Functional brain connectivity during social attention predicts individual differences in social skill

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Social attention is crucial for navigating social interactions.
• Variability in social attention ability and experience is common.
• Understanding the neural basis of social attention is key to addressing social functioning differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural systems underlying individual differences in social attention.
• To explore the relationship between brain connectivity, social attention performance, and self-reported social functioning.
• To identify specific brain connectivity patterns associated with social skills.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity during a selective social attention task.
• Connectome-based predictive modeling was employed to link whole-brain functional connectivity to task performance.
• Exploratory graph analysis was used to identify communities of autistic and socially anxious traits.

Main Results:

• Individual differences in whole-brain functional connectivity patterns during face attention predicted task performance.
• Greater cerebellar-occipital connectivity correlated with better performance on the social attention task.
• Increased temporal-parietal connectivity within the social attention network was associated with fewer social communication and interaction challenges.

Conclusions:

• Functional connectivity during selective social attention is linked to individual differences in social functioning.
• Specific brain networks, including cerebellar-occipital and temporal-parietal regions, play a role in social attention and social skills.
• These findings highlight the neural underpinnings of social attention variability and its relation to social competence.