Rauchbauer Birgit, Majdandžić Jasminka, Hummer Allan, Windischberger Christian, Lamm Claus
Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Cognitive Science Research Platform, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
MR Center of Excellence, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Cortex. 2015 Sep;70:49-67. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.03.007. Epub 2015 Mar 20.
People often spontaneously engage in copying each other's postures and mannerisms, a phenomenon referred to as behavioral mimicry. Social psychology experiments indicate that mimicry denotes an implicit affiliative signal flexibly regulated in response to social requirements. Yet, the mediating processes and neural underpinnings of such regulation are largely unexplored. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined mimicry regulation by combining an automatic imitation task with facial stimuli, varied on two social-affective dimensions: emotional expression (angry vs happy) and ethnic group membership (in- vs out-group). Behavioral data revealed increased mimicry when happy and when out-group faces were shown. Imaging results revealed that mimicry regulation in response to happy faces was associated with increased activation in the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), right dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), and right superior parietal lobule (SPL). Mimicry regulation in response to out-group faces was related to increased activation in the left ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), bilateral anterior insula, and mid-cingulate cortex (MCC). We suggest that mimicry in response to happy and to out-group faces is driven by distinct affiliative goals, and that mimicry regulation to attain these goals is mediated by distinct neuro-cognitive processes. Higher mimicry in response to happy faces seems to denote reciprocation of an affiliative signal. Higher mimicry in response to out-group faces, reflects an appeasement attempt towards an interaction partner perceived as threatening (an interpretation supported by implicit measures showing that out-group members are more strongly associated with threat). Our findings show that subtle social cues can result in the implicit regulation of mimicry. This regulation serves to achieve distinct affiliative goals, is mediated by different regulatory processes, and relies on distinct parts of an overarching network of task-related brain areas. Our findings shed new light on the neural mechanisms underlying the interplay between implicit action control and social cognition.
人们常常会自发地模仿彼此的姿势和习性，这一现象被称为行为模仿。社会心理学实验表明，模仿是一种根据社会需求灵活调节的隐性亲和信号。然而，这种调节的中介过程和神经基础在很大程度上尚未得到探索。当前的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究通过将自动模仿任务与面部刺激相结合，对面部刺激在两个社会情感维度上进行了变化：情感表达（愤怒与高兴）和种族群体归属（内群体与外群体），以此来研究模仿调节。行为数据显示，当展示高兴表情和外群体面孔时，模仿行为会增加。成像结果表明，对高兴面孔的模仿调节与右侧颞顶联合区（TPJ）、右侧背侧运动前区皮质（dPMC）和右侧顶上小叶（SPL）的激活增加有关。对外群体面孔的模仿调节与左侧腹侧运动前区皮质（vPMC）、下顶叶小叶（IPL）、双侧前脑岛和扣带中部皮质（MCC）的激活增加有关。我们认为，对高兴面孔和外群体面孔的模仿是由不同的亲和目标驱动的，并且为实现这些目标而进行的模仿调节是由不同的神经认知过程介导的。对高兴面孔的较高模仿似乎表示对亲和信号的回应。对外群体面孔的较高模仿反映了对被视为具有威胁性的互动伙伴的安抚尝试（这一解释得到了隐性测量的支持，表明外群体成员与威胁的关联更为强烈）。我们的研究结果表明，微妙的社会线索可以导致模仿的隐性调节。这种调节有助于实现不同的亲和目标，由不同的调节过程介导，并依赖于与任务相关的大脑区域总体网络的不同部分。我们的研究结果为隐性动作控制与社会认知之间相互作用的神经机制提供了新的见解。
