Know Your Place: Neural Processing of Social Hierarchy in Humans

Caroline F. Zink, Yunxia Tong, Qiang Chen, Danielle S. Bassett, Jason L. Stein, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

335 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social hierarchies guide behavior in many species, including humans, where status also has an enormous impact on motivation and health. However, little is known about the underlying neural representation of social hierarchies in humans. In the present study, we identify dissociable neural responses to perceived social rank using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an interactive, simulated social context. In both stable and unstable social hierarchies, viewing a superior individual differentially engaged perceptual-attentional, saliency, and cognitive systems, notably dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In the unstable hierarchy setting, additional regions related to emotional processing (amygdala), social cognition (medial prefrontal cortex), and behavioral readiness were recruited. Furthermore, social hierarchical consequences of performance were neurally dissociable and of comparable salience to monetary reward, providing a neural basis for the high motivational value of status. Our results identify neural mechanisms that may mediate the enormous influence of social status on human behavior and health.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)273-283
Number of pages11
JournalNeuron
Volume58
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 24 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • SYSNEURO

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuroscience(all)

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