Social hierarchy is a ubiquitous principle of organization in animal species. We know that some individuals are more sensitive to hierarchical information than others, but despite some progress being made in our understanding of this social phenomenon, the neuroanatomical basis of the process had not been sufficiently explored. We now know that a neural network is involved in the automatic recognition of social identity.

A study published on 29 July in Journal of Neuroscience by Hernando Santamaría, Miguel Burgaleta and Núria Sebastián, researchers of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UPF's Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), reveals the specific anatomical substrates of the brain where status recognition and social identity are carried out.

Recognition of social hierarchy is related with social cognition

As Burgaleta explains, "for this experiment, we designed a simulated hierarchical environment in which participants were asked to perform a certain task, either placing themselves above or below the virtual hierarchic scale". (The figure shows the diagram of the virtual environment).

The response of each individual was measured by a combination of techniques using event-related potentials (ERPs) and high resolution spatial magnetic resonance techniques. This methodological approach allowed discovering a new association between perceptive neuromarkers of social hierarchy and the morphology of several cortical and subcortical brain regions found to be involved, areas that are normally associated with automatic processes of social cognition.

In other words, the magnitude of the recognition of social identity has been seen to be related with the brain morphology of the posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, insula, fusiform gyrus, and caudate nucleus.  

"Our results are a step forward in our understanding of the human social brain. The early recognition of the social hierarchies is based on the structural properties of a network that is involved in the automatic recognition of social identity", added Núria Sebastián , principal investigator of the study.

Reference work:

Hernando Santamaría-García, Miguel Burgaleta and Núria Sebastián Gallés (2015), " Neuroanatomical Markers of Social Hierarchy Recognition in Humans: A Combined ERP/MRI Study",  The Journal of Neuroscience, 29 July, 35(30:10843-10850).

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