When bodies and traits collide: Investigating a "Who" system for social cognition

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde: How do I know who you are?

The story of Jekyll and Hyde illuminates a fascinating problem for humans to solve: How do we link together features of a person, such as body shape and personality, in order to understand "who" somebody is? Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have the same physical appearance, they have distinctly different traits. The former is a well-respected surgeon who performs operations on anaesthetised patients, whereas the latter is a sadist who performs the same operations on unfortunate non-anaesthetised victims. If we were to observe Jekyll or Hyde at work, it would not be sufficient to only take note of his physical appearance in order to make sense of his identity. Instead, we would need to consider his character and motivations (i.e., surgeon or sadist) in order to appreciate his real identity. The key aim of this project is to examine the brain systems that link physical features of a person with their traits.

What is the background to the project?

To date, neuroscience and psychology researchers have studied separately how we perceive others' body parts (e.g., arms, legs) and traits (e.g., kind, selfish). As such, it is not known how multiple features of a person (e.g., thin and kind) are linked together to understand their identity. The key aim of this project is to bring together expertise in neuroscience and social psychology to examine the brain systems that link physical features of a person with their traits.

How will the project be completed?

The project comprises a series of experiments organised into two parts. First, brain activity will be measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants observe images of other people and infer traits about them. For example, an image of a man will be presented alongside text stating "He gave his sister a hug", which implies the trait "friendly". Using conventional analyses I will show which brain regions link together bodies and traits. In addition, using innovative analyses, I will examine how these regions influence each other. For example, how do brain regions sensitive to trait inferences facilitate those involved in perceiving bodies? Also, how do brain regions involved in body perception influence the response of regions involved with trait inferences? The results will establish a neural model of how the human brain links bodies with traits.

In the second part, I will test how this model breaks down when we perceive social "out-groups". Research in social psychology has shown that we treat members of society differently based on their social group. For example, homeless people and drug addicts receive a reduced status relative to other members of society. Further, individuals with racial biases towards their own race treat other races as "out-groups". The proposed work will test how the model outlined previously responds differently when perceiving such social out-groups.

What are the implications of the research?

The direct implication of the research is a deeper understanding of the neural bases of how we expect different members of society to behave and, subsequently, how we interact with them. By combining techniques from neuroscience and social psychology the proposal will build and test a model of how the human brain links together different features of a person in order to make sense of their identity.

More broadly, the project addresses a key issue in contemporary society, namely, why is social cohesion so difficult to achieve? Examining how brain responses can be atypical for perceiving social out-groups will provide insight into the physiological basis for how we treat members of society. Due to the clear relevance for multicultural Britain, government bodies will be informed of the results of this research and a series of public lectures will be organised based on communicating what social neuroscience can tell people about multiculturalism and social cohesion.

Impact for academia:

1. Innovation. To date, subfields within social neuroscience, such as body perception and trait inference, have been studied in isolation. However, real social interaction happens in a rapidly changing and complex world. Hence, there is a pressing need to integrate these subfields. To address this issue, the current project involves two important innovations. First, it combines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with trait inference paradigms developed in social psychology. This provides much-needed ecological validity to models of brain function during social interaction. Second, the novel application of dynamic causal modelling (DCM) to examine questions of person identity will develop a model of social brain function, which includes a dynamic interplay between distinct brain regions rather than isolated brain regions working alone. The model produced will replace previous ideas regarding how bodies and traits are linked together, which did not use multidisciplinary approaches or DCM.

2. Capacity building. The proposed research will directly influence the capacity of those involved with the project, including the PI and support staff. A major contributor to such skill development will be provided by collaboration with Professor Daniel Wigboldus (Radboud University, The Netherlands) who is a world-leading expert in social psychology and trait-inference paradigms. In doing so, the proposal will bring together researchers at the two institutions interested in social psychology, cognition and neuroscience, which would not have been possible without this research being performed. This will lead to greater chances for significant publications and successfully achieving European grant bids. Further, support staff at 'Pontio', an arts, entertainment and innovation centre on Bangor's campus, will gain experience promoting the pubic understanding of social neuroscience.

Impact for wider society:

1. Social cohesion and government policy. A key priority for the UK Government, especially the Department for Communities and Local Government, is to promote social cohesion in order to achieve a vibrant and fair society. The project's findings will contribute to understanding the cognitive and biological mechanisms that underpin why we treat different members of society in different ways (e.g., homeless people, drug addicts and other races). A deeper understanding of what factors determine the complex interplay between ingroup and outgroup members will reframe debates about prejudice, stereotypes and multiculturalism in the UK and thus inform policy. For example, the results will highlight which social groups members of society have atypical neural responses towards. Importantly, the reduced status that homeless people receive may rely on a different brain mechanism to the way those with "pro-White" attitudes treat other races. This could encourage government bodies to use different policies for integration between different societal groups.

2. Informing interventions. The proposal's deliverables will provide an improved understanding of how the healthy brain functions in social scenarios, which will inform clinical cases such as individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia, whose pathologies are typified by dysfunction in social information processing. Medical professionals will benefit with an improved understanding of the types of brain processes involved in social perception and potentially identify likely mechanisms that may be "faulty" in these conditions. This could help design and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that aim to "rewire" connections between brain processes during social interactions. This could influence how members of society from different societal groups treat each other, especially those traditionally perceived as "out-groups", as well as help ASD and schizophrenia patients integrate into society more effectively.