Interpersonal neurobiology

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with neurobiological aberrations and atypical social cognition. Few studies have examined the neural effects of another common early-life interpersonal stressor, namely peer victimisation (PV). This study examines the associations between tract aberrations and childhood interpersonal stress from caregivers (CM) and peers (PV), and explores how the observed tract alterations are in turn related to affective theory of mind (ToM). METHODS: Data from 107 age-and gender-matched youths (34 CM [age = 19...

It is a central tenet of attachment theory that individual differences in attachment representations organize behavior during social interactions. Secure attachment representations also facilitate behavioral synchrony, a key component of adaptive parent-child interactions. Yet, the dynamic neural processes underlying these interactions and the potential role of attachment representations remain largely unknown. A growing body of research indicates that interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) could be a potential neurobiological correlate of high interaction and relationship quality...

Exposure to interpersonal violence affects a significant number of individuals each year and further increases the risk for developing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A growing body of research suggests that immune system dysfunction, in particular elevated inflammation, may contribute to the pathophysiology of PTSD. However, few studies have examined the neurobiological correlates of inflammation in women with PTSD using resting-state fMRI. The present study explored the relationship between pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha TNF-alpha), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and resting-state functional connectivity patterns in three major cortical networks (default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN)) in a sample of women (N=18) exposed to interpersonal violence with PTSD...

Rewards are a broad category of stimuli inducing approach behavior to aid survival. Extensive evidence from animal research has shown that wanting (the motivation to pursue a reward) and liking (the pleasure associated with its consumption) are mostly regulated by dopaminergic and opioidergic activity in dedicated brain areas. However, less is known about the neuroanatomy of dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of reward processing in humans, especially when considering different types of rewards (i.e., social and nonsocial)...

Adverse early life experiences, such as child maltreatment, shapes hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. The impact of social context is often probed through laboratory stress reactivity, yet child maltreatment is a severe form of chronic stress that recalibrates even stable or relatively inflexible stress systems such as cortisol's diurnal rhythm. This study was designed to determine how different social contexts, which place divergent demands on children, shape cortisol's diurnal rhythm. Participants include 120 adolescents (9-14 years), including 42 youth with substantiated child physical abuse...

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Schizophrenia is often associated with severe difficulties in social functioning, resulting in increased isolation and subsequent loneliness. Interpersonal distance - the amount of space around an individual's body during social interaction - can signal such difficulties. However, little is known about how individuals with schizophrenia regulate their interpersonal distance during social encounters. Summarizing the current empirical findings of interpersonal distance regulation in schizophrenia can bring novel perspectives for understanding interpersonal difficulties observed in this clinical population...

Hostile attribution bias refers to the tendency to interpret social situations as intentionally hostile. While previous research has focused on its developmental origins and behavioral consequences, the underlying neural mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, we employed fNIRS to investigate the neural correlates of hostile attribution bias. While undergoing fNIRS, male and female participants listened to and provided attribution ratings for 21 hypothetical scenarios where a character's actions resulted in a negative outcome for the listener...

Research has identified trait sensitivity as a potential risk factor and treatment target of eating disorders. Conceptualizations of trait sensitivity have depicted individuals with high and low trait sensitivity metaphorically as orchids and dandelions , highlighting their responsiveness to environmental conditions and associated outcomes. While orchids require careful tending to survive, with such care, they emerge extraordinary. In contrast, dandelions can survive a broad range of environmental conditions...

Parent-child interaction is crucial for children's cognitive and affective development. While bio-synchrony models propose that parenting influences interbrain synchrony during interpersonal interaction, the brain-to-brain mechanisms underlying real-time parent-child interactions remain largely understudied. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we investigated interbrain synchrony in 88 parent-child dyads (Mage children = 8.07, 42.0% girls) during a collaborative task (the Etch-a-Sketch, a joint drawing task)...

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) was introduced in the DSM-III in 1980. From the DSM-III to the DSM-5, no major changes have occurred in its defining criteria. The disorder is characterized by instability of self-image, interpersonal relationships and affects. Further symptoms include impulsivity, intense anger, feelings of emptiness, strong abandonment fears, suicidal or self-mutilation behavior, and transient stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms. There is evidence that BPD can be reliably diagnosed and differentiated from other mental disorders by semi-structured interviews...

Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) is a complex and multifaceted condition that significantly impacts the sexual well-being and overall quality of life of women. This comprehensive review aims to provide a holistic understanding of HSDD by exploring its etiology, diagnostic criteria, treatment approaches, and broader societal implications. The review delves into the intricate interplay of biological factors, including hormonal changes and neurotransmitter imbalances, that contribute to HSDD. Psychological factors, such as relationship issues, body image, and stress, are examined with sociocultural factors like societal norms, cultural influences, and media portrayals of sexuality...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed based on socio-communicative difficulties, which are believed to result from deficits in mentalizing, mainly evidenced by alterations in recognizing and responding to the mental states of others. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop mentalization-based treatment (MBT) models for this population. These models focus on enhancing individuals' ability to understand and reflect on their own mental states, as well as those of others. However, MBT approaches for people with ASD are limited by their existing theoretical background, which lacks a strong foundation grounded in neuroscience-based evidence properly integrated with attachment, and mentalizing...

Unipolar depression is a prevalent and disabling condition, often left untreated. In the outpatient setting, general practitioners fail to recognize depression in about 50% of cases mainly due to somatic comorbidities. Given the significant economic, social, and interpersonal impact of depression and its increasing prevalence, there is a need to improve its diagnosis and treatment in outpatient care. Various efforts have been made to isolate individual biological markers for depression to streamline diagnostic and therapeutic approaches...

BACKGROUND: Machine learning neuroimaging studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show promise for identifying neurobiological signatures of PTSD. However, studies to date, have largely evaluated a single machine learning approach, and few studies have examined white matter microstructure as a predictor of PTSD. Further, individuals from minoritized racial groups, specifically, Black individuals, who experience disproportionate trauma frequency, and have relatively higher rates of PTSD, have been underrepresented in these studies...

The desire for novelty and variety in experiences, which may manifest in an inclination to engage with individuals from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, collectively constitutes the personality dimension known as "Openness to Experience." Empirical research has identified a positive correlation between trait openness and various expressions of creativity, such as divergent ideation, innovative problem-solving strategies, and cumulative creative accomplishments. This nexus between openness to interpersonal diversity, as an aspect of the larger personality trait of openness, and creativity has precipitated considerable scholarly interest across the disciplines of personality, social and organizational psychology, and neuroscientific investigation...

Trauma exposure is prevalent globally and is a defining event for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), characterised by intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviours, hypervigilance and negative alterations in cognition and mood. Exposure to trauma elicits a range of physiological responses which can interact with environmental factors to confer relative risk or resilience for PTSD. This systematic review summarises the findings of longitudinal studies examining biological correlates predictive of PTSD symptomology...

Traumatic stress increases the risk for mental health conditions and adversely impacts health, academic performance, and coping. Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth experience higher rates of abuse and maltreatment and interpersonal and community-embedded discrimination than their cisgender peers. Neurobiologic stress responses and social stress theory provide useful frameworks for understanding the effects of discrimination, stigma, and rejection. Despite facing higher rates of interpersonal trauma, TGD youth are quite resilient when able to access supports and affirming trauma-informed services...

 Children with autism often have difficulty with Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to infer mental states, and pragmatic skills, the contextual use of language. Neuroimaging research suggests ToM and pragmatic skills overlap, as the ability to understand another's mental state is a prerequisite to interpersonal communication. To our knowledge, no study in the last decade has examined this overlap further. To assess the emerging consensus across neuroimaging studies of ToM and pragmatic skills in autism, we used coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of 35 functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies (13 pragmatic skills, 22 ToM), resulting in a meta-analysis of 1,295 participants (647 autistic, 648 non-autistic) aged 7 to 49 years...

Social interactions are a ubiquitous part of engaging in the world around us, and determining what makes an interaction successful is necessary for social well-being. This study examined the separate contributions of individual social cognitive ability and partner similarity toward social interaction success among strangers, measured by a cooperative communication task and self-reported interaction quality. Sixty participants engaged in a one-hour virtual social interaction with an unfamiliar partner (a lab confederate) including a 30-minute cooperative "mind-reading" game, and then completed several individual tasks and surveys...

Openness is a multifaceted behavioral disposition that encompasses personal, interpersonal, and cultural dimensions. It has been suggested that the interindividual variability in openness as a personality trait is influenced by various environmental and genetic factors, as well as differences in brain functional and structural connectivity patterns along with their various associated cognitive processes. Alterations in degree of openness have been linked to several aspects of health and disease, being impacted by both physical and mental health, substance use, and neurologic conditions...