BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Social anxiety arising from intensive social media usage (SMU) among adolescents and youth has gained extensive attention in recent years due to its negative influence on mental health and academic performance. In spite of that, there is a dearth regarding the etiology of SMU-related social anxiety. This study aims to further clarify the influence of introversion personality on SMU-related social anxiety and the mechanism underlying such an association and provide a new perspective for developing effective intervention strategies for the highly prevailing SMU-related anxiety among Chinese college students. METHODS: A cohort of 979 college students (266 males and 713 females) aged 20.90 ± 1.91 years was enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Four measures including the "extroversion" domain of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised, Short Scale (EPQ-R-S E), Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS), Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), and Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS-SMU) were used to evaluate the influence of introversion personality on SMU-related social anxiety that was potentially mediated sequentially by interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction. Hayes PROCESS was used for correlation and mediation analysis. RESULTS: Interaction anxiousness (indirect effect = -1.331, 95% CI : -1.559 - -1.122) partially mediated the association between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety. Besides, a sequential mediation of interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction in the link between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety was revealed (indirect effect = -0.308, 95% CI : -0.404 - -0.220). No significant mediating effect was found with mobile phone addiction in the association between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety. CONCLUSION: Targeting interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction may represent an efficient strategy alleviating SMU-related social anxiety among Chinese college students with introversion personality.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Social Media ; Students/psychology* ; Anxiety/psychology* ; Young Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Universities ; Behavior, Addictive/psychology* ; Cell Phone ; Adolescent ; Introversion, Psychological ; China ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Internet Addiction Disorder/psychology*

Social working memory (SWM)-the ability to maintain and manipulate social information in the brain-plays a crucial role in social interactions. However, research on SWM is still in its infancy and is often treated as a unitary construct. In the present study, we propose that SWM can be conceptualized as having two relatively independent components: "externally oriented SWM" (e-SWM) and "internally oriented SWM" (i-SWM). To test this external-internal hypothesis, participants were tasked with memorizing and ranking either facial expressions (e-SWM) or personality traits (i-SWM) associated with images of faces. We then examined the neural correlates of these two SWM components and their functional roles in empathy. The results showed distinct activations as the e-SWM task activated the postcentral and precentral gyri while the i-SWM task activated the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus. Distinct multivariate activation patterns were also found within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex in the two tasks. Moreover, partial least squares analyses combining brain activation and individual differences in empathy showed that e-SWM and i-SWM brain activities were mainly correlated with affective empathy and cognitive empathy, respectively. These findings implicate distinct brain processes as well as functional roles of the two types of SWM, providing support for the internal-external hypothesis of SWM.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term/physiology* ; Male ; Female ; Empathy/physiology* ; Young Adult ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Adult ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Brain Mapping ; Facial Expression ; Social Behavior ; Facial Recognition/physiology* ; Social Perception ; Personality/physiology*

Magnetic stimulation has made significant strides in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Nonetheless, current magnetic stimulation techniques lack the precision to accurately modulate specific nuclei and cannot realize deep brain magnetic stimulation. To address this, we utilized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as mediators to achieve precise targeting and penetration. We investigated the effects of magnetic fields with varying frequencies on neuronal activity and compared the activation effects on neurons using a 10-Hz precise magneto-stimulation system (pMSS) with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in mice. Oxytocin levels, dendritic morphology and density, and mouse behavior were measured before and after pMSS intervention. Our findings suggest that pMSS can activate oxytocinergic neurons, leading to upregulation of oxytocin secretion and neurite outgrowth. As a result, sociability was rapidly improved after a one-week pMSS treatment regimen. These results demonstrate a promising magneto-stimulation method for regulating neuronal activity in deep brain nuclei and provide a promising therapeutic approach for autism spectrum disorder.
Animals ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/physiopathology* ; Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus/physiology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation/methods* ; Male ; Social Behavior ; Mice ; Oxytocin/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neurons/physiology*

