From scanners to cell phones: neural and real-world responses to social evaluation in adolescent girls

While expanded use of neuroimaging seemed promising to elucidate typical and atypical elements of social sensitivity, in many ways progress in this space has stalled. This is in part due to a disconnection between neurobiological measurements and behavior outside of the laboratory. The present study uses a developmentally salient fMRI computer task and novel ecological momentary assessment protocol to examine whether early adolescent females (n = 76; ages 11-13) with greater neural reactivity to social rejection actually report greater emotional reactivity following negative interactions with peers in daily life. As hypothesized, associations were found between reactivity to perceived social threat in daily life and neural activity in threat-related brain regions, including the left amygdala and bilateral insula, to peer rejection relative to a control condition. Additionally, daily life reactivity to perceived social threat was associated with functional connectivity between the left amygdala and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during rejection feedback. Unexpectedly, daily life social threat reactivity was also related to heightened amygdala and insula activation to peer acceptance relative to a control condition. These findings may inform key brain-behavior associations supporting sensitivity to social evaluation in adolescence.

Automated summary

This study utilized fMRI computer tasks and ecological momentary assessment protocols to investigate the neural responses to social threat and their associations with brain regions related to threat processing in daily life. The findings suggested that daily life reactivity to perceived social threat was linked to neural activity in threat-related brain regions, as well as functional connectivity between these regions during rejection feedback. Unexpectedly, heightened amygdala and insula activation to peer acceptance in daily life was also observed in individuals with greater social threat reactivity, providing insights into brain-behavior associations supporting sensitivity to social evaluation in adolescence.