Using the Brain to Reveal Mental Representations of Subjective Connection

项目摘要-近一半的美国人口有时或总是经历孤独。 这在一定程度上令人担忧，因为孤独会带来负面的心理和身体健康结果。 广泛的研究表明，孤独是以主观孤立为特征的：许多孤独的人认为 许多人都谈过恋爱，但仍表示感到孤独。因此，对孤独的神经生物学解释需要 我们了解大脑如何代表我们与他人的主观联系，以及孤独是如何改变的 这些陈述。这项提议的长期目标是确定主观孤立是如何表现的 以确定干预这种表征的新方法，以减轻孤独感。我们建议 内侧前额叶皮质(MPFC)和后扣带回(PC)构成了大脑中的功能网络。 大脑，根据我们与人的主观联系和孤独来组织我们对人的表征 系统地改变了这个组织。在具体目标1中，我们将确定主观亲密度 在MPFC/PC中组织自我和其他表示。在接受功能核磁共振检查的同时，参与者将完成任务 他们反思自己和他人的个性和精神状态。他们还将报道 他们与其他人主观上的亲近、相似和熟悉。表象相似性分析 (RSA)将测试1)大脑是否组织自我和自己的社交网络的心理表征 基于主观贴近度的成员以及2)主观贴近度模型是否更好地解释 自我和其他表征的组织，而不是感知的相似性、熟悉性、 或特质维度。在具体目标2中，我们将确定孤独如何调节自我和其他表征 在MPFC/PC中。我们预测，特质孤独感与MPFC/PC模式相对应，反映了1 自我和他人之间的区别和/或2)亲近的人和熟人之间的区别较少。 个体差异测量与孤独感(如自尊、抑郁)相关但不多余 也将被收集，以分离我们的研究结果对孤独的特异性。在具体的探索性目标3中，我们将 确定孤独中改变的自我和其他表征的认知后果。参与者将 也完成fMRI任务，旨在测试由我们的飞行员数据生成的关于 孤独改变了神经认知过程。参与者将被要求判断人际关系的亲密性 以及自我和社交网络成员之间的个性相似性。我们预测孤独将会是 与夸大自我与其他人格之间的区别，同时也过度泛化 其他人的性格相似，这两者都将得到MPFC异常反应的支持， 鉴于其在人-知识和/或2)难以判断他人之间的人际距离方面的作用， 由于PC在处理人际距离方面的作用，PC中的异常反应是其基础。我们的建议是 最终揭示神经认知机制以干预以减少孤独是当务之急。

PROJECT SUMMARY - Nearly half of the U.S. population sometimes or always experiences loneliness. This is alarming, in part, because loneliness confers risk for negative mental and physical health outcomes. Extensive research suggests loneliness is characterized by subjective isolation: many lonely individuals maintain a number of relationships but still report feeling lonely. Thus, a neurobiological account of loneliness requires that we understand how the brain represents our subjective connections to others and how loneliness alters these representations. The long-term goal of this proposal is to identify how subjective isolation is represented in the brain in order to identify novel ways to intervene on this representation to attenuate loneliness. We propose that medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulate (PC), which comprise a functional network in the brain, organize our representations of people based on our subjective connection to them and that loneliness systematically alters this organization. In Specific Aim 1, we will determine whether subjective closeness organizes self and other representations in MPFC/PC. While undergoing fMRI, participants will complete tasks in which they reflect on their own and other people’s personalities and mental states. They will also report on their subjective closeness, similarity, and familiarity to the other people. Representational similarity analysis (RSA) will test 1) whether the brain organizes mental representations of the self and one’s own social network members based on subjective closeness and 2) whether the subjective closeness model better explains the organization of self and other representations than the alternative possibilities of perceived similarity, familiarity, or trait-dimensions. In Specific Aim 2, we will determine how loneliness modulates self and other representations in MPFC/PC. We predict that trait loneliness corresponds with MPFC/PC patterns reflecting 1) greater differentiation between self and others and/or 2) less differentiation between close others and acquaintances. Individual difference measures that are related, but non-redundant, with loneliness (i.e., self-esteem, depression) will also be collected to isolate the specificity of our findings to loneliness. In Specific, Exploratory Aim 3, we will determine the cognitive consequences of altered self and other representation in loneliness. Participants will also complete fMRI tasks designed to test novel hypotheses generated by our pilot data regarding the neurocognitive processes altered by loneliness. Participants will be asked to judge the interpersonal closeness and similarity in personalities between self and social network members. We predict that loneliness will be associated with exaggerating the difference between self and other personalities while also overgeneralizing the similarity of other people’s personalities, both of which will be underpinned by aberrant responses in MPFC, given its role in person-knowledge and/or 2) difficulty judging the interpersonal distance between other people, underpinned by aberrant responses in PC, given its role in processing interpersonal distance. Our proposal is imperative for ultimately revealing neurocognitive mechanisms to intervene on to reduce loneliness.