Alle Publikationen
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2018
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(2018): Facing up to the hard question of consciousness. In: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 373 (1755). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0342
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0342 Abstract: The so-called hard problem of consciousness is a chimera, a distraction from the hard question of consciousness, which is once some content reaches consciousness, 'then what happens?'. This question is seldom properly asked, for reasons good and bad, but when asked it opens up avenues of research that promise to dissolve the hard problem and secure a scientifically sound theory of how the human brain produces the (sometimes illusory) convictions that mislead us.This article is part of the theme issue 'Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access'.
2017
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(2017): Choice predicts the feedback negativity. In: Psychophysiology 54 (12), S. 1800-1811. DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12961
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28752549 Abstract: Choosing the appropriate response given the circumstance is integral to all aspects of human behavior. One way of elucidating the mechanisms of choice is to relate behavior to neural correlates. Electrophysiological evidence implicates the ERP feedback-negativity (FN) and the P300 as promising neural correlates of reward processing, an integral component of learning. However, prior research has not adequately addressed how the development of a preference to select one option over another (choice preference) relates to the FN and the P300. We assessed whether variation in choice preference predicted the FN and P300 amplitude within subjects. We used a discrete-trials two-alternative choice procedure, where the reinforcer rate for each option was dependently scheduled by a concurrent variable interval. The reinforcer ratio for selecting each option was varied between sessions. Choice was quantified using both the generalized matching law sensitivity and the log odds of staying on the same versus switching to the other alternative (stay preference). The relationship between stay preference, FN, and P300 amplitudes was assessed using the innovative application of hierarchical Bayesian linear regression. The results demonstrate that stay preference was controlled by the reinforcer ratios and credibly predicted the FN amplitude but not P300 amplitude. The findings are consistent with the view that reinforcers may guide behavior by what they signal about future reinforcement, with the FN related to such a process.
2016
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(2016): Mirroring and beyond: coupled dynamics as a generalized framework for modelling social interactions. In: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 371 (1693). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0366
DOI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843605 Abstract: When people observe one another, behavioural alignment can be detected at many levels, from the physical to the mental. Likewise, when people process the same highly complex stimulus sequences, such as films and stories, alignment is detected in the elicited brain activity. In early sensory areas, shared neural patterns are coupled to the low-level properties of the stimulus (shape, motion, volume, etc.), while in high-order brain areas, shared neural patterns are coupled to high-levels aspects of the stimulus, such as meaning. Successful social interactions require such alignments (both behavioural and neural), as communication cannot occur without shared understanding. However, we need to go beyond simple, symmetric (mirror) alignment once we start interacting. Interactions are dynamic processes, which involve continuous mutual adaptation, development of complementary behaviour and division of labour such as leader-follower roles. Here, we argue that interacting individuals are dynamically coupled rather than simply aligned. This broader framework for understanding interactions can encompass both processes by which behaviour and brain activity mirror each other (neural alignment), and situations in which behaviour and brain activity in one participant are coupled (but not mirrored) to the dynamics in the other participant. To apply these more sophisticated accounts of social interactions to the study of the underlying neural processes we need to develop new experimental paradigms and novel methods of data analysis.
2015
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(2015): The role of shared neural activations, mirror neurons, and morality in empathy--a critical comment. In: Neuroscience research 90, S. 15-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2014.10.008
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25455743 Abstract: In the last decade, the phenomenon of empathy has received widespread attention by the field of social neuroscience. This has provided fresh insights for theoretical models of empathy, and substantially influenced the academic and public conceptions about this complex social skill. The present paper highlights three key issues which are often linked to empathy, but which at the same time might obscure our understanding of it. These issues are: (1) shared neural activations and whether these can be interpreted as evidence for simulation accounts of empathy; (2) the causal link of empathy to our presumed mirror neuron system; and (3) the question whether increasing empathy will result in better moral decisions and behaviors. The aim of our review is to provide the basis for critically evaluating our current understanding of empathy, and its public reception, and to inspire new research directions.
