Kumaran, D;
Banino, A;
Blundell, C;
Hassabis, D;
Dayan, P;
(2016)
Computations Underlying Social Hierarchy Learning: Distinct Neural Mechanisms for Updating and Representing Self-Relevant Information.
NEURON
, 92
(5)
pp. 1135-1147.
10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.052.
Preview |
Text
1-s2.0-S0896627316308029-main.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Knowledge about social hierarchies organizes human behavior, yet we understand little about the underlying computations. Here we show that a Bayesian inference scheme, which tracks the power of individuals, better captures behavioral and neural data compared with a reinforcement learning model inspired by rating systems used in games such as chess. We provide evidence that the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) selectively mediates the updating of knowledge about one’s own hierarchy, as opposed to that of another individual, a process that underpinned successful performance and involved functional interactions with the amygdala and hippocampus. In contrast, we observed domain-general coding of rank in the amygdala and hippocampus, even when the task did not require it. Our findings reveal the computations underlying a core aspect of social cognition and provide new evidence that self-relevant information may indeed be afforded a unique representational status in the brain.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Computations Underlying Social Hierarchy Learning: Distinct Neural Mechanisms for Updating and Representing Self-Relevant Information |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.052 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.052 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Neurosciences, Neurosciences & Neurology, MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX, ANTERIOR CINGULATE GYRUS, FRONTAL-CORTEX, COGNITION, HIPPOCAMPUS, OTHERS, HUMANS, MEMORY, DECISIONS, JUDGMENTS, social hierarchy; memory; learning; prefrontal cortex; hippocampus; Bayesian; reinforcement learning |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1533732 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
