Ho perceive themselves as higher in status (Brydon et al., 2004; Derry et al., 2013). While short-term increases in inflammation in response to injury or infection are an integral part of the innate immune system’s response to physical insults, exaggerated inflammatory activation in response to purely psychological purchase Win 63843 threats (Slavich and Cole, 2013) and systemic elevations in inflammation are associated with the development of a number of chronic diseases (Hansson, 2005; Miller et al., 2009), thus providing a possible physiological mechanism linking social status and poor physical and mental health outcomes. However, to date no known studies have investigated the neurocognitive systems that are engaged by those lower in subjective social status during a stressor that may lead to increases in inflammation. Although no studies have directly investigated the neural mechanisms linking social status and stress-related increases in inflammation, a few studies have explored how status affects neural responses to social threat. For example, subordinate animals have been shown to have greater functional activation of the amygdala following social stress, relative to dominant animals (Kollack-Walker et al., 1997). Results from two human studies have also demonstrated that lower-status individuals show greater neural activity in the amygdala, a key brain region in responding to salience cues and threat, when processing external social threats such as angry facial expressions (Gianaros et al., 2008; Muscatell et al., 2012). Given that the amygdala plays a key role in initiating activation of the sympathetic nervous system during stress (LeDoux et al., 1988), and sympathetic activation is thought to drive inflammatory responses (Powell et al., 2013), the tendency of low status individuals to activate the amygdala during social threat processing may lead to increases in inflammation. Activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a key node of the `mentalizing network’ that is often active during tasks that involve thinking about the thoughts and feelings of others, has also been associated with social status. Ensartinib chemical information Specifically, individuals lower in subjective status show greater activity in the DMPFC in response to social information, compared to their higher-status counterparts (Muscatell et al., 2012). Furthermore, research in mice suggests that the prelimbic cortex (the mouse analog of human DMPFC/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) may play a causal role in establishing social rank (Wang et al., 2014). Combined with behavioral research showing that lower-status individuals tend to be more engaged during social interactions (Kraus and Keltner, 2009) and are better at reading the emotions of others (Kraus et al., 2010), these patterns suggest that DMPFCrelated attention to others’ thoughts and feelings may also track with lower perceived social status. The DMPFC has strong connections with the amygdala and other brainstem regions whose activity can drive stress-related changes in the cardiovascular system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Gianaros and Sheu, 2009; Eisenberger and Cole, 2012; Muscatell and Eisenberger, 2012), and as such, it is possible that the DMPFC may also play a key role in linking social status and inflammation. To date, however, no known research has tested this possibility.With this background in mind, the aim of this study was to explore neural activity in the amygdala and the DMPFC in response to negative social.Ho perceive themselves as higher in status (Brydon et al., 2004; Derry et al., 2013). While short-term increases in inflammation in response to injury or infection are an integral part of the innate immune system’s response to physical insults, exaggerated inflammatory activation in response to purely psychological threats (Slavich and Cole, 2013) and systemic elevations in inflammation are associated with the development of a number of chronic diseases (Hansson, 2005; Miller et al., 2009), thus providing a possible physiological mechanism linking social status and poor physical and mental health outcomes. However, to date no known studies have investigated the neurocognitive systems that are engaged by those lower in subjective social status during a stressor that may lead to increases in inflammation. Although no studies have directly investigated the neural mechanisms linking social status and stress-related increases in inflammation, a few studies have explored how status affects neural responses to social threat. For example, subordinate animals have been shown to have greater functional activation of the amygdala following social stress, relative to dominant animals (Kollack-Walker et al., 1997). Results from two human studies have also demonstrated that lower-status individuals show greater neural activity in the amygdala, a key brain region in responding to salience cues and threat, when processing external social threats such as angry facial expressions (Gianaros et al., 2008; Muscatell et al., 2012). Given that the amygdala plays a key role in initiating activation of the sympathetic nervous system during stress (LeDoux et al., 1988), and sympathetic activation is thought to drive inflammatory responses (Powell et al., 2013), the tendency of low status individuals to activate the amygdala during social threat processing may lead to increases in inflammation. Activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a key node of the `mentalizing network’ that is often active during tasks that involve thinking about the thoughts and feelings of others, has also been associated with social status. Specifically, individuals lower in subjective status show greater activity in the DMPFC in response to social information, compared to their higher-status counterparts (Muscatell et al., 2012). Furthermore, research in mice suggests that the prelimbic cortex (the mouse analog of human DMPFC/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) may play a causal role in establishing social rank (Wang et al., 2014). Combined with behavioral research showing that lower-status individuals tend to be more engaged during social interactions (Kraus and Keltner, 2009) and are better at reading the emotions of others (Kraus et al., 2010), these patterns suggest that DMPFCrelated attention to others’ thoughts and feelings may also track with lower perceived social status. The DMPFC has strong connections with the amygdala and other brainstem regions whose activity can drive stress-related changes in the cardiovascular system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Gianaros and Sheu, 2009; Eisenberger and Cole, 2012; Muscatell and Eisenberger, 2012), and as such, it is possible that the DMPFC may also play a key role in linking social status and inflammation. To date, however, no known research has tested this possibility.With this background in mind, the aim of this study was to explore neural activity in the amygdala and the DMPFC in response to negative social.
