Publications
“The argument from authority tries to justify a conclusion by pointing out that some expert or authority endorses the conclusion. […] “My parents say that Santa Claus exists. Therefore Santa Claus exists” […] In the case of the JIF, a high impact factor of a journal would play the role of an authority for the quality of the papers within it.”
- Most recent
- Clinical
- Hormones/Neuromodulators
- Meta-Science (Implications)
- Meta-Science (Methods)
- Social Cognition
- Social Emotions
- Social Learning
- Social Reward
Internal control beliefs shape positive affect and associated neural dynamics during outcome valuation
Abstract Experiencing events as controllable is essential for human well-being. Based on classic psychological theory, we test how internal control beliefs impact the affective valuation ...
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Negativity-bias in forming beliefs about own abilities
Abstract During everyday interactions people constantly receive feedback on their behavior, which shapes their beliefs about themselves. While classic studies in the field of social ...
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Empathy in females with autism spectrum disorder
Abstract Objective: Despite the fact that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common psychiatric diagnosis, knowledge about the special behavioral and neurobiological female phenotype is still ...
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Dissociating empathy from perspective-taking: Evidence from intra- and inter-individual differences research
Abstract Humans have the capacity to share others’ emotions, be they positive or negative. Elicited by the observed or imagined emotion of another person, an ...
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The politics of embarrassment: Considerations on how norm-transgressions of political representatives shape nation-wide communication of emotions on social media
Abstract In this article, we hypothesize, and then demonstrate, that experiences of embarrassment have significantly increased in the United States, due in part, to the ...
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Neural mechanisms of affective matching across faces and scenes
Abstract The emotional matching paradigm, introduced by Hariri and colleagues in 2000, is a widely used neuroimaging experiment that reliably activates the amygdala. In the ...
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The neural substrate of reward anticipation in health: A meta-analysis of fMRI findings in the monetary incentive delay task
Abstract The monetary incentive delay task breaks down reward processing into discrete stages for fMRI analysis. Here we look at anticipation of monetary gain and ...
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The impact factor fallacy
Abstract The use of the journal impact factor (JIF) as a measure for the quality of individual manuscripts and the merits of scientists has faced ...
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The causal role of the somatosensory cortex in prosocial behaviour
Abstract Witnessing another person’s suffering elicits vicarious brain activity in areas that are active when we ourselves are in pain. Whether this activity influences prosocial ...
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Peripheral oxytocin predicts higher-level social cognition in men regardless of empathy quotient
Abstract Introduction: Pharmaceutical oxytocin (OT) administration is being tested as a novel treatment for social deficits in various psychiatric populations. However, little is known about how ...
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Sleep to be social: The critical role of sleep and memory for social interaction
Abstract Humans are highly social animals who critically need to remember information from social episodes in order to successfully navigate future social interactions. We propose ...
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Microstructural white matter changes and their relation to neuropsychological deficits in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
Abstract Objective: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common idiopathic generalized epilepsy syndrome. Neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging studies have led to the hypothesis that JME ...
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Ketamine-induced NMDA receptor blockade during natural speech production and Its implications for formal thought disorder in schizophrenia: A Pharmaco-fMRI Study
Abstract Structural and functional changes in the lateral temporal language areas have been related to formal thought disorder (FTD) in schizophrenia. Continuous, natural speech production ...
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The social neuroscience of interpersonal emotions
Abstract In our daily lives, we constantly engage in reciprocal interactions with other individuals and represent ourselves in the context of our surrounding social world. ...
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Study protocol of the ASD-Net, the German research consortium for the study of Autism Spectrum Disorder across the lifespan: from a better etiological understanding, through valid diagnosis, to more effective health care
Abstract Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a severe, lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder with early onset that places a heavy burden on affected individuals and their families. ...
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Laugh or cringe? Common and distinct processes of reward-based schadenfreude and empathy-based fremdscham
Abstract Witnessing others’ plights can be funny for observers, but may also trigger one to empathically cringe with the victim of the predicament. In the ...
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Reward: From basic reinforcers to anticipation of social cues
Abstract Reward processing plays a major role in goal-directed behavior and motivation. On the neural level, it is mediated by a complex network of brain ...
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Mechanisms of hemispheric lateralization: A replication study
Abstract It has been shown, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), that hemispheric lateralization of brain activity depends on the requirements of the cognitive task ...
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Clinical trial of modulatory effects of oxytocin treatment on higher-order social cognition in autism spectrum disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind and crossover trial
Abstract Background: Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental conditions with severe impairments in social communication and interaction. Pioneering research suggests that oxytocin can improve motivation, cognition and ...
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Mindfulness meditation regulates anterior insula activity during empathy for social pain
Abstract Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, promote health, and well-being, as well as to increase compassionate behavior toward others. It reduces distress to ...
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