1. Brain Responses to the Acquired Moral Status of Faces
Tania Singer, Stefan J. Kiebel, Joel S. Winston, Raymond J. Dolan, and Chris D. Frith
Presented by Miranda Stewart
Title
Author Me

2. Background
Brothers, 1990: amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, inferotemporal face-responsive recions, and superior temporal sulcus process socially relevant information
Adolphs, 2003: detailed perceptual processing: fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus; sense representaions and motivational value: OFC, amygdala, ventral striatum
These areas are important for social cognition.

3. Background (cont’d)
Posterior STS activated during perception of motion and during inferences about intentions, beliefs, and feelings
Amygdala, dorsal and ventral striatum, OFCC, insula, and higher-order visual areas used for deliberative and implicit social judgments

4. Background (cont’d) Judgments on perceived cooperativeness
Strong aversions against deception in monetary games
People will punish defectors even at cost to themselves. (i.e., Ultimatum Game)
Rilling, et. al., 2002: activation of striatum and rostral ACC activated when cooperating with human, not computer
Monkeys from last week

5. The Experiment
Subjects play iterated prisoner’s dilemma in the fMRI. They see photographs of the person they are playing with.
Defectors, Cooperators, and Neutral Faces
Intentional and Non-intentional

7. Memory of the faces

8. Comparison between cooperators/defectors and neutral revealed significant effects in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, left insula, left amygdala, and left fusiform/lateral inferior temporal gyrus

9. Comparison of cooperator and neutral faces.

10. Cooperators with intentionality

12. Discussion
Brain areas activated indicate that the faces acquired a social meaning.
The difference between intentional and non-intentional faces indicates that brain activation was from social relevance, not reward relevance.
Amygdala responded to positive stimuli, as opposed to in previous studies.

13. Discussion (cont’d)
Amygdala: role in modulating sensory cortices, i.e. fusiform gyrus
Right posterior STS: activation in attributing intention
Insula cortex: consciousness of feelings, when subjects report own feelings
Less regions activated for defectors
Fusiform gyrus activated in face-responsive areas to socially relevant faces
Anger toward defectors

14. Conclusion Cooperation is rewarding!
Areas of the brain involved in social cognition activate to sensory stimuli that acquires social meaning