Otto Hahn Group Cognitive Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; INM-7, FZ Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Multimodal Imaging and Connectome Analysis Lab, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Department of Data Science, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea; Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Republic of Korea
Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Republic of Korea; Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
Anne Böckler
Department of Psychology, Wurzburg University, Wurzburg, Germany
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Multimodal Imaging and Connectome Analysis Lab, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Tania Singer
Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Berlin, Germany
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.
