Eyes on me: an fMRI study of the effects of social gaze on action control

Abstract

Previous evidence suggests that 'social gaze' can not only cause shifts in attention, but also can change the perception of objects located in the direction of gaze and how these objects will be manipulated by an observer. These findings implicate differences in the neural networks sub-serving action control driven by social cues as compared with nonsocial cues. Here, we sought to explore this hypothesis by using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm in which participants were asked to generate spatially congruent or incongruent motor responses to both social and nonsocial stimuli. Data analysis revealed recruitment of a dorsal frontoparietal network and the locus coeruleus for the generation of incongruent motor responses, areas previously implicated in controlling attention. As a correlate for the effect of 'social gaze' on action control, an interaction effect was observed for incongruent responses to social stimuli in sub-cortical structures, anterior cingulate and inferior frontal cortex. Our results, therefore, suggest that performing actions in a--albeit minimal--social context significantly changes the neural underpinnings of action control and recruits brain regions previously implicated in action monitoring, the reorienting of attention and social cognition.

Fig. 1

Social (A) and nonsocial stimuli (B) used in the study. (C) Exemplary depiction of event structure. ISI: inter-stimulus interval.

Fig. 2

Mean reaction times (A) and percentages of correct responses (B) across all experimental conditions. Error bars depict standard deviation.

Fig. 3

Neural correlates (A–C: main effects; D: statistical interaction; all shown at P < 0.05 cluster-level corr. for multiple comparisons. IPL: inferior parietal lobule, SPL: superior parietal lobule; PMC: premotor cortex, MCC: middle cingulate cortex, LC: locus coeruleus, V5: middle occipital gyrus, ITC: inferotemporal cortex, AMY: amygdala, VMPFC: ventral medial prefrontal cortex, ACC: anterior cingulate cortex, DMPFC: dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, THA: thalamus, DS: dorsal striatum).

Fig. 4

Neural correlate of reaction time difference for incongruent as compared to congruent responses to social stimuli (VS: ventral striatum). Data plot shown for illustrative purposes only.