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(2015): Deconstructing and reconstructing theory of mind. In: Trends in cognitive sciences 19 (2), S. 65-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.11.007
DOI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4314437 Abstract: Usage of the term 'theory of mind' (ToM) has exploded across fields ranging from developmental psychology to social neuroscience and psychiatry research. However, its meaning is often vague and inconsistent, its biological bases are a subject of debate, and the methods used to study it are highly heterogeneous. Most crucially, its original definition does not permit easy downward translation to more basic processes such as those studied by behavioral neuroscience, leaving the interpretation of neuroimaging results opaque. We argue for a reformulation of ToM through a systematic two-stage approach, beginning with a deconstruction of the construct into a comprehensive set of basic component processes, followed by a complementary reconstruction from which a scientifically tractable concept of ToM can be recovered.
2013
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(2013): Why are you looking like that? How the context influences evaluation and processing of human faces. In: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 8 (4), S. 438-445. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nss013
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22287265 Abstract: Perception and evaluation of facial expressions are known to be heavily modulated by emotional features of contextual information. Such contextual effects, however, might also be driven by non-emotional aspects of contextual information, an interaction of emotional and non-emotional factors, and by the observers' inherent traits. Therefore, we sought to assess whether contextual information about self-reference in addition to information about valence influences the evaluation and neural processing of neutral faces. Furthermore, we investigated whether social anxiety moderates these effects. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants viewed neutral facial expressions preceded by a contextual sentence conveying either positive or negative evaluations about the participant or about somebody else. Contextual influences were reflected in rating and fMRI measures, with strong effects of self-reference on brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and right fusiform gyrus. Additionally, social anxiety strongly affected the response to faces conveying negative, self-related evaluations as revealed by the participants' rating patterns and brain activity in cortical midline structures and regions of interest in the left and right middle frontal gyrus. These results suggest that face perception and processing are highly individual processes influenced by emotional and non-emotional aspects of contextual information and further modulated by individual personality traits. zitiert von 56
Keywords: Affective Valence, Amygdala, Brain Mapping, Brain/physiology, Cerebral Blood Flow, Context, Emotions/physiology, Face Perception, Face/physiology, Facial Expression, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, Female, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Fusiform Gyrus, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods, Male, Neuroanatomy, Neurowissenschaften, Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology, Perception/physiology, Personality Traits, Photic Stimulation/methods, Self Reference, social anxiety 2011
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(2011): Dissociable brain mechanisms for processing social exclusion and rule violation. In: NEUROIMAGE 54 (3), S. 2462-2471. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.049
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20974272 Abstract: Social exclusion inherently involves an element of expectancy violation, in that we expect other people to follow the unwritten rule to include us in social interactions. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we employed a unique modification of an interactive virtual ball-tossing game called "Cyberball" (Williams et al., 2000) and a novel paradigm called "Cybershape," in which rules are broken in the absence of social exclusion, to dissociate brain regions that process social exclusion from rule violations more generally. Our Cyberball game employed an alternating block design and removed evoked responses to events when the participant was throwing the ball in inclusion to make this condition comparable to exclusion, where participants did not throw. With these modifications, we replicated prior findings of ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC), insula, and posterior cingulate cortex activity evoked by social exclusion relative to inclusion. We also identified exclusion-evoked activity in the hippocampi, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and left middle temporal gyrus. Comparing social exclusion and rule violation revealed a functional dissociation in the active neural systems as well as differential functional connectivity with vACC. Some overlap was observed in regions differentially modulated by social exclusion and rule violation, including the vACC and lateral parietal cortex. These overlapping brain regions showed different activation during social exclusion compared to rule violation, each relative to fair play. Comparing activation patterns to social exclusion and rule violation allowed for the dissociation of brain regions involved in the experience of exclusion versus expectancy violation. zitiert von 96
Keywords: Brain/physiology, Cerebral Cortex/physiology, Computer Graphics, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Games, Experimental, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Interpersonal Relations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net/physiology, Neural Pathways/physiology, Neurowissenschaften, Psychophysics, Rejection (Psychology), rules, science direct, Social Environment, Social Perception, Young Adult -
(2011): Processing social participation. An event-related brain potential study. In: Neuroreport 22 (9), S. 453-458. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3283476b67
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21558970 Abstract: We examined the electrophysiological correlates of the processing of social exclusion and inclusion by using a modified version of the Cyberball paradigm. Exclusion was found to be associated with a significant increase in the P3 complex. The frontal-central P3a was primarily related to the affective processing of rejection, whereas the late parietal P3b was associated with its perceived intensity. The expression of P3a and negative mood did also depend on the earlier experience; earlier inclusion affected the processing of exclusion, and vice versa. In conclusion, our data indicate that the complex process of social rejection can be tracked by using event-related brain potentials.
