Minds made for sharing: initiating joint attention recruits reward-related neurocircuitry
Abstract
The ability and motivation to share attention is a unique aspect of human cognition. Despite its significance, the neural basis remains elusive. To investigate the neural correlates of joint attention, we developed a novel, interactive research paradigm in which participants' gaze behavior—as measured by an eye tracking device—was used to contingently control the gaze of a computer-animated character. Instructed that the character on screen was controlled by a real person outside the scanner, 21 participants interacted with the virtual other while undergoing fMRI. Experimental variations focused on leading versus following the gaze of the character when fixating one of three objects also shown on the screen. In concordance with our hypotheses, results demonstrate, firstly, that following someone else's gaze to engage in joint attention resulted in activation of anterior portion of medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) known to be involved in the supramodal coordination of perceptual and cognitive processes. Secondly, directing someone else's gaze toward an object activated the ventral striatum which—in light of ratings obtained from participants—appears to underlie the hedonic aspects of sharing attention. The data, therefore, support the idea that other-initiated joint attention relies upon recruitment of MPFC previously related to the “meeting of minds.” In contrast, self-initiated joint attention leads to a differential increase of neural activity in reward-related brain areas, which might contribute to the uniquely human motivation to engage in the sharing of experiences.
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These regions reflect a broad integrated set of regions that support coordinated functioning of vision, attention, task control, and-along with subcortical and cingulate regions-motivation and reward signals.
“These regions reflect a broad integrated set of regions that support the coordinated functioning of vision, attention, task control, and—along with subcortical and cingulate regions (Schilbach et al. 2010; Pfeiffer et al. 2014; Oberwelland et al. 2016)—motivation and reward signals.”
From Joint attention and brain functional connectivity in infants and toddlers (2017) · cites this paper as Schilbach et al. 2010
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- Authors
- Schilbach, L., Wilms, M., Eickhoff, S. B., Romanzetti, S., Tepest, R., Bente, G., Shah, N. J., Fink, G. R., & Vogeley, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 2010-12-01
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2702-2715
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- OpenAlex
- W2139219009
- Cited by
- 415
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 22.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
- JuSER (Forschungszentrum Jülich) (submittedVersion)
- RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Universität zu Köln
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- joint attention, gaze following, medial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, reward, social cognition, collective experience, eye tracking
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Attention, Brain Mapping, Eye Movements, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Nerve Net, Photic Stimulation, Reward, Prefrontal Cortex
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