The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to its talk by:
Giorgia
Silani "Understanding social motivation: a neuro-pharmacological and clinical account"
Date: Wednesday,
March 2, 2022 – 16:00-17:30 (CET)
Host: Natalie
Sebanz
Location: D-001
Tiered room, Ground Floor - QS Vienna Campus
Anyone wishing to attend the talk in person in Vienna must register
in advance
(please click and fill out the form)
Anyone in Budapest, or planning to attend the
event remotely, please find Zoom link below:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82326182487?pwd=R1NKT3gwb0xYc1RmQnVUMFdSbmVPQT09
Meeting ID: 823 2618 2487
Passcode: v57UAP
ABSTRACT:
Human behavior is motivated not only by primary
rewards (such as food), but also by social rewards (such as approval). In the last decade, a fundamental challenge has been to understand the different aspects involved in reward. While animal research has clearly established "wanting" and "liking" as two
components differing on the neurobiological and neurochemical level, corresponding research in humans is less conclusive. The present talk addresses this gap of knowledge by testing: a) whether "wanting" and "liking" can be dissociated in humans on the behavioral
and neurochemical level for non-social and social rewards; and b) whether such components are differently impaired in clinical conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). By employing a novel behavioral paradigm in combination with pharmacological
manipulations (i.e. dopamine and opioid antagonists; experiment 1 and 2), we first aimed at differentially targeting these two components. In experiment 3, the same paradigm combined with fMRI was used to investigate reward processing in individuals with ASD
compared to neurotypical controls. Participants were tested in a real effort task, to determine their explicit (ratings of wanting and liking and squeezing of hand dynamometer) and implicit (hedonic facial reactions) responses to different types of rewards.
Nonsocial rewards were small amounts of milk with different concentrations of cacao. Social rewards were gentle caresses delivered to the forearm at different speeds by a same-sex experimenter. The findings are discussed in light of the current theory of reward
processing and social motivation in particular.
We are looking forward seeing you there!
Cognitive Science Events at CEU: https://tinyurl.com/ycka353d
Best regards,
Fanni