Rehumanizing the dehumanized: Neural responses for the unhoused using dimension-based rehumanization
Presented During:
Thursday, June 27, 2024: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
COEX
Room:
Conference Room E 1
Poster No:
841
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Akila Kadambi1,2,3, Sofronia Ringold1,3, Aditya Jayashankar1,3, Nandita Raman1,3, Shruti Kamath1,3, Srini Narayanan4, Antonio Damasio1, Jonas Kaplan1, Lisa Aziz-Zadeh1,3
Institutions:
1Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 3USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science, Los Angeles, CA, 4Google DeepMind, Zurich, NA
First Author:
Akila Kadambi
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Co-Author(s):
Sofronia Ringold
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Aditya Jayashankar
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Nandita Raman
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Shruti Kamath
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California|USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science
Los Angeles, CA|Los Angeles, CA
Introduction:
Despite our need for societal inclusion and empathy, dehumanization is an affliction of society that undermines humanity. Functional neuroimaging (fMRI) studies show that unhoused individuals are prevalently dehumanized (Tan & Harris, 2021). Viewing pictures of unhoused individuals evokes neural activity commonly associated with disgust and reduced mentalizing (Harris & Fiske, 2006). In contrast, observing high status groups (e.g., white, middle class) evokes neural activity associated with positive humanized feelings, including increased activity in mentalizing and somatomotor regions relative to viewing unhoused individuals (Harris & Fiske, 2009). Whether it is possible to re-engage neural circuits to rehumanize the unhoused, and what dimensions may be particularly relevant, remains unknown. To this aim, we conducted an fMRI study to rehumanize perceptions of unhoused individuals, aimed at revealing informative dimensions for rehumanization and their neural correlates.
Methods:
34 American participants (Mage = 21.81 ± 3.34; range: 18 - 33) from the Los Angeles area participated in the study. fMRI data was collected on a 3T Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma scanner in a block design across 3 runs. Standard preprocessing was applied using FSL software library. In the first run, participants viewed pictures of unhoused and high status groups to collect baseline neural responses to each group. In the next run, different dimensions of rehumanization were measured across 6 blocks, repeated 3 times. In each block, participants viewed a picture of an unhoused individual and read text associated with the following dimensions: (1) self-similarity (e.g., "they like Beyonce" [tailored to participant responses collected prior to the scan]); (2) universalism (e.g., "they're someone's sister"); (3) motor simulation (e.g., "imagine them running"); (4) warmth (e.g., "they smile often"); (5) competence (e.g., "expert chess player"). All dimensions were compared to control blocks in which participants responded whether a dot was present on the photograph of the unhoused person. In the last run, participants viewed new pictures of unhoused and high status individuals.
Results:
Using general linear modeling implemented in FSL FEAT, we compared changes in baseline neural activity between pre- and post- rehumanization runs for each group (cluster corrected, Z > 2.3, p < .01). While we found no change in neural activity for high status groups, for unhoused individuals after rehumanization, we found increased activity in regions associated with increased humanization, spanning bilateral somatomotor cortex, parietal operculum, inferior parietal lobe, and middle temporal gyri (MTG), relative to baseline. No significant activity was found in the reverse direction (pre>post rehumanization). Additionally, we found robust activity for self-similarity, universalism, motor simulation, and competence dimensions versus the control block. Self-similarity elicited bilateral activity across the entire mentalizing network: ventral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortices (vmPFC, dmPFC), anterior cingulate cortices, temporal pole, precuneus, parahippocampal gyri, hippocampi (HC), MTG, and sparse activity in the occipital pole and lateral occipital cortices. Similar activity was found for universalism across mentalizing regions, spanning the mPFC and left MTG. For motor simulation, activity was localized primarily to left somatomotor regions spanning the supplementary motor area, as well as a few clusters in the vmPFC and bilateral HC. Activity for competence was found in bilateral mentalizing regions including the vmPFC, MTG, HC, central operculum, and the right precentral gyrus.
Conclusions:
Together, the results suggest that neural activity for dehumanized groups can be positively altered following a rehumanization intervention. Self-similarity, universalism, competence, and motor simulation appear to be promising dimensions for rehumanization.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition 2
Social Neuroscience Other 1
Keywords:
Cognition
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Social Interactions
Somatosensory
Systems
Other - empathy
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Harris, L. T (2009). Social neuroscience evidence for dehumanised perception. European review of social psychology, 20(1), 192-231.
Tan, N (2021). The Neuroscience Underlying Dehumanised Perception Towards People Who Are Homeless. In Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford University Press.