2009
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(2009): The social brain: neural basis of social knowledge. In: Annual review of psychology 60, S. 693-716. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163514
DOI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2588649 Abstract: Social cognition in humans is distinguished by psychological processes that allow us to make inferences about what is going on inside other people-their intentions, feelings, and thoughts. Some of these processes likely account for aspects of human social behavior that are unique, such as our culture and civilization. Most schemes divide social information processing into those processes that are relatively automatic and driven by the stimuli, versus those that are more deliberative and controlled, and sensitive to context and strategy. These distinctions are reflected in the neural structures that underlie social cognition, where there is a recent wealth of data primarily from functional neuroimaging. Here I provide a broad survey of the key abilities, processes, and ways in which to relate these to data from cognitive neuroscience.
2006
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(2006): Theory of mind--evolution, ontogeny, brain mechanisms and psychopathology. In: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 30 (4), S. 437-455. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.08.001
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16239031 Abstract: The ability to infer other persons' mental states and emotions has been termed 'theory of mind'. It represents an evolved psychological capacity most highly developed in humans. The evolutionary origins of theory of mind can be traced back in extant non-human primates; theory of mind probably emerged as an adaptive response to increasingly complex primate social interaction. This sophisticated 'metacognitive' ability comes, however, at an evolutionary cost, reflected in a broad spectrum of psychopathological conditions. Extensive research into autistic spectrum disorders has revealed that theory of mind may be selectively impaired, leaving other cognitive faculties intact. Recent studies have shown that observed deficits in theory of mind task performance are part of a broad range of symptoms in schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, some forms of dementia, 'psychopathy' and in other psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the evolutionary psychology of theory of mind including its ontogeny and representation in the central nervous system, and studies of theory of mind in psychopathological conditions.
Keywords: Animals, Biological Evolution, Brain/physiology, Disziplin, Emotions/physiology, Gefühle, Good manners, Humans, Im (wissenschaftlichen) Diskurs, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Mental Disorders/etiology, Mental Processes, mental states, Native Theorie, Ontologische Differenzierungen: Tier, Mensch, Maschine, Personal Construct Theory, Postkasten, Psychologie, Psychopathology, Reflexionen über MTR, Social Behavior, Social Mind, theory of mind, (Theory of mind), Tier, Mensch, Maschine, Voraussetzungen für sozial angemessenes Verhalten 2005
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(2005): Opinion. The neural basis of human moral cognition. In: Nature reviews. Neuroscience 6 (10), S. 799-809. DOI: 10.1038/nrn1768
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16276356 Abstract: Moral cognitive neuroscience is an emerging field of research that focuses on the neural basis of uniquely human forms of social cognition and behaviour. Recent functional imaging and clinical evidence indicates that a remarkably consistent network of brain regions is involved in moral cognition. These findings are fostering new interpretations of social behavioural impairments in patients with brain dysfunction, and require new approaches to enable us to understand the complex links between individuals and society. Here, we propose a cognitive neuroscience view of how cultural and context-dependent knowledge, semantic social knowledge and motivational states can be integrated to explain complex aspects of human moral cognition.
Keywords: Beeinflussung sozial angemessenen Verhaltens, Brain/physiology, chemisch / neurologisch / medikamentös / durch Substanzen, Cognition/physiology, Disziplin, Good manners, Humans, Intellektualtechnik, Kogn. Architektur, Kultursensibilität, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Moral und Kognition, moralisches Wissen, Morals, Neural Pathways/physiology, Neurosciences/methods, Neurowissenschaften, Normen, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Postkasten, Psychologie, Soziale Angemessenheit, Technik
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