We are truely excited about our new preprint on #affectedbeliefs! What are affected beliefs? Beliefs are never neutral – they always depend on the context, on the learning experience, on motivations etc. Here we present an attempt of an empirical spell-out of the “value of beliefs” model published by Bromberg-Martín & Sharot in 2020 and […]
Neurocomputational mechanisms of affected beliefs Read More »
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction, which have been related to atypical neural processing of rewards, especially in the social domain. Since intranasal oxytocin has been shown to modulate activation of the brain’s reward circuit, oxytocin might ameliorate the processing of social rewards in ASD and thus
Abstract Cringe humor combines the seemingly opposite emotional experiences of amusement and embarrassment due to others’ transgressions of norms. Psychological theories and empirical studies on these emotional reactions in response to others’ transgressions of social norms have mostly focused on embarrassment and shame. Here, we build on this literature, aiming to present a novel perspective
Editorial on the Research Topic: The Different Faces of Sickness Sickness not only includes symptoms that classically define an infection (e.g., fever, nausea, headache), but also comes along with profound neurobehavioral consequences for the infected individual. These include anhedonia, anorexia, pain, lethargy, fatigue, sleepiness, and social withdrawal, and are collectively called “sickness behavior” (1).
Editorial: The Different Faces of Sickness Read More »
Abstract Abstract Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) entails severe impairments in interpersonal functioning that are likely driven by self-beneficial and exploitative behavior. Here, we investigate the underlying motivational and neural mechanisms of prosocial decision-making by experimentally manipulating motivational conflict between self- beneficial and prosocial incentives. One group of patients diagnosed with NPD and a group of
Abstract Being confronted with social-evaluative stress elicits a physiological and a psychological stress response. This calls for regulatory processes to manage negative affect and maintain self-related optimistic beliefs. The aim of the current study was to investigate the affect-regulating potential of self-related updating of ability beliefs after exposure to social-evaluative stress, in comparison to non-social
Self-beneficial belief updating as a coping mechanism for stress-induced negative affect Read More »
Background: Social lives have significantly changed since social distancing measures have been implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to investigate how our appraisal of social situations changed during the pandemic. Methods: In two online surveys, conducted in October 2019 and April 2020, 58 participants rated their personal level of
Abstract: Evidence suggests that intranasal application of oxytocin facilitates empathy and modulates its underlying neural processes, which are often impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Oxytocin has therefore been considered a promising candidate for the treatment of social difficulties in ASD. However, evidence linking oxytocin treatment to social behavior and brain function in
Social cognition allows humans to understand and predict other people’s behavior by inferring or sharing their emotions, intentions and beliefs. Few studies have investigated the impact of one’s own emotional state on understanding others. Here, we tested the effect of being in an angry state on empathy and theory of mind (ToM). In a between-groups
The influence of anger on empathy and theory of mind Read More »
Abstract Social feelings have conceptual and empirical connections with affect and emotion. In this review, we discuss how they relate to cognition, emotion, behavior and well-being. We examne the functional neuroanatomy and neurobiology of social feelings and their role in adaptive social functioning. Existing neuroscience literature is reviewed to identify concepts, methods and challenges that
The neuroscience of social feelings: mechanisms of adaptive social functioning Read More »
