Exploring the Relationship Between Social Expertise and Ability to Process Different Types of Abstract Concepts and the Neural Resources Allocated to Their Processing

Official title

Exploration of the Neural Correlates of Social Expertise: an Fmri Study Comparing Healthy Individuals With Different Levels and Types of Expertise

Overview

Social interaction is supported by several brain regions, which are involved in encoding socio-perceptual information, attributing affective and mental states to other conspecifics, and ultimately enabling the orchestration of an appropriate response. In this view, cognitive control mechanisms are necessary to select relevant information, allocate resources, and generate inferences. There is a close link between the mechanisms underlying social cognition and social conceptual knowledge, relating, for example, to abstract concepts such as "friendship". For example, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impairments in social interactions, and also in the ability to use all those abstract concepts that relate to internal states of the individual as well as to interactions between people. Behavioral studies have shown how experience can impact the characterization of abstract concepts, influencing their personal, introspective, and contextual characteristics. Neuroimaging studies have also reported that, through mechanisms of brain plasticity, experience modulates neural networks shared with non-experts (e.g., by increasing brain volume and/or functional activity), but can also lead to the recruitment of additional brain resources, thus enriching the knowledge gained by experts. To date, the role of different types and levels of expertise in influencing the neural representation of specific categories of abstract concepts, and in particular social concepts, has not yet been fully elucidated.

Detailed description

As human beings, we are embedded in social contexts, whether physical or virtual, that shape our brains throughout our lives, boosting our development, cognition and well-being. For us, interacting with others is an extremely simple thing, but it is actually one of the most complex computations our brains can perform. Indeed, when interacting with others, several regions of the brain are activated in order to encode socio-perceptual information, to attribute mental states to the interlocutors, and finally to trigger appropriate responses. Social interaction engages also by brain regions supporting social conceptual knowledge, relating, for example, to abstract concepts such as "friendship". Crucially, conceptual knowledge acquisition and organization are sustained by language. The mechanisms underlying social cognition and social conceptual knowledge are closely linked. This link relates, for example, to abstract concepts such as "friendship." For example, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impairments in social interactions and in the ability to use abstract concepts related to internal states of the individual as well as to interactions between people. Behavioral studies have shown how experience can impact the characterization of abstract concepts. This impact influences their personal, introspective, and contextual characteristics. Neuroimaging studies have also reported that experience modulates neural networks shared with non-experts. This happens through mechanisms of brain plasticity. Examples include increasing brain volume and/or functional activity. However, experience can also lead to the recruitment of additional brain resources. This enriches the knowledge gained by experts. Proficiency in a second language is another example of lifelong experience. Successful mastery of a second language requires the ability to switch between languages, inhibiting the unnecessary language and selecting the necessary one during interaction. Thus, second language proficiency modulates cognitive control functions and underlying neural structures and may influence social decision-making. The question of whether and how second language knowledge modulates the semantic control network is currently debated. The role of different types and levels of expertise in influencing the neural representation of specific categories of abstract concepts, particularly social concepts, has yet to be fully elucidated.

Interventions

• Other Behavioral and MR scanning
  After enrollment, participants will be screened on the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subsequently, during the single study, participants will be administered a series of questionnaires (Edinburgh Handedness Inventory - Short Form; Evaluation of social related abilities, competences, and traits: Autism Quotient Test, DASS-21, SIAS, DERS, Ekman test; SET; I-TIPI, and conceptual ratings on semantic dimensions (moral, social, political). Then, an MR acquisition without contrast will

Primary outcome measures

• Correlation between participants' accuracy rate and BOLD signal [Time frame: baseline]

Secondary outcome measures (1)

• Correlation between participants' accuracy rate and scores in Autism Quotient Test, DASS-21, SIAS, DERS, Ekman test, SET and I-TIPI [Time frame: baseline]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
• Male or female, aged between 25 and 50 years
• Right-handed dominance
• Normal vision or hypo-vision corrected with contact lenses
• Participant must have different levels of social expertise, in order to be assigned to one of the following groups: (1) participants with subclinical social skills dysfunction, parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, (2) participants with no specific social expertise, and (3) participants with high social expertise, namely social media influencers and politicians.

Exclusion criteria

• Clinical and/or anamnestic evidence of neurological, psychiatric, or systemic disorders
• Drug addiction and/or abuse of neuroactive drugs;
• Contraindications and incompatibilities with MRI, and specifically presence of para-magnetic or ferro-magnetic metal body prostheses; presence of permanent biomedical implants (e.g., pacemakers, neuro-stimulators); pregnancy status; claustrophobia. Pregnancy status will be self-reported by the participants.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Factorial

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Basic science

Study locations

Italy · 1 center

• Centro Eccellenza Risonanza Magnetica ad Alto Campo (CERMAC) — Milan

Publications

• Buchweitz A, Shinkareva SV, Mason RA, Mitchell TM, Just MA. Identifying bilingual semantic neural representations across languages. Brain Lang. 2012 Mar;120(3):282-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2011.09.003. Epub 2011 Oct 5. PMID 21978845
• Abutalebi J, Della Rosa PA, Ding G, Weekes B, Costa A, Green DW. Language proficiency modulates the engagement of cognitive control areas in multilinguals. Cortex. 2013 Mar;49(3):905-11. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.018. Epub 2012 Sep 1. PMID 23021069
• Del Maschio, N., Abutalebi, J., Schwieter, J., & Paradis, M. Language Organization in the Bilingual and Multilingual Brain. 2019 Feb; pp. 197-213. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119387725.ch9
• Borghi AM, Binkofski F, Castelfranchi C, Cimatti F, Scorolli C, Tummolini L. The challenge of abstract concepts. Psychol Bull. 2017 Mar;143(3):263-292. doi: 10.1037/bul0000089. Epub 2017 Jan 16. PMID 28095000
• Bang J, Burns J, Nadig A. Brief report: Conveying subjective experience in conversation: production of mental state terms and personal narratives in individuals with high functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Jul;43(7):1732-40. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1716-4. PMID 23179342
• Baez S, Garcia AM, Ibanez A. The Social Context Network Model in Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2017;30:379-396. doi: 10.1007/7854_2016_443. PMID 27130326
• Conca F, Catricala E, Canini M, Petrini A, Vigliocco G, Cappa SF, Della Rosa PA. In search of different categories of abstract concepts: a fMRI adaptation study. Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 19;11(1):22587. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02013-8. PMID 34799624
• Binney RJ, Ramsey R. Social Semantics: The role of conceptual knowledge and cognitive control in a neurobiological model of the social brain. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2020 May;112:28-38. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.030. Epub 2020 Jan 23. PMID 31982602

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07112027 · EXPERTISE-SOC · 2022YJA4TB

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