Ralf Schmälzlea,b, Matthew Brook O’Donnellb , Javier O. Garciac , Christopher N. Casciob , Joseph Bayerd , Danielle S. Bassette,f, Jean M. Vettelc,e,g, and Emily B. Falkb,1 a Department of Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824; b Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104; c Human Research and Engineering Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005; d School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; e Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104; f Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104; and g Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Social ties are crucial for humans. Disruption of ties through social exclusion has a marked effect on our thoughts and feelings; however, such effects can be tempered by broader social network resources. Here, we use fMRI data acquired from 80 male adolescents to investigate how social exclusion modulates functional connectivity within and across brain networks involved in social pain and understanding the mental states of others (i.e., mentalizing). Furthermore, using objectively logged friendship network data, we examine how individual variability in brain reactivity to social exclusion relates to the density of participants’ friendship networks, an important aspect of social network structure. We find increased connectivity within a set of regions previously identified as a mentalizing system during exclusion relative to inclusion. These results are consistent across the regions of interest as well as a whole-brain analysis. Next, examining how social network characteristics are associated with task-based connectivity dynamics, we find that participants who showed greater changes in connectivity within the mentalizing system when socially excluded by peers had less dense friendship networks. This work provides insight to understand how distributed brain systems respond to social and emotional challenges and how such brain dynamics might vary based on broader social network characteristics.

Read the full article here.

by Anna Gorman

Lynn Whittaker stood in the hallway of her home looking at the framed photos on the wall. In one, her son Andrew is playing high school water polo. In another, he’s holding a trombone. The images show no hint of his life today: the seizures that leave him temporarily paralyzed, the weakness that makes him fall over, his labored speech, his scrambled thoughts. Andrew, 28, can no longer feed himself or walk on his own. The past nine years have been a blur of doctor appointments, hospital visits, and medical tests that have failed to produce answers.

“You name it, he doesn’t have it,” his mother said.

Andrew has never had a clear diagnosis. He and his family are in a torturous state of suspense, hanging their hopes on every new exam and evaluation. Recently, they have sought help from the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, a federally funded coalition of universities, clinicians, hospitals, and researchers dedicated to solving the nation’s toughest medical mysteries. The doctors and scientists in the network harness advances in genetic science to identify rare, sometimes unknown, illnesses.

Read the full article here.