Social behaviors are fundamental and intricate functions in both humans and animals, governed by the interplay of social cognition and emotions. A noteworthy feature of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SCZ), is a pronounced deficit in social functioning. Despite a burgeoning body of research on social behaviors, the precise neural circuit mechanisms underpinning these phenomena remain to be elucidated. In this paper, we review the pivotal role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in modulating social behaviors, as well as its functional alteration in social disorders in ASD or SCZ. We posit that PFC dysfunction may represent a critical hub in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders characterized by shared social deficits. Furthermore, we delve into the intricate connectivity of the medial PFC (mPFC) with other cortical areas and subcortical brain regions in rodents, which exerts a profound influence on social behaviors. Notably, a substantial body of evidence underscores the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and the proper functioning of parvalbumin-positive interneurons within the mPFC for social regulation. Our overarching goal is to furnish a comprehensive understanding of these intricate circuits and thereby contribute to the enhancement of both research endeavors and clinical practices concerning social behavior deficits.
Prefrontal Cortex/physiopathology* ; Humans ; Social Behavior ; Animals ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/physiopathology* ; Schizophrenia/physiopathology* ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate/physiology* ; Interneurons/physiology*

The retrosplenial cortex has been implicated in processing sensory information and spatial learning, with abnormal neural activity reported in association with psychedelics and in mouse and non-human primate models of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The direct role of the retrosplenial cortex in regulating social behaviors remains unclear. In this work, we reveal that neural activity in the retrosplenial agranular cortex (RSA), a subregion of the retrosplenial cortex, is initially activated, then quickly suppressed upon social contact. This up-down phase of RSA neurons is crucial for normal social behaviors. Parvalbumin-positive GABAergic neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region were found to send inhibitory projections to the RSA. Blocking these CA1-RSA inhibitory inputs significantly impaired social behavior. Notably, enhancing the CA1-RSA inhibitory input rescued the social behavior defects in an ASD mouse model. This work suggests a neural mechanism for the salience processing of social behavior and identifies a potential target for ASD intervention using neural modulation approaches.
Animals ; Social Behavior ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal/physiology* ; Mice ; Male ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/physiopathology* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; GABAergic Neurons/drug effects* ; Neural Inhibition/drug effects* ; Parvalbumins/metabolism* ; Neural Pathways/physiology* ; Cerebral Cortex/physiology*

From birth to adulthood, we often align our behaviors, attitudes, and opinions with a majority, a phenomenon known as social conformity. A seminal framework has proposed that conformity behaviors are mainly driven by three fundamental motives: a desire to gain more information to be accurate, to obtain social approval from others, and to maintain a favorable self-concept. Despite extensive interest in neuroimaging investigation of social conformity, the relationship between brain systems and these fundamental motivations has yet to be established. Here, we reviewed brain imaging findings of social conformity with a componential framework, aiming to reveal the neuropsychological substrates underlying different conformity motivations. First, information-seeking engages the evaluation of social information, information integration, and modification of task-related activity, corresponding to brain networks implicated in reward, cognitive control, and tasks at hand. Second, social acceptance involves the anticipation of social acceptance or rejection and mental state attribution, mediated by networks of reward, punishment, and mentalizing. Third, self-enhancement entails the excessive representation of positive self-related information and suppression of negative self-related information, ingroup favoritism and/or outgroup derogation, and elaborated mentalizing processes to the ingroup, supported by brain systems of reward, punishment, and mentalizing. Therefore, recent brain imaging studies have provided important insights into the fundamental motivations of social conformity in terms of component processes and brain mechanisms.
Humans ; Social Conformity ; Motivation ; Brain ; Social Behavior ; Brain Mapping

Accurate and efficient methods for identifying and tracking each animal in a group are needed to study complex behaviors and social interactions. Traditional tracking methods (e.g., marking each animal with dye or surgically implanting microchips) can be invasive and may have an impact on the social behavior being measured. To overcome these shortcomings, video-based methods for tracking unmarked animals, such as fruit flies and zebrafish, have been developed. However, tracking individual mice in a group remains a challenging problem because of their flexible body and complicated interaction patterns. In this study, we report the development of a multi-object tracker for mice that uses the Faster region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) deep learning algorithm with geometric transformations in combination with multi-camera/multi-image fusion technology. The system successfully tracked every individual in groups of unmarked mice and was applied to investigate chasing behavior. The proposed system constitutes a step forward in the noninvasive tracking of individual mice engaged in social behavior.
Animals ; Mice ; Deep Learning ; Zebrafish ; Algorithms ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Social Behavior

