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Relationship closeness determines the propensity to spontaneously reproduce another's emotional and physiological stress response. We investigated whether psychosocial stress in mothers is causally linked to such empathic stress in children. Mothers (N = 76) completed either a standardized laboratory stressor or a stress-free control task, while their middle childhood-aged children (8-12 years old) were watching. Mother-child dyads simultaneously provided multiple cortisol, heart-rate, high-frequency heart-rate variability (HF-HRV), and subjective stress samples. We found that stress-group children had a greater propensity to show physiologically significant cortisol release, especially boys. Watching stressed mothers also triggered stronger subjective, state empathy, and HF-HRV stress responses, with the latter relying on elevated trait cognitive empathy ratings. Only in the stressed dyads, children's HF-HRV resonated with those of their mothers'. We conclude that young children, although only mildly stressed, spontaneously reproduce maternal stress.

Research over the past decades has revealed a variety of beneficial effects of meditation training. These beneficial effects span the levels of health and well-being, cognition, emotion, and social behavior. Around the same time, sociologists have shown that traits and outcomes on the individual level have the potential to spread in communities over three or more degrees. This means, for example, that changes can spread from one person to the next, and on to yet another person. Here, we propose that meditation-induced changes may likewise spread through the social networks of meditation practitioners. Such spreading may happen by positively influencing others through prosocial actions, improved cognitive functioning, and increased positive affect. Positive affective states and their underlying physiological correlates may also be shared in the literal sense. We argue that the spreading of positive meditation effects could provide the basis for collective responses to some of the urgent challenges we face in our current time and society and call for future meditation research to examine the phenomenon.

Acting is fascinating from psychological and neuroscientific perspectives, as it involves an individual creating an endogenously generated, accurate physical and verbal performance of another's emotional and cognitive states. However, despite the popularity of acting, the practice has received limited interest from cognitive neuroscience (Goldstein and Bloom, 2011, although see Brown et al., 2019), while other art forms have raised much greater attention, including music (e.g., Koelsch, 2014), visual art (e.g., Bolwerk et al., 2014), literature (e.g., Jacobs, 2015), poetry (e.g., Zeman et al., 2013), and dance (e.g., Karpati et al., 2017). Nevertheless, acting requires a range of social, cognitive and affective skills of concern to neuroscience, including memory, verbal ability, emotional control and social cognitive processes like empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM; Noice and Noice, 2006; Goldstein and Winner, 2012; Winner et al., 2013).Two questions are of particular interest: (i) What are the neural mechanisms that allow actors to produce realistic performances of characters other than themselves? (ii) What long-term impact does acting training have on (social) neurocognition? Following Goldstein and Winner (2012), we explore how neuroscientific research into ToM, empathy, and emotional processing, is beginning to illuminate how actors manifest characters. Additionally, we propose that engagement with acting may in turn improve social competencies by inducing changes in the neural networks underlying social cognition.

Background The peri-traumatic stress response is a strong predictor of symptom development after trauma exposure. Regarding witnessing trauma, the stress response might depend on the susceptibility to others' emotions (emotional contagion, EC). This study investigated whether EC moderates the immediate stress response using a trauma film paradigm. Methods Ninety-five healthy participants were randomly exposed to a trauma or a neutral film. Perceived stressfulness of the film and pre-to post-film changes in self-reported anxiety, heart rate and saliva cortisol levels were assessed. EC towards negative and positive emotions was measured using the emotional contagion scale and its emotion-specific subscales. Results Overall, the trauma film was perceived as distressing and elicited an increase in self-reported anxiety, heart rate and saliva cortisol levels relative to the neutral film. EC towards negative emotions was positively related to the perceived stressfulness of the film, increased anxiety and increased heart rate. The association with saliva cortisol levels was also in the expected direction, but not statistically significant. These associations were not found for EC towards positive emotions. Discussion EC towards negative emotions may be an important predictor of trauma exposure outcomes. Further research should clarify its specific contribution in witnessing and undergoing trauma.

