Mentalizing under stress: targeting the neurocomputational mechanisms

• Applicant: Dr. Stefan Schulreich
• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience ; Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 470022091

Humans often create rich and complex representations of others’ mental states such as beliefs, emotions and intentions in social interactions – an ability known as mentalizing or Theory of Mind (ToM), which is often quite sophisticated and recursive in nature. Many social interactions take place under stress and previous research suggests that stress impairs mentalizing. However, the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying stress-induced impairments in mentalizing are currently unknown. Based on evidence of stress-induced shifts from model-based to model-free behavioral control in other domains, we hypothesize that stress-induced impairments on mentalizing would be mediated by a reduced recursive depth of (model-based) mentalizing and increased uncertainty in belief inference – processes that may rely on the dorsolateral and rostromedial prefrontal cortex, respectively. To test these hypotheses, healthy participants will be randomly allocated to a psychosocial stress manipulation (Trier Social Stress Test) or a control condition, before they perform a competitive interactive game, in which they have to learn about other players’ hidden mental states in order to maximize rewards. While participants perform this task, we will measure their brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla. In our data analyses, we will fit a Bayesian model of dynamic belief inference to the behavioral data, the parameter estimates of which will be used to inform the univariate and multivariate analyses of neuroimaging data (model-based fMRI analyses). Moreover, we will test whether observed stress effects are mediated by stress-induced increases in the release of the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol. Beyond their crucial relevance for understanding the neurocomputational mechanisms of mentalizing in general, and stress-induced changes in these mechanisms in particular, the findings of this project may also have important implications for the treatment of mental disorders in which aberrant stress reactivity and deficits in social cognition are prominent.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, USA
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Lars Schwabe
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. John P. O' Doherty