title: You and your kin: Neural signatures of family-based group perception in the subgenual cortex.
abstract: Attachment to one's kin as an in-group emerges from a fundamental human motivation and is vital for human survival. Despite important recent advances in the field of social neuroscience, the neural mechanisms underlying family-related in-group perception remain obscure. To examine the neural basis of perceiving family-related in-group boundaries in response to written kinship scenarios, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging in 27 healthy adults and obtained self-report ratings of family-related entitativity, which measures to what degree participants perceive their family as a coherent and distinct group in society. We expected that activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex and septo-hypothalamic region would track individual differences in entitativity. Perceiving one's family as a distinct and cohesive group (high entitativity) was associated with increased subgenual cortex response to kinship scenarios. The subgenual cingulate cortex may represent a key link between kin-related emotional attachment and group perception, providing a neurobiological basis for group belongingness.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry II , University of Ulm , Ulm , Germany.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rüsch
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bado
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zahn
authors.forename: Ivanei E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Bramati
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Oliveira-Souza
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moll
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D057566:Self Report; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Attachment; Belongingness; Entitativity; Subgenual cingulate cortex; fMRI