WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET ME AT A PICNIC? A NEW METHOD FOR MEASURING SOCIABILITY BY AN FMRI PROCEDURE

• Published in: Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis Vol. 82; p. XXVI
• Main Authors: Domagalik-Pittner, Aleksandra, Ankiewicz, Malwina, Wołek, Aleksander, Kontrymowicz-Ogińska, Halszka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Warsaw Polish Academy of Sciences 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Attention; Brain mapping; Caudate nucleus; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Measurement methods; Reinforcement; Sleep deprivation; Visual observation; Visual perception; Visual stimuli
• ISSN: 0065-1400; 1689-0035

We present a new method to measure "sociability". It can be understood as a trait or state - tendency to interact with other people or to withdraw and self-isolate. We assume that the way of perceiving people's faces as more or less amiable, as well as willingness to know them better, could be an appropriate measure of this trait (or state). Apart from temperamental characteristics, some particular circumstances in day-to-day functioning, like sleep deprivation, can modulate conviviality and thus affect the quality of social relations in private and professional life. PICNIC consists of 40 pictures of men and women from which participants choose those people they would like to know better – all during an MRI registration. In this preliminary study data gathered from 10 subjects (9 females; mean age 22.3 ± 1.2 years) was analyzed. We applied ROI and IC analyses to examine the contrast between chosen and rejected stimuli. Important activations in visual and dorsal attention networks were observed. The most promising results are the visible contrasts in DMN and structures associated with brain reward network: anterior insula and caudate nucleus.