The primary goal of this training fellowship is to apply functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques to the study of the social brain. A recent endeavor of the neurosciences has been to characterized the neural circuitry associated with our ability to interact in a social world. Early brain imaging studies of social cognition were limited to the presentation of static 2 dimensional images that were often presented out of social and affective context. Current work has remedied this issue by presenting dynamic visual scenes, demonstrating how salient social cues are often reflected by meaningful biological motion. Nonetheless much of this work has employed paradigms where the subject passively views movements made in and out of social context. This proposal will test two novel designs aimed at enhancing the ability to engage subjects in a more realistic and compelling social situation. Study 1 will focus on comparing neural correlates associated with approaching a dynamic social scene with those associated with approaching a non-social scene. Study 2 has been designed to characterize neural circuitry underlying the decoding of social intentions conveyed by social signs is when humans approach ambiguous social situations. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32MH073367-02
Application #
6999324
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB (20))
Program Officer
Curvey, Mary F
Project Start
2005-01-03
Project End
2007-01-02
Budget Start
2006-01-03
Budget End
2007-01-02
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$48,796
Indirect Cost
Name
Duke University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
044387793
City
Durham
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27705
Morris, James P; Pelphrey, Kevin A; McCarthy, Gregory (2008) Perceived causality influences brain activity evoked by biological motion. Soc Neurosci 3:16-25
Morris, James P; Green, Steven R; Marion, Brian et al. (2008) Guided saccades modulate face- and body-sensitive activation in the occipitotemporal cortex during social perception. Brain Cogn 67:254-63
Morris, James P; Pelphrey, Kevin A; McCarthy, Gregory (2007) Face processing without awareness in the right fusiform gyrus. Neuropsychologia 45:3087-91
Morris, James P; McCarthy, Gregory (2007) Guided saccades modulate object and face-specific activity in the fusiform gyrus. Hum Brain Mapp 28:691-702
Pelphrey, Kevin A; Morris, James P; McCarthy, Gregory et al. (2007) Perception of dynamic changes in facial affect and identity in autism. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2:140-9
Morris, James P; Pelphrey, Kevin A; McCarthy, Gregory (2006) Occipitotemporal activation evoked by the perception of human bodies is modulated by the presence or absence of the face. Neuropsychologia 44:1919-27
Morris, James P; Pelphrey, Kevin A; McCarthy, Gregory (2005) Regional brain activation evoked when approaching a virtual human on a virtual walk. J Cogn Neurosci 17:1744-52