Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
J Neurosci. 2012 Nov 7;32(45):15647-56. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2558-12.2012.
Humans frequently make real-world decisions based on rapid evaluations of minimal information; for example, should we talk to an attractive stranger at a party? Little is known, however, about how the brain makes rapid evaluations with real and immediate social consequences. To address this question, we scanned participants with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they viewed photos of individuals that they subsequently met at real-life "speed-dating" events. Neural activity in two areas of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), paracingulate cortex, and rostromedial prefrontal cortex (RMPFC) was predictive of whether each individual would be ultimately pursued for a romantic relationship or rejected. Activity in these areas was attributable to two distinct components of romantic evaluation: either consensus judgments about physical beauty (paracingulate cortex) or individualized preferences based on a partner's perceived personality (RMPFC). These data identify novel computational roles for these regions of the DMPFC in even very rapid social evaluations. Even a first glance, then, can accurately predict romantic desire, but that glance involves a mix of physical and psychological judgments that depend on specific regions of DMPFC.
人类经常基于对最小信息量的快速评估来做出现实世界中的决策；例如，我们是否应该在聚会上与有魅力的陌生人交谈？然而，对于大脑如何快速评估具有真实和直接社交后果的信息，我们知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）对参与者进行扫描，同时他们观看了他们随后在现实生活中的“速配”活动中遇到的个人的照片。背内侧前额叶皮层（DMPFC）、旁扣带皮层和前脑岛的两个区域的神经活动可以预测每个人最终是否会被追求浪漫关系或被拒绝。这些区域的活动归因于浪漫评估的两个不同组成部分：对身体美（旁扣带皮层）的共识判断，或基于伴侣感知个性的个性化偏好（前脑岛）。这些数据确定了 DMPFC 这些区域在甚至非常快速的社会评估中的新的计算作用。即使是第一眼，也可以准确地预测浪漫的欲望，但那一眼涉及到对身体和心理的判断，这取决于 DMPFC 的特定区域。
