A Pain by any other Name (Rejection, Exclusion, Ostracism) still Hurts the Same Mathew D. Leiberman and Naomi I. Eisenberger By: Shauna Halaharvi

The low-down! Argumentation for specific neural processes devoted to social cognition and not shared by more general cognitive processes and others argue otherwise. Does social pain qualify under this analysis….? Perhaps…if social pain was related to physical pain…..oooo we’re getting somewhere now! Research suggests that dorsal region of the anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) might be involved with both forms of pain.

dACC…hmm what’s that? Function might be to be a neural alarm system, combining both detection of a problem and sounding of an alarm. Cognitive processes Processes nonsymbolic conflict where conflict is not explicitly represented but is tension level

RACC Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex (rACC) Affective processes Symbolic conflict where conflict is explicitly represented with symbolic or propositional thought

Link of Social and Physical Social pain described as physical. How do YOU describe physical pain? How do YOU describe Social Pain? Countries across world use physical descriptions for social pain

The Evolutionary link Panksepp et al (1978)-1 st to say the link is more than metaphorical In mammals, social needs are important to communicate to mothers the biological needs and they simply can’t care for themselves Social attachment system- monitors actual or psychological distance form others and when distant….contact can be established

Cont… Mammals are 1 st to have a cingulate gyrus could be for social attachment process Reason for dACC in social and physical is… High density of opiate receptors in brain Literature shows dACC to active in social pain ACC and dACC – separation distress to regain social content

ACC and Physical Pain in Humans Pain Matrix- involved in sensory, distress, regulatory components of pain – identify where and also the intensity Periaquaductal gray, rACC, right ventral prefrontal cortex – regulation of pain by opioid release and cognitive process Sensory intensity and subjective distress are related ex: music turning up! Change in reports of pain distress correlated with changes in dACC activity but not somatosensory

ACC and Social Pain in Animals Rostral – ACC, some just may not have it dACC- critical to experience social pain leading to distress vocalizations

ACC and Social Pain in Humans dACC, right insula, right ventral prefrontal cortex brain – exclusion dACC and right ventral prefrontal cortex – social pain dACC – greater activity during exclusion – high social pain Right ventral prefrontal cortex – high activity during exclusion – low social pain Right ventral prefrontal cortex – decresed experience of pain

Function of ACC dACC activity is experienced in social and physical … But why? What is the function? Clinical – dACC produces attn. getting affective motivational states such as pain, anxiety, and distress Cognitive researchers – monitor for conflict and to deter errors

Cont… Activated when a discrepancy exists between ones goals and ones prepotent responses dACC is activated and “notifies” lateral prefrontal cortex that top- down control process is needed Most say dACC is mainly for detecting conflict and altering lateral prefrontal cortex

ACC the Neural Alarm System An alarm system Detects the environment Notifies people that alarm is off dACC Sensitive to goal conflicts Can create attn.-getting affective states Do phenomenological And conflict – detection processes co-vary with one another

Dorsal vs. Rostral ACC Cognitive tasks activate dACC and deactivate rACC, affective tasks tended to activate rACC and deactivate dACC Hypothesize that dACC and rACC both involved in conflict processing but are different in regard to the extent the conflict is represented When tension is incr. in dACC, triggers a signal to lateral prefrontal cortex, exerts top-down Symbolic thoughts are processes serially, many conflicts maybe non-symbolically processed only a single symbolic conflict can be processed at one time,

Cont.. Most non-symbolic forms of cognitive conflict activate dACC Neg. emotions are the result of a conflict between desired or expected outcomes and what actually occurs Anxiety is like fear but doesn’t have an intentional object Sadness, anger, fear activate rACC but anxiety activate dACC- percception of discrete

Cont.. Pain can be symbolic of non- symbolic When iss is non-symbolic- communication is bottom-up activates dACC More symbolic forms of cognition, emotion and pain are processed in rACC and less in dACC Non-symbolic conflict simply produces tension and anxiety until resolved or becomes symbolic

Conclusion Social attachment dACC both in physical and Social dACCn as neural alarm system