Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sofie L Valk - , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Author)
  • Boris C Bernhardt - , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal (CHUM) (Author)
  • Fynn-Mathis Trautwein - , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Author)
  • Anne Böckler - , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Würzburg (Author)
  • Philipp Kanske - , Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Author)
  • Nicolas Guizard - , Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal (CHUM) (Author)
  • D Louis Collins - , Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal (CHUM) (Author)
  • Tania Singer - , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Author)

Abstract

Although neuroscientific research has revealed experience-dependent brain changes across the life span in sensory, motor, and cognitive domains, plasticity relating to social capacities remains largely unknown. To investigate whether the targeted mental training of different cognitive and social skills can induce specific changes in brain morphology, we collected longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data throughout a 9-month mental training intervention from a large sample of adults between 20 and 55 years of age. By means of various daily mental exercises and weekly instructed group sessions, training protocols specifically addressed three functional domains: (i) mindfulness-based attention and interoception, (ii) socio-affective skills (compassion, dealing with difficult emotions, and prosocial motivation), and (iii) socio-cognitive skills (cognitive perspective-taking on self and others and metacognition). MRI-based cortical thickness analyses, contrasting the different training modules against each other, indicated spatially diverging changes in cortical morphology. Training of present-moment focused attention mostly led to increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions, socio-affective training induced plasticity in frontoinsular regions, and socio-cognitive training included change in inferior frontal and lateral temporal cortices. Module-specific structural brain changes correlated with training-induced behavioral improvements in the same individuals in domain-specific measures of attention, compassion, and cognitive perspective-taking, respectively, and overlapped with task-relevant functional networks. Our longitudinal findings indicate structural plasticity in well-known socio-affective and socio-cognitive brain networks in healthy adults based on targeted short daily mental practices. These findings could promote the development of evidence-based mental training interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aimed at cultivating social intelligence, prosocial motivation, and cooperation.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1700489
Number of pages11
JournalScience advances
Volume3
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - 4 Oct 2017
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC5627980
Scopus 85040253112
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#76687
ORCID /0000-0003-2027-8782/work/118143551

Keywords

Keywords

  • Adult, Brain/physiology, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neuronal Plasticity, Social Behavior, Young Adult