Page 62 - Like me, or else... - Michelle Achterberg

Chapter 3
Abstract
Negative social feedback often generates aggressive feelings and behavior. Prior studies have investigated the neural basis of negative social feedback, but the underlying neural mechanisms of aggression regulation following negative social feedback remain largely undiscovered. In the current study participants viewed pictures of peers with feedback (positive, neutral, or negative) to the participant’s personal profile. Next, participants responded to the peer feedback by pressing a button, thereby producing a loud noise towards the peer, as an index of aggression. Behavioral analyses showed that negative feedback led to more aggression (longer noise blasts). Conjunction neuroimaging analyses revealed that both positive and negative feedback were associated with increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and bilateral insula. In addition, more activation in the right dorsal lateral PFC (dlPFC) during negative feedback versus neutral feedback was associated with shorter noise blasts in response to negative social feedback, suggesting a potential role of dlPFC in aggression regulation, or top-down control over affective impulsive actions. This study demonstrates a role of the dlPFC in the regulation of aggressive social behavior.
Keywords: social evaluation; social rejection; social acceptance; emotion regulation; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
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