effects. To investigate implicit social threat in anti-Asian bias, we presented participants with a passage critical of American values, purportedly written by a white American (ingroup) or by an Asian American author (outgroup). We utilized electrodermal responses (GSR) to measure autonomic arousal, and cerebral blood oxygenation (fNIRS) to measure cognitive control. Our results suggest that implicit social threats are physiologically represented similar to other feelings of threat, which become more extreme when interacting with a perceived outgroup member. Follow-up analyses suggest that the autonomic responses are moderated by higher-order cognitions, evidenced by changes in blood oxygenation in the anterior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which occurred independently of behavioral responses obtained the experimental manipulation. Together, these results indicate that while more abstract feelings of threat are implicitly represented in a salient physiological manner, higher-order cognitive faculties can attenuate them, and innate attitudes need not supersede mindful and learned behavior.
Inequity aversion under procedural justice in deaf college students: an ERP study.
Du X, Liang J, Li C … +2 more , Mou J, Zheng Q
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Oct · PMID 41387018 · Publisher ↗
The inconsistent change of inequity aversion under procedural justice may result from the individual difference of cognitive processing ability for information. Deaf college students' social cognition is challenged by sy...
The inconsistent change of inequity aversion under procedural justice may result from the individual difference of cognitive processing ability for information. Deaf college students' social cognition is challenged by systemic barriers that limit inclusive communication and social interaction. However, it is still unknown how inequity aversion manifests among deaf college students in the context of procedural justice. In this study, we recruited 28 deaf and 31 hearing college students by using a modified dictator game combined with Event-related potentials (ERPs). Behavioral results showed that all participants were more satisfied with equitable offer, extremely advantageous inequitable and moderately advantageous inequitable offers, followed by moderately disadvantageous inequitable offers, and lowest for extremely disadvantageous inequitable offers. Interestingly, we found only in deaf college students that the extremely, moderately advantageous inequitable and moderately disadvantageous inequitable offers all induced more negative feedback-related negativity (FRN) than equitable offer. Furthermore, the equitable offer induced more positive P300 than any of the inequitable offers. The results indicated that even under procedural justice, deaf college students still exhibit pronounced inequity aversion, highlighting their preference to fairness norms. These findings empirically characterize inequity aversion in special populations and provide theoretical support for enhancing educational integration in colleges and universities.
Oxytocin, Orexin-A, and empathy in medication-free major depressive disorder: a neurobiological perspective.
Erdem DS, Özsoy S, Abdulrezzak U
Soc Neurosci · 2025 Oct · PMID 41376522 · Publisher ↗
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disorder influenced by biopsychosocial factors. There is conflicting and insufficient evidence regarding the role of neuropeptides such as Orexin-A and Oxytocin (OCT) and its a...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disorder influenced by biopsychosocial factors. There is conflicting and insufficient evidence regarding the role of neuropeptides such as Orexin-A and Oxytocin (OCT) and its association with empathy in MDD. This study aimed to address this question which is not only important for a better neurobiological understanding but could also lead to novel biomarkers. Sixty-nine antidepressant-free patients (48 females, 21 males) diagnosed with MDD according to DSM-5 criteria and 32 healthy controls (19 females, 13 males) were included. Serum Orexin-A and OCT levels were measured, and empathy and depression were assessed using the Basic Empathy Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Patients showed lower cognitive empathy than controls (Z = 4.161, < 0.001), with significant differences only in females. Emotional and total empathy scores did not differ between groups. Patients had higher serum OCT levels (Z = 1.989, = 0.047), while Orexin-A levels showed no clear group differences. Longer illness duration and more depressive episodes were modestly associated with higher emotional and total empathy. OCT levels showed a weak positive association with cognitive empathy. Lower cognitive empathy and elevated OCT levels may relate to depressive pathology, but further studies are needed to clarify these relationships.
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