Regions of the MPFC differentially tuned to social and nonsocial affective evaluation

Is desire for social relationships mediated by the serotonergic system in the prefrontal cortex? An [18F]setoperone PET study

“…The OFC and ACC are integral in decision-making and the appraisal of rewarding or punishing stimuli (Harris et al, 2007). This evaluative function is critical to the determination of social valence and to the successful formation and maintenance of relationships.…”

“…However, the orbitofrontal (OFC) and anterior cingulate cortices (ACC) have been implicated in social behavior (Harris, McClure, van den Bos, Cohen, & Fiske, 2007;Hornak et al, 2003) and a number of other functions necessary to facilitate the successful formation and maintenance of social relationships, including reward assessment (Hampton & O'Doherty, 2007;Kringelbach, 2005), self-regulation (Frankle et al, 2005;Posner, Rothbart, & Sheese, 2007), attachment (Noriuchi, Kikuchi, & Senoo, 2008), and the processing of emotion (Graff-Guerrero, Gonzalez-Olvera, Mendoza-Espinosa, Vaugier, & Garcia-Reyna, 2004) and pain (Rainville, Duncan, Price, Carrier, & Bushnell, 1997;Vogt, 2005). Neurochemically, social behavior has been associated with the serotonin (5HT) system.…”

Distinct neural correlates of social categories and personality traits

“…Beyond the processing of individual mental states, activation in the mentalizing network has also been observed when making judgments about social groups, such as about their typical characteristics and features (Contreras et al, 2012;Mitchell et al, 2009;Quadflieg et al, 2009), social identity (Volz et al, 2009), ingroup loyalty (Baumgartner et al, 2012), social interaction (Lahnakoski et al, 2012), group-based emotional responses (Harris et al, 2007), and when making evaluative and trait judgments related to group stereotypes (Gilbert et al, 2012).…”

The neural basis of the Machiavellians’ decision making in fair and unfair situations

“…Several studies have revealed that certain brain regions are involved in the executive inhibition control network, such as the anterior cingulate gyrus, the superior and middle frontal gyri (as parts of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), the inferior frontal gyrus, the insula, and the precuneus (Harris, McClure, van den Bos, Cohen, & Fiske, 2007;Polosan, Baciu, Perrone, Pichat, & Bougerot, 2011). In a study that examined a conflict between unwanted reflexive response and a complex volitional response, elevated activation was found in DLPFC, indicating the role of this brain area in response inhibition (Ettinger et al, 2008).…”