Contains fulltext : 226714.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Along with the increased interest in and volume of social cognition research, there has been higher awareness of a lack of agreement on the concepts and taxonomy used to study social processes. Two central concepts in the field, empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM), have been identified as overlapping umbrella terms for different processes of limited convergence. Here, we review and integrate evidence of brain activation, brain organization, and behavior into a coherent model of social-cognitive processes. We start with a meta-analytic clustering of neuroimaging data across different social-cognitive tasks. Results show that understanding others' mental states can be described by a multilevel model of hierarchical structure, similar to models in intelligence and personality research. A higher level describes more broad and abstract classes of functioning, whereas a lower one explains how functions are applied to concrete contexts given by particular stimulus and task formats. Specifically, the higher level of our model suggests 3 groups of neurocognitive processes: (a) predominantly cognitive processes, which are engaged when mentalizing requires self-generated cognition decoupled from the physical world; (b) more affective processes, which are engaged when we witness emotions in others based on shared emotional, motor, and somatosensory representations; (c) combined processes, which engage cognitive and affective functions in parallel. We discuss how these processes are explained by an underlying principal gradient of structural brain organization. Finally, we validate the model by a review of empathy and ToM task interrelations found in behavioral studies. 35 p.

Healthy aging is characterized by a gradual decline in cognitive control and inhibition of interferences, while emotional control is either preserved or facilitated. Emotional control regulates the processing of emotional conflicts such as in irony in speech, and cognitive control resolves conflict between non-affective tendencies. While negative emotion can trigger control processes and speed up resolution of both cognitive and emotional conflicts, we know little about how aging affects the interaction of emotion and control. In two EEG experiments, we compared the influence of negative emotion on cognitive and emotional conflict processing in groups of younger adults (mean age = 25.2 years) and older adults (69.4 years). Participants viewed short video clips and either categorized spoken vowels (cognitive conflict) or their emotional valence (emotional conflict), while the visual facial information was congruent or incongruent. Results show that negative emotion modulates both cognitive and emotional conflict processing in younger and older adults as indicated in reduced response times and/or enhanced event-related potentials (ERPs). In emotional conflict processing, we observed a valence-specific N100 ERP component in both age groups. In cognitive conflict processing, we observed an interaction of emotion by congruence in the N100 responses in both age groups, and a main effect of congruence in the P200 and N200. Thus, the influence of emotion on conflict processing remains intact in aging, despite a marked decline in cognitive control. Older adults may prioritize emotional wellbeing and preserve the role of emotion in cognitive and emotional control.

Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a severe, lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder with early onset that places a heavy burden on affected individuals and their families. Due to the need for highly specialized health, educational and vocational services, ASD is a cost-intensive disorder, and strain on health care systems increases with increasing age of the affected individual. Methods The ASD-Net will study Germany’s largest cohort of patients with ASD over the lifespan. By combining methodological expertise from all levels of clinical research, the ASD-Net will follow a translational approach necessary to identify neurobiological pathways of different phenotypes and their appropriate identification and treatment. The work of the ASD-Net will be organized into three clusters concentrating on diagnostics, therapy and health economics. In the diagnostic cluster, data from a large, well-characterized sample (N = 2568) will be analyzed to improve the efficiency of diagnostic procedures. Pattern classification methods (machine learning) will be used to identify algorithms for screening purposes. In a second step, the developed algorithm will be tested in an independent sample. In the therapy cluster, we will unravel how an ASD-specific social skills training with concomitant oxytocin administration can modulate behavior through neurobiological pathways. For the first time, we will characterize long-term effects of a social skills training combined with oxytocin treatment on behavioral and neurobiological phenotypes. Also acute effects of oxytocin will be investigated to delineate general and specific effects of additional oxytocin treatment in order to develop biologically plausible models for symptoms and successful therapeutic interventions in ASD. Finally, in the health economics cluster, we will assess service utilization and ASD-related costs in order to identify potential needs and cost savings specifically tailored to Germany. The ASD-Net has been established as part of the German Research Network for Mental Disorders, funded by the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research). Discussion The highly integrated structure of the ASD-Net guarantees sustained collaboration of clinicians and researchers to alleviate individual distress, harm, and social disability of patients with ASD and reduce costs to the German health care system. Trial registration Both clinical trials of the ASD-Net are registered in the German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00008952 (registered on August 4, 2015) and DRKS00010053 (registered on April 8, 2016). peerReviewed

