Abstract
Evaluating social others requires processing complex information. Nevertheless, we can rapidly form an opinion of an individual during an initial encounter. Moreover, people can vary in these opinions, even though the same information is provided. We investigated the brain mechanisms that give rise to the impressions that are formed on meeting a new person. Neuroimaging revealed that responses in the amygdala and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) were stronger while encoding social information that was consistent, relative to inconsistent, with subsequent evaluations. In addition, these responses scaled parametrically with the strength of evaluations. These findings provide evidence for encoding differences on the basis of subsequent evaluations, suggesting that the amygdala and PCC are important for forming first impressions.
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Acknowledgements
We thank I. Levy and D. Amodio for fruitful discussions and comments, C. Raio for assistance with data collection, and K. Sanzenbach and the Center for Brain Imaging at New York University for technical assistance. This study was funded by a Seaver Foundation grant to the Center for Brain Imaging, a James S. McDonnell Foundation grant to E.A.P. and a Fulbright award to D.S.
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D.S. designed the experiments, collected and analyzed data, interpreted the data, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. J.B.F. contributed to data collection, analysis and interpretation, and the final version of the manuscript. J.P.M., J.S.U. and E.A.P. contributed to experimental design, data interpretation and the final version of the manuscript.
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Schiller, D., Freeman, J., Mitchell, J. et al. A neural mechanism of first impressions. Nat Neurosci 12, 508–514 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2278
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2278
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