Showing papers by "Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory published in 2019"
TL;DR: A model that views synchronized movement, emotional contagion, and social conformity as interrelated processes that rely on shared neural networks is proposed, suggesting that social alignment is mediated by a three-component feedback loop.
133 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that adopting a real-life approach may radically change the understanding of brain and behavior and advocate in favor of a paradigm shift toward a nonreductionist approach, exploiting portable technology in semicontrolled environments, to explore behavior in real life.
Abstract: Owing to advances in neuroimaging technology, the past couple of decades have witnessed a surge of research on brain mechanisms that underlie human cognition. Despite the immense development in cog...
104 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesize recent neuroimaging findings into an extended two-fold model, and emphasize the important role of the evaluation phase, and further divide the evaluation process into three sub-stages: valuation, monitoring, and selection.
Abstract: It is increasingly acknowledged that creativity involves two phases: a generation phase and an evaluation phase. The two-fold model assumes a cyclic motion between the generation and the evaluation of ideas, as common or deviant ideas are rejected, and novel and appropriate ideas receive further attention and elaboration. Here we synthesize recent neuroimaging findings into an extended two-fold model, and emphasize the important role of the evaluation phase. The model aims to explain how different environmental processes, like expertise and enculturation, affect creativity. We further divide the evaluation phase into three sub stages: valuation, monitoring, and selection. We provide evidence for the model and suggest that creativity research would greatly benefit from incorporating the extended two-fold model into future research questions.
85 citations
TL;DR: The results confirm that the L-IFG plays a key role in creativity across cultures, and the null findings regarding the expected interaction between stimulation and culture are discussed.
Abstract: Although evidence points to the existence of cultural differences in creativity, the mechanisms that underlie these differences are largely unknown. The twofold model of creativity posits two recursive stages: a generation phase and an evaluation phase. Considering that recent studies suggest that the left inferior frontal gyrus) L-IFG(may inhibit creativity during the evaluation phase, we hypothesized that manipulating IFG activity would affect participants' level of creativity. We further predicted that the IFG may be "hyperactive" in a culture that typically discourages uniqueness (e.g., Japan) as compared to a Western culture (e.g., Israel); therefore the effect of inhibiting the L-IFG was expected to be higher in Japanese. To support this hypothesis we altered L-IFG activation using tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) in 30 Japanese and 30 Israeli participants and examined the effect of anodal and cathodal stimulation on divergent thinking (DT). Regardless of culture, cathodal stimulation increased creativity compared to sham, while anodal stimulation diminished creativity. Although cultural differences were found in DT scores, stimulation had no differential effect between the cultures. Taken together, the results confirm that the L-IFG plays a key role in creativity across cultures. The null findings regarding the expected interaction between stimulation and culture are discussed.
39 citations
TL;DR: A neurogenetic mechanism by which OXTR-dependent activity within the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) is related to the aetiology of autism is suggested.
Abstract: Autism is a highly varied and heritable neurodevelopmental condition, and common variants explain approximately 50% of the genetic variance of autism. One of the genes implicated in autism is the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). The current study combined genetic and brain imaging (fMRI) data to examine the moderating effect of genotype on the association between diagnosis and brain activity in response to a test of cognitive empathy. Participants were adolescents (mean age = 14.7 ± 1.7) who were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the OXTR and underwent functional brain imaging while completing the adolescent version of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test). Two (rs2254298, rs53576) of the five OXTR SNPs examined were significantly associated with brain activity during the Eyes Test, and three of the SNPs (rs2254298, rs53576, rs2268491) interacted with diagnostic status to predict brain activity. All of the effects localized to the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) and an overlap analysis revealed a large overlap of the effects. An exploratory analysis showed that activity within an anatomically defined rSMG and genotype can predict diagnostic status with reasonable accuracy. This is one of the first studies to investigate OXTR and brain function in autism. The findings suggest a neurogenetic mechanism by which OXTR-dependent activity within the rSMG is related to the aetiology of autism.
36 citations
TL;DR: The current study supports the hypothesis that interpersonal synchronization in body movement could be a marker of kinesthetic empathy and concludes that the OT system plays an important role in promoting interpersonal synchrony during dance, suggesting that OT underlies the kinesthetic dimension of empathy.
