Know Your Place: Neural Processing of Social Hierarchy in Humans
Open accessAbstract
Social hierarchies guide behavior in many species, including humans, where status also has an enormous impact on motivation and health. However, little is known about the underlying neural representation of social hierarchies in humans. In the present study, we identify dissociable neural responses to perceived social rank using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an interactive, simulated social context. In both stable and unstable social hierarchies, viewing a superior individual differentially engaged perceptual-attentional, saliency, and cognitive systems, notably dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In the unstable hierarchy setting, additional regions related to emotional processing (amygdala), social cognition (medial prefrontal cortex), and behavioral readiness were recruited. Furthermore, social hierarchical consequences of performance were neurally dissociable and of comparable salience to monetary reward, providing a neural basis for the high motivational value of status. Our results identify neural mechanisms that may mediate the enormous influence of social status on human behavior and health.
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Recent studies have provided evidence that similar brain networks are engaged when either social or financial information is integrated.
“Both social and financial considerations are often integrated when real life decisions are made, and recent studies have provided evidence that similar brain networks are engaged when either social or financial information is integrated.”
From Oxytocin decreases aversion to angry faces in an associative learning task (2010) · cites this paper as Zink et al., 2008
Striatum activity increases when viewing or thinking about people with whom we hold intimate relationships, or people that hold high compared to low social rank.
“Striatum activity also increases when viewing or thinking about people with whom we hold intimate relationships 39, 40, or people that hold high compared to low social rank 41.”
From The social brain and reward: Social information processing in the human striatum (2014) · cites this paper as [41]
Sensitivity of striatal activity to social comparison may serve a purpose to increase or maintain social status.
“Sensitivity of striatal activity to social comparison may serve a purpose to increase or maintain social status.”
From The social brain and reward: Social information processing in the human striatum (2014) · cites this paper as [41]
Ventral striatal activity is modulated by the relative ranking of social others, especially in an unstable hierarchy.
“Consistent with a role in tracking social status, ventral striatal activity is modulated by the relative ranking of social others, especially in an unstable hierarchy 41, 86.”
From The social brain and reward: Social information processing in the human striatum (2014) · cites this paper as [41]
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- Authors
- Zink, C. F., Tong, Y., Chen, Q., Bassett, D. S., Stein, J. L., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zink, Caroline F.
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-04
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 273-283
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2430590
- OpenAlex
- W2006241383
- Cited by
- 622
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 35
- FWCI
- 102.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (Z99 MH999999)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- social hierarchy, social rank, social status, social motivation, social cognition, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, salience, monetary rewards
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Hierarchy, Social, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Oxygen, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Social Perception, Prefrontal Cortex
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