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy and required indicators of Children Neuropsychological and Behavioral Scale-Revision 2016 (CNBS-R2016) in the differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and global developmental delay (GDD). METHODS: A total of 277 children with ASD and 415 children with GDD, aged 18-48 months, were enrolled as subjects. CNBS-R2016 was used to assess the developmental levels of six domains, i.e., gross motor, fine motor, adaptive ability, language, social behavior, and warning behavior, and a total of 13 indicators on intelligence age and developmental quotient (DQ) were obtained as the input features. Five commonly used machine learning classifiers were used for training to calculate the classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of each classifier. RESULTS: DQ of warning behavior was selected as the first feature in all five classifiers, and the use of this indicator alone had a classification accuracy of 78.90%. When the DQ of warning behavior was used in combination with the intelligence age of warning behavior, gross motor, and language, it had the highest classification accuracy of 86.71%. CONCLUSIONS Machine learning combined with CNBS-R2016 can effectively distinguish children with ASD from those with GDD. The DQ of warning behavior plays an important role in machine learning, and its combination with other features can improve classification accuracy, providing a basis for the efficient and accurate differential diagnosis of ASD and GDD in clinical practice.
Child ; Humans ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Machine Learning ; Social Behavior

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation among MSM, and to explore the influence of perceived social support and depression on suicidal ideation and the possible pathway. Methods: MSM who are ≥18 years, HIV-negative, and ever had sex with men (oral sex/anal sex) in the last year participated in is study. Cross-sectional survey and convenient sampling method were used to recruit MSM through a male social interaction platform Blued 7.5 software from December 2020 to March 2021, with a questionnaire survey. Demographic questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Questionnaire and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were employed to collect data. Mplus 8.3 was used for data analysis. Results: Among 1 394 eligible MSM participants, 25.7% (358/1 394) had suicidal ideation. Perceived social support could have a direct effect on suicidal ideation (β=-0.11, P=0.009), and an indirect effect on suicidal ideation through depression (β=-0.18, P<0.001). Conclusions: Suicidal ideation was found to be lower in MSM with a higher level of perceived social support and a lower level of depression. Using social media to improve MSM's perceived social support and reduce depressive symptoms might be an effective means to prevent suicidal ideation.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Sexual Behavior ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Social Support ; Suicidal Ideation

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms by which silence information regulator (SIRT) 2 and glutaminase (GLS) in the amygdala regulate social behaviors in autistic rats. METHODS: Rat models of autism were established by maternal sodium valproic acid (VPA) exposure in wild-type rats and SIRT2-knockout ( SIRT2 ^-/-) rats. Glutamate (Glu) content, brain weight, and expression levels of SIRT2, GLS proteins and apoptosis-associated proteins in rat amygdala at different developmental stages were examined, and the social behaviors of VPA rats were assessed by a three-chamber test. Then, lentiviral overexpression or interference vectors of GLS were injected into the amygdala of VPA rats. Brain weight, Glu content and expression level of GLS protein were measured, and the social behaviors assessed. RESULTS: Brain weight, amygdala Glu content and the levels of SIRT2, GLS protein and pro-apoptotic protein caspase-3 in the amygdala were increased in VPA rats, while the level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was decreased (all P<0.01). Compared with the wild-type rats, SIRT2 ^-/- rats displayed decreased expression of SIRT2 and GLS proteins in the amygdala, reduced Glu content, and improved social dysfunction (all P<0.01). Overexpression of GLS increased brain weight and Glu content, and aggravated social dysfunction in VPA rats (all P<0.01). Knockdown of GLS decreased brain weight and Glu content, and improved social dysfunction in VPA rats (all P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The glutamate circulatory system in the amygdala of VPA induced autistic rats is abnormal. This is associated with the upregulation of SIRT2 expression and its induced increase of GLS production; knocking out SIRT2 gene or inhibiting the expression of GLS is helpful in maintaining the balanced glutamate cycle and in improving the social behavior disorder of rats.
Animals ; Rats ; Amygdala/metabolism* ; Autistic Disorder/metabolism* ; Behavior, Animal ; Disease Models, Animal ; Glutamates/metabolism* ; Glutaminase/metabolism* ; Sirtuin 2/metabolism* ; Social Behavior