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Definition and characterization of an extended social-affective default network

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Abstract

Recent evidence suggests considerable overlap between the default mode network (DMN) and regions involved in social, affective and introspective processes. We considered these overlapping regions as the social-affective part of the DMN. In this study, we established a robust mapping of the underlying brain network formed by these regions and those strongly connected to them (the extended social-affective default network). We first seeded meta-analytic connectivity modeling and resting-state analyses in the meta-analytically defined DMN regions that showed statistical overlap with regions associated with social and affective processing. Consensus connectivity of each seed was subsequently delineated by a conjunction across both connectivity analyses. We then functionally characterized the ensuing regions and performed several cluster analyses. Among the identified regions, the amygdala/hippocampus formed a cluster associated with emotional processes and memory functions. The ventral striatum, anterior cingulum, subgenual cingulum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex formed a heterogeneous subgroup associated with motivation, reward and cognitive modulation of affect. Posterior cingulum/precuneus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex were associated with mentalizing, self-reference and autobiographic information. The cluster formed by the temporo-parietal junction and anterior middle temporal sulcus/gyrus was associated with language and social cognition. Taken together, the current work highlights a robustly interconnected network that may be central to introspective, socio-affective, that is, self- and other-related mental processes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Human Brain Project (R01-MH074457-01A1, PTF, ARL, SBE), the Helmholtz Initiative on Systems-Biology “The Human Brain Model” (SBE), and the German National Academic Foundation (DB). The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Simon B. Eickhoff.

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Amft, M., Bzdok, D., Laird, A.R. et al. Definition and characterization of an extended social-affective default network. Brain Struct Funct 220, 1031–1049 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0698-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0698-0

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