Using the Brain to Reveal Mental Representations of Subjective Connection

近一半的美国人有时或总是感到孤独。 这是令人担忧的，部分原因是孤独会带来负面心理和身体健康结果的风险。 广泛的研究表明，孤独的特点是主观孤立：许多孤独的人保持 但仍然感到孤独。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，以及孤独如何改变我们的生活， 这些代表。这个提案的长期目标是确定主观孤立是如何表现的 为了找到新的方法来干预这种表征，以减轻孤独感。我们提出 内侧前额叶皮层（MPFC）和后扣带回（PC），它们构成了大脑中的功能网络。 大脑，根据我们与他人的主观联系和孤独感， 系统地改变了这个组织。在具体目标1中，我们将确定主观接近度是否 在MPFC/PC中组织自我和其他表示。在接受功能磁共振成像时，参与者将完成任务 在这个过程中，他们反思自己和他人的个性和精神状态。他们还将报告 他们主观上与他人的亲密度、相似度和熟悉度。表征相似性分析 (RSA)将测试1）大脑是否组织自我和自己的社会网络的心理表征 2）主观接近度模型是否更好地解释了 自我和其他表征的组织，而不是感知相似性，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 MPFC/PC我们预测，特质孤独与MPFC/PC模式相对应，反映1）更大的 自我与他人之间的差异和/或2）亲密他人与熟人之间的差异较小。 与孤独感相关但非冗余的个体差异测量（即，自尊、抑郁） 也将被收集来分离我们发现的孤独的特异性。在具体的探索性目标3中，我们将 确定孤独中自我和其他表征改变的认知后果。参与者将 我还完成了功能磁共振成像任务，旨在测试我们的试点数据产生的新假设， 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程度 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 与夸大自我和其他人格之间的差异有关，同时也过度概括了 其他人性格的相似性，这两者都将通过MPFC中的异常反应得到支持， 鉴于其在个人知识中的作用和/或2）难以判断其他人之间的人际距离， 基于PC的异常反应，考虑到其在处理人际距离中的作用。我们的建议是 这对于最终揭示神经认知机制来干预以减少孤独感至关重要。

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.