The interacting brain: defining the role of dynamism among canonical brain networks during interactive behaviour

有效地与他人互动，并在社会环境中适当地表现自己，对于建立和维持有意义的人际关系和健康的社会环境至关重要。尽管我们显然很容易做到这一点，但社交互动依赖于一系列复杂的心理操作，即以协调的方式进行的“认知过程”：即使是与陌生人的简单短暂交流，也需要我们持续监测多个社交线索(例如，他们的语言和非语言行为)，以便推断他们的动机、意图和情绪，并使用这些信息以适当的方式调整我们自己的行为。为了支持社会互动，大脑必须能够灵活地招募并在支撑这些认知过程的各种神经系统网络之间进行切换。研究表明，一组特定的认知过程有助于协调有效的社会互动--使我们能够灵活地适应不断变化的情景需求。统称为“认知控制”，这些基本的认知过程被认为是由几个截然不同但相互关联的核心大脑网络支撑的，这些网络以协调的方式整合在一起，以支持适应行为。从这个角度来看，这些大脑网络之间的动态整合应该会支持有效的社会互动。这个项目将准确地确定这些核心大脑网络中的这种活力如何支持互动行为。为了确定支持互动行为的大脑网络，有必要测量参与社交互动的个人的大脑。为了实现这一目标，首席研究员为脑成像研究开发了一种新的互动任务-互动模式游戏(IPG)。这项任务要求成对的个体要么合作，要么相互竞争，重新创造简单的视觉模式。要做到这一点，他们必须不断地推断和适应彼此的意图和动机，从而捕捉到自然主义社会互动的一些定义特征。在两个独立但互为补充的研究中，该项目将利用IPG来确定支撑认知控制的大脑网络如何动态整合，以支持互动行为。在第一项研究中，将使用一种技术测量健康成年人的大脑样本，该技术能够以高空间精度识别互动行为中支持认知控制过程的大脑网络的参与。这些大脑网络将被定位为三个任务，旨在引发认知控制的不同方面，它们在互动行为中的参与将根据与另一个人(实验者)参与IPG的个人的大脑反应来定义。在这些脑成像数据的基础上，应用Prof Investigator最近开发的分析技术组合，这项研究将识别在社交互动中支撑认知控制的大脑网络之间的系统整合模式。在第二项研究中，不同的脑成像技术将测量个体与实验者在IPG上互动时的相同大脑样本--IPG是一种空间精度较低但在捕捉大脑活动方向流方面更准确的技术。在第一项研究中定义了支持认知控制和交互行为的特定方面的大脑网络后，第二项研究将揭示这些网络相互沟通(例如，整合和分离)以支持社会互动的确切方式。这些研究将定义支持社会互动的大脑网络动态模式，为未来的研究提供基础，以确定以许多神经疾病为特征的人际功能障碍的生物标记物。

Interacting effectively with others and conducting ourselves appropriately in social contexts is essential for establishing and maintaining meaningful interpersonal relationships and a healthy social environment. Although we do this with apparent ease, social interactions rely upon a broad set of sophisticated mental operations, or "cognitive processes", to be performed in a co-ordinated manner: even a simple fleeting exchange with a stranger requires us to monitor multiple social cues continuously (e.g., their verbal and non-verbal behaviour) in order to infer their motivations, intentions and emotions, and use this information to adapt our own behaviour in a context-appropriate manner. To support social interaction, then, the brain must be capable of recruiting and switching flexibly between the various networks of neural systems that underpin these cognitive processes.Research indicates that a particular set of cognitive processes help to coordinate effective social interaction - those enabling us to adapt flexibly in response to changing situational demands. Referred to collectively as "cognitive control", these foundational cognitive processes are believed to be underpinned by several distinct yet inter-connected core brain networks that integrate in coordinated ways to support adaptive behaviour. In this light, dynamic integrations among these brain networks should support effective social interaction. This project will determine precisely how such dynamism among these core brain networks support interactive behaviour.To identify the brain networks supporting interactive behaviour, it is necessary to measure the brains of individuals while they are engaged in social interactions. To achieve this, the Principal Investigator has developed a novel interactive task for brain imaging studies - the interactive Pattern Game (iPG). This task requires pairs of individuals to either cooperate or compete with one another in re-creating simple visual patterns. To do so, they must continuously infer and adapt to one another's intentions and motivations, thereby capturing some of the defining characteristics of naturalistic social interaction. In two separate yet complementary studies, this project will utilise the iPG to determine how the brain networks underpinning cognitive control integrate dynamically to support interactive behaviour. In the first study, a sample of healthy adults' brains will be measured with a technique capable of identifying with high spatial precision the involvement of brain networks supporting cognitive control processes during interactive behaviour. These brain networks will be localised with three tasks designed to elicit discrete aspects of cognitive control, and their involvement during interactive behaviour will be defined from brain responses measured in individuals engaged in the iPG with another person (the experimenter). Applying to these brain imaging data a combination of analytical techniques developed recently by the Principle Investigator, this study will identify systematic patterns of intergration among the brain networks underpinning cognitive control during social interaction.In the second study, a different brain imaging technique will measure the same sample of individuals' brains while they interact with the experimenter on the iPG - a technique with less spatial precision but more accuracy in capturing the directional flow of brain activity. Having defined the brain networks supporting specific aspects of cognitive control and interactive behaviour in the first study, the second study will reveal the precise way in which these networks communicate with one another (e.g., integrate and segregate) to support social interaction. These studies will define patterns of brain network dynamics that support social interaction, providing a foundation for future research to identify biomarkers for the interpersonal dysfunction characterising many neurological disorders.