Alle Publikationen
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2015
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(2015): Be nice if you have to--the neurobiological roots of strategic fairness. In: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 10 (6), S. 790-796. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu114
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25190704 Abstract: Social norms, such as treating others fairly regardless of kin relations, are essential for the functioning of human societies. Their existence may explain why humans, among all species, show unique patterns of prosocial behaviour. The maintenance of social norms often depends on external enforcement, as in the absence of credible sanctioning mechanisms prosocial behaviour deteriorates quickly. This sanction-dependent prosocial behaviour suggests that humans strategically adapt their behaviour and act selfishly if possible but control selfish impulses if necessary. Recent studies point at the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in controlling selfish impulses. We test whether the DLPFC is indeed involved in the control of selfish impulses as well as the strategic acquisition of this control mechanism. Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, we provide evidence for the causal role of the right DLPFC in strategic fairness. Because the DLPFC is phylogenetically one of the latest developed neocortical regions, this could explain why complex norm systems exist in humans but not in other social animals.
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.
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(2009): Is family special to the brain? An event-related fMRI study of familiar, familial, and self-face recognition. In: Neuropsychologia 47 (3), S. 849-858. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.12.027
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19159636 Abstract: The face-processing network has evolved to respond differentially to different classes of faces depending on their relevance to the perceiver. For example, self-, familiar, and unknown faces are associated with activation in different neural substrates. Family should represent a special class of face stimuli that is of high relevance to individuals, because incorrect assignment of kinship can have dire consequences (e.g., incest, cuckoldry). Therefore evolution should have favored redundant mechanisms for detection of kin. We used fMRI to investigate the neural substrates associated with viewing faces of kin compared to other classes of faces (e.g., self-face, familiar face, and unknown face), and to examine the degree to which self-facial resemblance activated similar neural substrates. Contrasting kin faces with unknown faces activated substrates associated with self-face recognition, while comparing kin faces to friend faces activated posterior cingulate and cuneus. Similar posterior medial substrates were recruited when contrasting self-resembling faces with morphed faces of kin, suggesting these regions potentially represent computational processing about facial familiarity and identity. On the other hand, discrimination of self-resembling faces from familiar morphs activated anterior medial substrates (anterior cingulate cortex, ACC, medial prefrontal cortex, MPFC). These findings, and a region of interest (ROI) analysis, highlight the role of the extended face-processing network for discrimination of kin from familiar non-kin members of one's social group based on self-referent phenotypic cues.
Keywords: Adult, Bekanntheitsgrad, Brain/anatomy & histology/physiology, Discrimination (Psychology)/physiology, Face, familiarity, Female, Gesichtserkennung, Gesichtszüge, Gyrus Cinguli/physiology, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neurowissenschaften, Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology, Prefrontal Cortex/physiology, Visual Perception/physiology, Young Adult
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