Dissecting functional contributions of the social brain to strategic behavior

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 109; no. 20; pp. 3323 - 3337.e5
• Main Authors: Konovalov, Arkady, Hill, Christopher, Daunizeau, Jean, Ruff, Christian C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 20.10.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Brain; Decision Making; Female; fMRI, TPJ, dmPFC, social, decision making, strategic; Functional Neuroimaging; Humans; Life Sciences; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mentalization; Neural Pathways; Neurons and Cognition; Parietal Lobe; Prefrontal Cortex; Social Behavior; Temporal Lobe; Theory of Mind; Young Adult; fMRI, TPJ, dmPFC, social, decision making, strategic; fMRI; strategic; social; dmPFC; decision making; TPJ
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.07.025

Social interactions routinely lead to neural activity in a “social brain network” comprising, among other regions, the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). But what is the function of these areas? Are they specialized for behavior in social contexts or do they implement computations required for dealing with any reactive process, even non-living entities? Here, we use fMRI and a game paradigm separating the need for these two aspects of cognition. We find that most social-brain areas respond to both social and non-social reactivity rather than just to human opponents. However, the TPJ shows a dissociation from the dmPFC: its activity and connectivity primarily reflect context-dependent outcome processing and reactivity detection, while dmPFC engagement is linked to implementation of a behavioral strategy. Our results characterize an overarching computational property of the social brain but also suggest specialized roles for subregions of this network. •Human subjects undergo fMRI while playing a strategic game•The “social brain” network responds to the opponent reactivity and not social presence•Activity in the dmPFC and TPJ demonstrates distinct computational specialization Social interactions often elicit activity in the so-called social network, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Konovalov et al. use fMRI to demonstrate that this effect might be caused by a response to a reactive environment rather than by mere presence of a social context.