Effects of social and emotional context on neural activation and synchrony during movie viewing.

ABSTRACT: Sharing emotional experiences impacts how we perceive and interact with the world, but the neural mechanisms that support this sharing are not well characterized. In this study, participants (N = 52) watched videos in an MRI scanner in the presence of an unfamiliar peer. Videos varied in valence and social context (i.e., participants believed their partner was viewing the same (joint condition) or a different (solo condition) video). Reported togetherness increased during positive videos regardless of social condition, indicating that positive contexts may lessen the experience of being alone. Two analysis approaches were used to examine both sustained neural activity averaged over time and dynamic synchrony throughout the videos. Both approaches revealed clusters in the medial prefrontal

SUBMITTER: Dziura SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8596971 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature