Frontostriatal functional connectivity underlies self-enhancement during social evaluation

Michael H Parrish; Janine M Dutcher; Keely A Muscatell; Tristen K Inagaki; Mona Moieni; Michael R Irwin; Naomi I Eisenberger

doi:10.1093/scan/nsab139

Frontostriatal functional connectivity underlies self-enhancement during social evaluation

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2022 Aug 1;17(8):723-731. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsab139.

Authors

Michael H Parrish¹, Janine M Dutcher², Keely A Muscatell³, Tristen K Inagaki⁴, Mona Moieni¹, Michael R Irwin⁵, Naomi I Eisenberger¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
³ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
⁵ Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Abstract

Self-enhancement, the tendency to view oneself positively, is a pervasive social motive widely investigated in the psychological sciences. Relatively little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this motive, specifically in social-evaluative situations. To investigate whether positive emotion regulation circuitry, circuitry involved in modulating positive affect, relates to the self-enhancement motive in social contexts, we conducted an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in a healthy young adult sample. We hypothesized that self-enhancement indices (state and trait self-esteem) would relate to greater functional connectivity between right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC), a region implicated in emotion regulation, and the ventral striatum (VS), a region associated with reward-related affect, during a social feedback task. Following social evaluation, participants experienced stable or decreased state self-esteem. Results showed that stable state self-esteem from pre- to post-scan and higher trait self-esteem related to greater RVLPFC-VS connectivity during positive evaluation. Stable-state self-esteem also related to greater RVLPFC-VS connectivity during negative evaluation. Moreover, RVLPFC activation during all types of feedback processing and left VS activation during negative feedback processing was greater for participants with stable-state self-esteem. These findings implicate neurocognitive mechanisms underlying emotion regulation in the self-enhancement motive and highlight a pathway through which self-enhancement may restore feelings of self-worth during threatening situations.

Keywords: emotion regulation; fMRI; self-enhancement; ventral striatum.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Cerebral Cortex / physiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Prefrontal Cortex* / diagnostic imaging
Prefrontal Cortex* / physiology
Self Concept
Ventral Striatum* / diagnostic imaging
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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