scholarly journals Reading between the lines: Listener’s vmPFC simulates speaker cooperative choices in communication games

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. eabe6276
Author(s):  
Qingtian Mi ◽  
Cong Wang ◽  
Colin F. Camerer ◽  
Lusha Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Reference Resolution ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Communication Games ◽  
Generative Mechanism

Humans have a remarkable ability to understand what is and is not being said by conversational partners. It has been hypothesized that listeners decode the intended meaning of a communicative signal by assuming speakers speak cooperatively, rationally simulating the speaker’s choice process and inverting it to recover the speaker’s most probable meaning. We investigated whether and how rational simulations of speakers are represented in the listener’s brain, by combining referential communication games with functional neuroimaging. We show that listeners’ ventromedial prefrontal cortex encodes the probabilistic inference of what a cooperative speaker should say given a communicative goal and context, even when such inferences are irrelevant for reference resolution. The listener’s striatum encodes the amount of update on intended meaning, consistent with inverting a simulated mental model. These findings suggest a neural generative mechanism, subserved by the frontal-striatal circuits, that underlies our ability to understand communicative and, more generally, social actions.

scholarly journals Listener’s vmPFC simulates speaker choices when reading between the lines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingtian Mi ◽  
Cong Wang ◽  
Colin F. Camerer ◽  
Lusha Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Probabilistic Inference ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Important Class ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Generative Mechanism

AbstractHumans possess a remarkable ability to understand what is and is not being said by conservational partners. An important class of models hypothesize that listeners decode the intended meaning of an utterance by assuming speakers speak cooperatively, simulating the speaker’s rational choice process and inverting this process for recovering the speaker’s most probable meaning. We investigated whether and how rational simulations of speakers are represented in the listener’s brain, when subjects participated in a referential communication game inside fMRI. In three experiments, we show that listener’s ventromedial prefrontal cortex encodes the probabilistic inference of what a cooperative speaker should say given a communicative goal and context. The listener’s striatum responds to the amount of update on the intended meaning, consistent with inverting a simulated mental model. These findings suggest a neural generative mechanism subserved by the frontal-striatal circuits that underlies our ability to understand communicative and, more generally, social actions.

scholarly journals Increased ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity in adolescence benefits prosocial reinforcement learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Westhoff ◽  
Neeltje E. Blankenstein ◽  
Elisabeth Schreuders ◽  
Eveline A. Crone ◽  
Anna C. K. van Duijvenvoorde
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Probabilistic Reinforcement ◽  
Neuroimaging Study

AbstractLearning which of our behaviors benefit others contributes to social bonding and being liked by others. An important period for the development of (pro)social behavior is adolescence, in which peers become more salient and relationships intensify. It is, however, unknown how learning to benefit others develops across adolescence and what the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms are. In this functional neuroimaging study, we assessed learning for self and others (i.e., prosocial learning) and the concurring neural tracking of prediction errors across adolescence (ages 9-21, N=74). Participants performed a two-choice probabilistic reinforcement learning task in which outcomes resulted in monetary consequences for themselves, an unknown other, or no one. Participants from all ages were able to learn for themselves and others, but learning for others showed a more protracted developmental trajectory. Prediction errors for self were observed in the ventral striatum and showed no age-related differences. However, prediction error coding for others was specifically observed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and showed age-related increases. These results reveal insights into the computational mechanisms of learning for others across adolescence, and highlight that learning for self and others show different age-related patterns.

scholarly journals Tuning of brain–autonomic coupling by prior threat exposure: Implications for internalizing problems in Mexican-origin adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1127-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Weissman ◽  
Amanda E. Guyer ◽  
Emilio Ferrer ◽  
Richard W. Robins ◽  
Paul D. Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Internalizing Problems ◽  
Parasympathetic Nervous System ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Sinus Arrhythmia

AbstractExposure to threat increases the risk for internalizing problems in adolescence. Deficits in integrating bodily cues into representations of emotion are thought to contribute to internalizing problems. Given the role of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulating bodily responses and integrating them into representations of emotional states, coordination between activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and autonomic nervous system responses may be influenced by past threat exposure with consequences for the emergence of internalizing problems. A sample of 179 Mexican-origin adolescents (88 female) reported on neighborhood and school crime, peer victimization, and discrimination when they were 10–16 years old. At age 17, participants underwent a functional neuroimaging scan during which they viewed pictures of emotional faces while respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance responses were measured. Adolescents also reported symptoms of internalizing problems. Greater exposure to threats across adolescence was associated with more internalizing problems. Threat exposure was also associated with stronger negative coupling between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and RSA. Stronger negative ventromedial prefrontal cortex–RSA coupling was associated with fewer internalizing problems. These results suggest the degree of coordinated activity between the brain and parasympathetic nervous system is both enhanced by threat experiences and decreased in adolescents with more internalizing problems.

scholarly journals Humans Use Forward Thinking to Exert Social Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soojung Na ◽  
Dongil Chung ◽  
Andreas Hula ◽  
Jennifer Jung ◽  
Vincenzo G. Fiore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Subjective Beliefs ◽  
Downstream Effects ◽  
The Social

SummarySocial control, the ability to exert influence over others, is critical in interpersonal interactions yet uninvestigated. Here, we used functional neuroimaging and a social exchange paradigm in which people’s current choices either did, or did not, influence their partners’ proposals in the future. Computational modeling revealed that participants used forward thinking and calculated the downstream effects of their current actions regardless of the controllability of the social environment. Furthermore, greater levels of estimated control correlated with better performance in controllable interactions and less illusory beliefs about control in uncontrollable interactions. Neural instantiation of trial-by-trial values of social controllability were tracked in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), striatum, and insula for controllable interactions, but only in vmPFC for uncontrollable interactions. These findings demonstrate that humans use forward thinking, a strategy similar to model-based planning, to guide social choices; and that subjective beliefs about social controllability might not be grounded in reality.

Age differences in ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity during socioemotional content processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ryan T. Daley ◽  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Eric C. Fields ◽  
Angela Gutchess ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Content Processing

Self-relevance effects are often confounded by the presence of emotional content, rendering it difficult to determine how brain networks functionally connected to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are affected by the independent contributions of self-relevance and emotion. This difficulty is complicated by age-related changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and other default mode network regions, and regions typically associated with externally oriented networks. We asked groups of younger and older adults to imagine placing emotional and neutral objects in their home or a stranger's home. An age-invariant vmPFC cluster showed increased activation for self-relevant and emotional content processing. Functional connectivity analyses revealed age × self-relevance interactions in vmPFC connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. There were also age × emotion interactions in vmPFC functional connectivity with the anterior insula, orbitofrontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Interactions occurred in regions with the greatest differences between the age groups, as revealed by conjunction analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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