Abstract: Because the oxytocinergic (OT) system has previously been linked to regulation of complex social cognition and behavior, we examined whether intranasal administration of OT would modulate synchronization during a real-life dance paradigm. The current study examined pairs of friends while dancing after intranasal administration of OT or placebo. Motion tracking software and a computational model were utilized to measure synchrony between the partners as manifested in the velocity of their movements. In line with our predictions, OT increased synchrony between partners. This effect was stronger for individuals with higher trait empathy scores. We concluded that the OT system plays an important role in promoting interpersonal synchrony during dance, suggesting that OT underlies the kinesthetic dimension of empathy. Although the biological mechanisms underlying empathy have been studied extensively, scientifically validated knowledge about the kinesthetic dimension of empathy is still lacking. The current study supports the hypothesis that interpersonal synchronization in body movement could be a marker of kinesthetic empathy.
23 citations
TL;DR: Emotional responses to vicarious social touch are associated with rIFG activity and are modulated by levels of emotional empathy, which has major therapeutic potential for individuals with low empathic abilities, such as those with ASD.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined cross-cultural differences in creativity based on the two-fold model, according to which creativity involves idea generation and idea evaluation phases, and found that evaluation is more stringent in East-Asian cultures, where unique ideas are more likely to be inhibited than in Western cultures.
15 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that estratetraenol may serve as one of the biological agents that mediate the behavioral effects of women's chemosignals of fertility on social behavior, encouraging them to act in a cooperative manner toward others, a response that may highlight their attractive qualities and thus attract mates.
10 citations
TL;DR: The findings indicate that androstadienone serves as a threatening chemosignal of dominance, further supporting the link between hypersensitivity toward social threat cues and the perpetuation of social anxiety.
6 citations
TL;DR: Mean square cosine over the time range is proposed as a scalar summary of dyadic synchrony, and this measure is found to be positively associated with cognitive empathy.
Abstract: We propose a novel approach to the analysis of synchronized three-dimensional motion in dyads. Motion recorded at high time resolution, as with a gaming device, is preprocessed in each of the three...
TL;DR: Exposure to estratetraenol may trigger a change in men’s social cognition, especially in sexually related situations, and it is found that the participants’ emotional reaction to touch was stronger under exposure to EstratetRAenol.
Abstract: Previous studies suggest that the putative human pheromone estratetraenol affects several systems underlying human functioning and appears to activate neural systems that are known to affect sexual behavior. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to estratetraenol affects men's social cognition abilities. In the first experiment, men performed the Interpersonal Perception task while being exposed to estratetraenol and to a control solution. Men performed the task with better accuracy while being exposed to estratetraenol. This improvement was evident especially in the Intimacy category where participants evaluated romantic relationships. In a second experiment, we exposed a different sample of men to estratetraenol and to a control solution while performing a task that implicitly measured their emotional reaction to photos depicting two humans either romantically touching or not, with a control condition of two inanimate objects either touching or not. We found that the participants' emotional reaction to touch was stronger under exposure to estratetraenol. Together, these results suggest that exposure to estratetraenol may trigger a change in men's social cognition, especially in sexually related situations.
TL;DR: Exposure to women's fertility odor cues improves social perception among single men, while it impairs such perception among pair-bonded men.
Abstract: Previous research has shown that men's mating motivation may increase following exposure to women's body odor during ovulation. In the current study, we examined whether exposure to women's fertility odor cues influences social perception among men, while focusing on the role of men's relationship status in moderating this reaction. We collected body odor samples from 43 women during ovulation and during the luteal phase and exposed 85 men to these odor samples while they performed an emotion recognition task and an interpersonal perception task. Single men were better at recognizing emotional facial expressions following exposure to odor cues of high fertility as compared with odor cues of low fertility. No such effect was identified in pair-bonded men. In support of this finding, single men became more accurate on the interpersonal perception task following exposure to odor cues of high fertility, while pair-bonded men became less accurate after such exposure. Collectively, the results suggest that exposure to women's fertility odor cues improves social perception among single men, while it impairs such perception among pair-bonded men. We suggest that these effects may result from increased mating motivation following exposure to odor cues of fertility, which in turn encourages accurate social perception among single men while promoting an avoidant attitude toward social stimuli among pair-bonded men.