Social Cognition

Question 1

Explain the procedure of a self-reference test

Answer 1

(slide 5-6; watch a video to better understand)

Question 2

Explain the figure in Slide 7

Answer 2

• Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) activity is associated with self-referential processing when compared to processing words in relation to another person or the printed format of the words
• This was one of the findings derived from a self-reference test

Question 3

What can self-reference tests tell us about ourselves/the brain?

Answer 3

• How we process and store information about ourselves compared to information about others
• We store information about ourselves in more depth

Question 4

How is the medial prefrontal cortex associated with the representation of ‘self’?

Answer 4

• The medial prefrontal activity is heavily involved in the processing of self-referential information
• It shows less deactivation during self-referential tasks than other areas

Question 5

Why is there less deactivation in the medial prefrontal cortex for self-representation?

Answer 5

• Self-referential processing appears to be our baseline or resting state
• The resting state brain is more active when people are at rest (daydreaming, idling)
• It largely consists of the medial frontal and parietal cortex and the lateral parietal cortex
• It is assumed to be involved in the processing of ‘self-referential’ information (me in relation to the world)
• Thus, other (non-resting state) areas deactivate during self-referential processing, but the resting state does not

Question 6

Compare the brain activity between one’s own pain and the perceived pain of someone they care for

Answer 6

• Brain activity was very similar
• The degree of brain activation was correlated with empathy
• The level of activation in ‘pain’ centres when watching someone dear in pain correlated with a person’s ability to empathise

Question 7

Explain the Variant of Prisoner’s dilemma (slide 36)

Answer 7

read slide again and watch video

Question 8

What were the findings from the Variant of Prisoner’s dilemma? (anterior insula)

Answer 8

• The activity in the anterior insula reflected the own person’s pain and differentially the ‘empathy’ they had with fair and unfair players

Question 9

What were the findings from the Variant of Prisoner’s dilemma? (nucleus accumbens)

Answer 9

• The nucleus accumbens is a reward centre -> It activates (in men, who have more of a drive for revenge in the sample) when unfair players are punished
• The parameter estimate here is associated with the desire for revenge -> Women have less than men
• The strength of nucleus accumbens activation is correlated with the desire for revenge

Question 10

When does self-referential processing occur?

Answer 10

When significant information about the self is processed intensely

Question 11

What is the self-referential effect?

Answer 11

The self-referential effect is enhanced memory for information processed in relation to oneself

Question 12

Explain the brain region that is associated with judging positive information about the self

Answer 12

• Anterior cingulate
• Less deactivation in the anterior cingulate was associated with rating positive personality traits in comparison to negative personality traits
• vACC is the ventral anterior cingulate cortex

Question 13

How does orbitofrontal damage relate to representation of ‘self’?

Answer 13

• Patients with orbitofrontal damage may lack insight into their behaviour at a particular moment while maintaining accurate summaries of their traits
• The orbitofrontal cortex lies just beneath the medial prefrontal cortex region, which is associated with the summaries of personality traits

Question 14

17-30