PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The human brain supports social cognitive functions, including Theory of Mind, empathy, and compassion, through its intrinsic hierarchical organization. However, it remains unclear how the learning and refinement of social skills shapes brain function and structure. We studied if different types of social mental training induce changes in cortical function and microstructure, investigating 332 healthy adults (197 women, 20-55 years) with repeated multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral testing. Our neuroimaging approach examined longitudinal changes in cortical functional gradients and myelin-sensitive T1 relaxometry, two complementary measures of cortical hierarchical organization. We observed marked changes in intrinsic cortical function and microstructure, which varied as a function of social training content. In particular, cortical function and microstructure changed as a result of attention-mindfulness and socio-cognitive training in regions functionally associated with attention and interoception, including insular and parietal cortices. Conversely, socio-affective and socio-cognitive training resulted in differential microstructural changes in regions classically implicated in interoceptive and emotional processing, including insular and orbitofrontal areas, but did not result in functional reorganization. Notably, longitudinal changes in cortical function and microstructure predicted behavioral change in attention, compassion and perspective-taking. Our work demonstrates functional and microstructural plasticity after the training of social-interoceptive functions, and illustrates the bidirectional relationship between brain organisation and human social skills.
Navigating daily life requires a number of social skills, such as empathy and understanding other people’s thoughts and feelings. Research has found that specific parts of the brain support these abilities in humans. For instance, the brain areas that support compassion are different from the regions involved in understanding other people’s perspective and thoughts. It is unclear how learning and refining social skills alters the brain. Previous studies have shown that learning new motor skills restructures the areas of the brain that regulate movement. Could acquiring and improving social skills have a similar effect? To investigate, Valk et al. trained more than 300 healthy adults in different social skills over the course of three months as part of the ReSource project. The program was designed to enhance abilities in compassion and perspective through mental exercises and working in pairs. Participants were also trained using different approaches to see whether changes to the brain are influenced by how a skill is learnt. The brains of the participants were repeatedly pictured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This revealed that different types of training caused unique changes in specific parts of the brain. For example, teaching mindfulness made parts of the brain less functionally connected, whereas training to understand other people’s thought increased functional connections between various regions. These functional alterations were paralleled by changes in brain structure. They could also predict improvements in social skills which were measured throughout the study using behavioural tests. These findings suggest that training can help to improve social skills even in adults, which may benefit their quality of life through stronger social connections. Better knowledge of how to develop social skills and their biological basis will help to identify people who need support with these interactions and develop new therapies to nurture their abilities.
Navigating daily life requires a number of social skills, such as empathy and understanding other people’s thoughts and feelings. Research has found that specific parts of the brain support these abilities in humans. For instance, the brain areas that support compassion are different from the regions involved in understanding other people’s perspective and thoughts. It is unclear how learning and refining social skills alters the brain. Previous studies have shown that learning new motor skills restructures the areas of the brain that regulate movement. Could acquiring and improving social skills have a similar effect? To investigate, Valk et al. trained more than 300 healthy adults in different social skills over the course of three months as part of the ReSource project. The program was designed to enhance abilities in compassion and perspective through mental exercises and working in pairs. Participants were also trained using different approaches to see whether changes to the brain are influenced by how a skill is learnt. The brains of the participants were repeatedly pictured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This revealed that different types of training caused unique changes in specific parts of the brain. For example, teaching mindfulness made parts of the brain less functionally connected, whereas training to understand other people’s thought increased functional connections between various regions. These functional alterations were paralleled by changes in brain structure. They could also predict improvements in social skills which were measured throughout the study using behavioural tests. These findings suggest that training can help to improve social skills even in adults, which may benefit their quality of life through stronger social connections. Better knowledge of how to develop social skills and their biological basis will help to identify people who need support with these interactions and develop new therapies to nurture their abilities.
摘要：
人脑支持社会认知功能,包括心理理论,同理心,和同情心，通过其内在的等级制组织。然而,目前尚不清楚社会技能的学习和完善如何塑造大脑的功能和结构。我们研究了不同类型的社会心理训练是否会引起皮质功能和微观结构的变化，调查332名健康成年人(197名女性，20-55岁）进行重复的多模式神经影像学和行为测试。我们的神经成像方法检查了皮质功能梯度和髓鞘敏感T1弛豫测量的纵向变化，皮质分层组织的两种互补措施。我们观察到内在皮质功能和微观结构的显著变化，随着社会培训内容的变化而变化。特别是,皮层功能和微观结构的改变是由于注意-正念和社会认知训练在功能上与注意和相互感觉相关的区域，包括岛叶和顶叶皮质。相反，社会情感和社会认知训练导致在传统上涉及互感和情感处理的区域中不同的微观结构变化，包括岛屿和眶额区域，但没有导致功能重组。值得注意的是,皮层功能和微观结构的纵向变化预测了注意力的行为变化，同情和观点。我们的工作证明了社会感受功能训练后的功能和微观结构可塑性，并说明了大脑组织和人类社交技能之间的双向关系。
