Disapproval from romantic partners, friends and parents: Source of criticism regulates prefrontal cortex activity

Abstract

The prevalence of criticism in everyday social situations, and its empirically demonstrated association with psychopathology, highlight the importance of understanding neural mechanisms underlying the perception and response of individuals to criticism. However, neuroimaging studies to date have been limited largely to maternal criticism. The present study aims to investigate neural responses to observing criticism occurring in the context of three different relationship types: romantic partners, friends, and parents-from a third-party perspective. 49 participants were recruited and asked to rate the perceived criticism for these relationships. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure changes in oxygenated haemoglobin levels in the prefrontal cortex when participants read vignettes describing three different scenarios of criticism. Participants were randomly assigned to 3 groups where the given description of the relationship of the protagonist to the source of criticism for each vignette was randomised. A significant interaction between relationship type and perceived criticism ratings for mothers was found in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Compared to low perceived criticism, high perceived criticism individuals showed increased activation reading vignettes describing criticism from romantic partners and parents but decreased activation for those from friends. Findings contribute to understanding neural responses to criticism as observed from a third-party perspective. Future studies can look into differentiating neural responses of personalised experiences of criticism and third-party observations.

Fig 1. Digital rendering of experimental setup depicting (i) 20 channel setup, (ii) NIRS device and (iii) laptop placement.

Fig 2. Diagram of experimental stimulus depicting what was displayed.

Fig 3. Diagram displaying channel locations and corresponding positions in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and anterior PFC (aPFC).

Montage for probe placement is based on the 10–20 system.

Fig 4

Processed HbO/Hb concentration (left) and HbO concentration (right) for one condition in a single NIRS channel.

Fig 5. Correlations between relationship type and PC ratings (Mother).