"What could have been, if only ...?" - life in counterfactuals

„Regret“ (wörtlich übersetzt: das Bedauern) ist eine kognitiv basierte Emotion, die mittels kontrafaktischem Denken das Ergebnis einer getroffenen Entscheidung mit einer attraktiver scheinenden Alternative vergleicht. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war in einer EEG/EKP – Studie die Beziehung von „Regret“ und der “feedback – related negativity“ (FRN) in einem „Regret Gambling Task“ zu untersuchen. In weiterer Folge wurde sowohl die P3a, als auch die P3b untersucht. Unter Anwendung eines “Regret Gambling Task” wurde „Regret“ indu-ziert, indem dessen Hauptelement, der “Agency” – Effekt, durch eine freie und erzwungene Wahlbedingung operationalisiert wurde. „Regret“, als auch eine FRN, wurden in der freien Wahlbedingung durch Vorgabe unterschiedlicher Verlustergebnisse hervorgerufen. In der freien Wahlbedingung “Gewinn” wurde eine P3 erzeugt, sowohl eine P3a mit frontaler, als auch eine P3b mit parietaler Aktivierung. Die mittleren Amplituden der ereigniskorrelierten Potentiale (EKP) wurden hinsichtlich der gestellten Hypothesen statistisch analysiert. Die Verhaltensdaten wurden mit nicht – parametrischen Methoden ausgewertet. Diese zeigten keinen signifikanten “Agency” – Effekt. Es konnte ein signifikanter Effekt bezüglich der ver-schiedenen Verlust – Ergebnisvarianten festgestellt werden. Alle Verlustbedingungen zeigten signifikante Unterschiede zu der Gewinnbedingung. Die mittleren Amplituden der EKP – Da-ten zeigten einen signifikanten Haupteffekt bezüglich des „Agency“ – Effekts und der ver-schiedenen Ergebnisvarianten. Weiters einen signifikanten Interaktionseffekt (“Agency” x Ergebnis) für die FRN, die P3a und die P3b in den interessierenden Zeitfenstern. Es konnte keine signifikante graduelle Abstufung in der mittleren Amplitude der FRN zwischen den Ver-lustergebnissen in der freien Wahlbedingung festgestellt werden. Das weist darauf hin, dass die FRN nicht das elektrophysiologische Äquivalent zu „Regret“ darstellt. Vielmehr könnte die FRN die elektrophysiologische „Zündung“ für das Erleben der kognitiven Emotion von „Regret“ mittels kontrafaktischen Denkens darstellen. Die FRN, als auch „Regret“ dienen damit der Verhaltensregulatio. Die Interaktion einer “Bottom – Up” und “Top – Down” – Zwei – Stufen Verarbeitung von Belohnung von Coricelli et al. (2005), als auch das “Adaptive Cri-tic” Model von Holroyd und Coles (2002; Holroyd, et al., 2006) stellen zwei Bezugsrahmen dar, die diese Schlussfolgerung untermauern. Die P3, besonders die P3a, könnten das dia-metrisch entgegengesetzte elektrophysiologische Startsignal für die Emotion von „Relief“ (wörtlich übersetzt mit: Erleichterung) darstellen, das dem Erhalt von zielführendem Verhal-ten dient. Weitere Forschung dazu wäre wünschenswert.Regret is a cognitively based emotion using counterfactual thoughts to compare an outcome with a more desirable alternative. The aim of the present study was to conduct an EEG study to examine the relationship of the feedback – related negativity (FRN) and regret in a regret gambling task. Furthermore the P3a and the P3b were examined. The regret gambling task was used to elicit regret by operationalizing the core element of regret, the agency – effect through free – and forced – choice conditions and inducing regret in the free – choice condi-tions through distinct feedback types bearing losses, which also elicited a FRN. The free – choice “win” – condition elicited a large peaking P3, as well a P3a with frontal and a P3b with parietal activation. The collected EEG data was explored regarding the hypothesis. Behav-ioural data was explored using a non – parametric design. Behavioural results did not reveal a significant agency – effect. One significant effect could be found for the distinct loss feed-back – types and of course the different loss – feedback types were rated significantly differ-ent to the “win” condition. The EEG data showed a significant main effect of agency and feedback, as well as a significant interaction effect (agency x feedback) for the FRN, the P3a and the P3b in the timeframe of interest according to their peaks. Nevertheless no significant gradual distinction in the mean amplitude of the FRN could be found in the free – choice loss – feedback types. This indicates that the FRN does not resemble the electrophysiological equivalent to regret. It could be concluded that the FRN resembles the electrophysiological ignition giving rise to the experience of the cognitive emotion of regret using counterfactuals. It is stated that the FRN as well as regret are both serving for behaviour regulation. This in-terpretation is linked to the proposed interaction of a bottom – up and top – down two level reward processing by Coricelli et al. (2005) and the adaptive critic model by Holroyd and Coles (2002; Holroyd, et al., 2006). The interpretation was made that the P3, especially the P3a, electrophysiologically resembles the diametrical opposed starting signal for the emotion of relief to preserve goal – achieving behaviour. Further research will be needed to test this hypothesis

Developmental trajectory of interpersonal motor alignment: Positive social effects and link to social cognition

International audienceInterpersonal motor alignment is a ubiquitous behavior in daily social life. It is a building block for higher social cognition, including empathy and mentalizing and promotes positive social effects. It can be observed as mimicry, synchrony and automatic imitation, to name a few. These phenomena rely on motor resonance processes, i.e., a direct link between the perception of an action and its execution. While a considerable literature debates its underlying mechanisms and measurement methods, the question of how motor alignment comes about and changes in ontogeny all the way until adulthood, is rarely discussed specifically. In this review we will focus on the link between interpersonal motor alignment, positive social effects and social cognition in infants, children, and adolescents, demonstrating that this link is present early on in development. Yet, in reviewing the existing literature pertaining to social psychology and developmental social cognitive neuroscience, we identify a knowledge gap regarding the healthy developmental changes in interpersonal motor alignment especially in adolescence

Correction: The Modulation of Mimicry by Ethnic Group-Membership and Emotional Expressions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161064.]

Challenges in Linking Physiological Measures and Linguistic Productions in Conversations

International audienceWe introduce here a new experimental setup that provides temporally aligned linguistic and behavioral data together with physiological activity time-series recorded during social interactions. It brings the experimental approach closer to ecological social interaction. Such endeavour requires the aggregation of linguistic, physiological and neuro-cognitive information. Compared to measurement of activity grounded on existing linguistic material our setting presents some additional challenges as we are dealing with conversations. In addition to present the rationale, setup and preliminary analyses, we discuss (i) the challenges caused by the spontaneous and interactional nature of the activity recorded ; (ii) the problem of balancing experimental setup between the technical needs and the desire to keep some level of naturalness in the task ; and (iii) the difficulties in relating in a temporal way linguistic events with physiological signals that have their own biological dynamics

Distinct neural processes are engaged in the modulation of mimicry by social group-membership and emotional expressions

International audiencePeople 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 pa-rietal 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