Background Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental conditions with severe impairments in social communication and interaction. Pioneering research suggests that oxytocin can improve motivation, cognition and attention to social cues in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this clinical trial is to characterize basic mechanisms of action of acute oxytocin treatment on neural levels and to relate these to changes in different levels of socio-affective and -cognitive functioning. Methods This clinical study is a randomized, double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled, multicenter functional magnetic resonance imaging study with two arms. A sample of 102 male autism spectrum disorder patients, diagnosed with Infantile Autistic Disorder (F84.0 according to ICD-10), Asperger Syndrome (F84.5 according to ICD-10), or Atypical Autism (F84.1 according to ICD-10) will be recruited and will receive oxytocin and placebo nasal spray on two different days. Autism spectrum disorder patients will be randomized to determine who receives oxytocin on the first and who on the second visit. Healthy control participants will be recruited and case-control matched to the autism spectrum disorder patients. The primary outcome will be neural network activity, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants perform socio-affective and -cognitive tasks. Behavioral markers such as theory of mind accuracy ratings and response times will be assessed as secondary outcomes in addition to physiological measures such as skin conductance. Trait measures for alexithymia, interpersonal reactivity, and social anxiety will also be evaluated. Additionally, we will analyze the effect of oxytocin receptor gene variants and how these potentially influence the primary and secondary outcome measures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging assessments will take place at two time points which will be scheduled at least two weeks apart to ensure a sufficient wash-out time after oxytocin treatment. The study has been approved by an ethical review board and the competent authority. Discussion Revealing the mechanisms of acute oxytocin administration, especially on the socio-affective and -cognitive domains at hand, will be a further step towards novel therapeutic interventions regarding autism. Trial registration German Clinical Trial Register DRKS00010053. The trial was registered on the 8th of April 2016

Humans have the ability to reflect upon their perception, thoughts, and actions, known as metacognition (MC). The brain basis of MC is incompletely understood, and it is debated whether MC on different processes is subserved by common or divergent networks. We combined behavioral phenotyping with multi‐modal neuroimaging to investigate whether structural substrates of individual differences in MC on higher‐order cognition (MC‐C) are dissociable from those underlying MC on perceptual accuracy (MC‐P). Motivated by conceptual work suggesting a link between MC and cognitive perspective taking, we furthermore tested for overlaps between MC substrates and mentalizing networks. In a large sample of healthy adults, individual differences in MC‐C and MC‐P did not correlate. MRI‐based cortical thickness mapping revealed a structural basis of this independence, by showing that individual differences in MC‐P related to right prefrontal cortical thickness, while MC‐C scores correlated with measures in lateral prefrontal, temporo‐parietal, and posterior midline regions. Surface‐based superficial white matter diffusivity analysis revealed substrates resembling those seen for cortical thickness, confirming the divergence of both MC faculties using an independent imaging marker. Despite their specificity, substrates of MC‐C and MC‐P fell clearly within networks known to participate in mentalizing, confirmed by task‐based fMRI in the same subjects, previous meta‐analytical findings, and ad‐hoc Neurosynth‐based meta‐analyses. Our integrative multi‐method approach indicates domain‐specific substrates of MC; despite their divergence, these nevertheless likely rely on component processes mediated by circuits also involved in mentalizing. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3388–3399, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

BACKGROUND: The study of emotional speech perception and emotional prosody necessitates stimuli with reliable affective norms. However, ratings may be affected by the participants' current emotional state as increased anxiety and depression have been shown to yield altered neural responding to emotional stimuli. Therefore, the present study had two aims, first to provide a database of emotional speech stimuli and second to probe the influence of depression and anxiety on the affective ratings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We selected 120 words from the Leipzig Affective Norms for German database (LANG), which includes visual ratings of positive, negative, and neutral word stimuli. These words were spoken by a male and a female native speaker of German with the respective emotional prosody, creating a total set of 240 auditory emotional stimuli. The recordings were rated again by an independent sample of subjects for valence and arousal, yielding groups of highly arousing negative or positive stimuli and neutral stimuli low in arousal. These ratings were correlated with participants' emotional state measured with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Higher depression scores were related to more negative valence of negative and positive, but not neutral words. Anxiety scores correlated with increased arousal and more negative valence of negative words. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results underscore the importance of representatively distributed depression and anxiety scores in participants of affective rating studies. The LANG-audition database, which provides well-controlled, short-duration auditory word stimuli for the experimental investigation of emotional speech is available in Supporting Information S1.