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Neural bases of recommendations differ according to social network structure
Matthew Brook O'Donnell1, Joseph B Bayer2, Christopher N Cascio1
1Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|January 20, 2017
Summary
High information brokers, individuals connecting disparate social networks, show increased brain activity in mentalizing networks. This suggests network position influences how people process social information and make recommendations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
- Network Science
Background:
- Ideas propagate through social networks, but recommender success varies.
- Information brokers bridge unconnected individuals, influencing idea spread.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if high information brokers utilize brain regions associated with mentalizing differently than low information brokers.
- To explore the relationship between social network position and neural activity during recommendation tasks.
Main Methods:
- Social network analysis quantified information brokerage opportunities.
- Functional neuroimaging measured brain activity (mentalizing network) during peer feedback reception.
- Participants provided recommendations for mobile game apps.
Main Results:
- Higher information brokers exhibited greater activity in the mentalizing network (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporal parietal junction, etc.).
- This heightened activity occurred when receiving divergent peer feedback and updating recommendations.
- Network position correlated with differential engagement of brain networks during social decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Social network positions may influence the engagement of specific psychological and neural processes.
- Individuals in brokerage positions may leverage mentalizing networks more when spreading information.
- Integrating brain and social network analyses offers insights into social information processing.
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