• Home
  • About Us
    • Member Directory
    • Contact Us
  • Blogs
    • Scientific Blogs
      • Technology
      • Environment
      • Health
    • Infinity Explorer
    • Traveler Book
    • Life Around
  • Publication
  • Scientific Advisory
  • Project
    • Future Projects
    • Ongoing Projects
    • Previous Projects
  • Services
    • Language Programs
    • Latest Software
    • Environmental Consultancy
    • Internship
    • Exercise
  • Career
    • Masters
    • PHDs
    • Postdoctorals
    • Travel Grants
    • Others

When eyes meet, neurons start to fire

When eyes meet, neurons start to fire

Share:

Twitter
Tweet
LinkedIn
Share
Facebook
fb-share-icon
WeChat
Follow by Email
Hardin Bitsky

Hardin Bitsky

Mr. Hardin, a future doctor of pharmacy, provides services as a content writer for scientific and technical niches.

Their eyes met across a crowded dance floor, causing specialized neurons to begin firing in multiple regions of both brains that are tasked with deriving meaning from a social gaze.

Although not as romantic as the first dance floor encounter, a new Yale study was able to chart this surprisingly widespread neuronal response in multiple brain areas when the eyes of two individuals meet and social gaze interaction happens, researchers report May 10 in the journal Neuron.

“There are strong robust signals in the brain that are signatures of an interactive social gaze,” said Yale’s Steve Chang, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, a member of the Wu-Tsai Institute and the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, and the senior author of the study.

The phenomenon of extracting meaning in the gaze between two people has been documented in art and literature for millennia but scientists have had a difficult time uncovering how the brain accomplishes such a subtle feat. They have extensively studied the neurobiology of social perception, usually by giving brain scans to individuals as they are presented with specific static images, such as angry or happy faces or direct or averted gazes. However, the interactions of two individual minds as they dynamically and reciprocally extract information from each other’s eyes are difficult to tackle.

Chang’s lab overcame this obstacle by monitoring the brain activity of monkeys while simultaneously tracking the eye positions of two animals. This enabled them to record a large array of neurons as the animals spontaneously gazed at each other.

“They were spontaneously engaging in social interactions while we examined neural firing,” Chang said. “Importantly, we were not imposing any tasks, so it was up to them to decide how and when they would interact.”

They found that specific sets of socially tuned neurons fired across multiple brain regions at different times during mutual eye contact. For instance, one set of neurons fired when one individual initiated mutual eye contact, but not when that individual followed the other’s gaze. Another set of neurons were active when the monkeys were in the process of deciding whether to complete mutual eye contact initiated by the other. And interestingly, when fixing a gaze onto another individual some neurons marked the distance relative to another’s eyes, but when receiving a gaze yet another set of neurons signaled how close the other individual was.

The brain regions in which neuronal activation took place provided hints into how the brain assesses the meaning of the gaze. Surprisingly, part of the network activated during social gaze interaction included the prefrontal cortex, the seat of higher-order learning and decision-making, as well as the amygdala, the center for emotion and valuation.

“Multiple regions within the prefrontal cortex, in addition to the amygdala, are recruited to compute selective aspects of interactive social gaze, suggesting the importance of a more contemplative role during social gaze interaction,” Chang said.

These areas in the prefrontal-amygdala networks activated during the processing of social gaze interaction are also known to be disrupted in cases of atypical social conditions, such as autism. This attests to their importance in achieving feelings of social connectedness, he said. Social gaze interaction likely serves a critical role in shaping social connectedness, he added, and the prefrontal-amygdala networks might make that happen.

“The fact that interactive social gaze neurons are found widely in the brain also speaks to the ethological importance of social gaze interaction,” Chang said.

Yale’s Siqi Fan and Olga Dal Monte are co-lead authors of the study.

You may like to read:

‘Friendly’ gut bacteria may eliminate pathogens by competing for energy resources

Hepatitis Outbreak In Children: Explainer On Adenovirus Type 41, The Possible Culprit

PrevPreviousA brain circuit in the thalamus helps us hold information in mind
NextA study confirms the relationship between an amino acid present in diet and depressionNext

LATEST Blogs

Breakfast and health problems

Skipping Breakfast May Increase a Child’s Risk of Psychosocial Health Problems

September 7, 2022
James webb telescope

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Captures a Cosmic Tarantula

September 7, 2022

Worse Than Smoking – Bad Sleep Can Worsen Lung Disease

August 31, 2022
Nanotechnology

Dr. Muhammad Adeel Addressed the International Con-ference as keynote speaker

August 23, 2022
Benefits of Mushrooms

Top 10 Health Benefits of Mushrooms, the Ultimate Superfood

August 18, 2022

New Way Invented To Produce Oxygen on Mars for Future Explorers

August 18, 2022

Evidence of Unprecedented Modern Sea-Level Rise Found in Ancient Caves

August 18, 2022

Research Shows Salt Substitutes Lower Risk of Heart Attack/Stroke and Death

August 13, 2022
covid symptoms

Hair Loss and Sexual Dysfunction Join Fatigue and Brain Fog in List of Long COVID Symptoms

August 13, 2022
protein

Most People Are Eating Too Much Protein – And It Has Serious Consequences

August 13, 2022

Categories

  • Scientific Blogs
  • Infinity Explorer
  • Traveler Book
  • Life Around

If you have tried to make a difference and you believe you deserve to be acknowledge, then please submit your story to us

Subscribe

Virtual Green Innovation Hub (VGI-H) is an emerging platform for young researchers which works as a bridge between You and the society.

Useful Links

Home
About us
Blogs

Subscribe Now

Don’t miss our future updates! Get Subscribed Today!

Copyright ©2022 Virtual Green Innovation Hub. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t miss our future updates. Get Subscribed Today!