Hanxi Pan1  · Zefeng Chen1  · Nan Xu1  · Bolong Wang1  · Yuzheng Hu1  · Hui Zhou1,2  · Anat Perry3  · Xiang‑Zhen Kong1,2  · Mowei Shen1  · Zaifeng Gao1

1 Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310022, Zhejiang, China 

2 The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China 

3 Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 9190501 Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract

Social working memory (SWM)—the ability to maintain and manipulate social information in the brain—plays a crucial role in social interactions. However, research on SWM is still in its infancy and is often treated as a unitary construct. In the present study, we propose that SWM can be conceptualized as having two relatively independent components: "externally oriented SWM" (e-SWM) and "internally oriented SWM" (i-SWM). To test this external–internal hypothesis, participants were tasked with memorizing and ranking either facial expressions (e-SWM) or personality traits (i-SWM) associated with images of faces. We then examined the neural correlates of these two SWM components and their functional roles in empathy. The results showed distinct activations as the e-SWM task activated the postcentral and precentral gyri while the i-SWM task activated the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus. Distinct multivariate activation patterns were also found within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex in the two tasks. Moreover, partial least squares analyses combining brain activation and individual differences in empathy showed that e-SWM and i-SWM brain activities were mainly correlated with affective empathy and cognitive empathy, respectively. These findings implicate distinct brain processes as well as functional roles of the two types of SWM, providing support for the internal–external hypothesis of SWM.

Keywords

Social working memory; Neural substrates; Empathy; The internal–external hypothesis; fMRI

[SpringerLink]