Biology subjects

Hetu, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Hetu, S..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Shared network between social exclusion and physiological needs

We investigated the neural substrates underlying the brain network shared by social exclusion and physiological needs, both viewed as instances of deprivation. Using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses, we examined brain activation patterns from studies where participants perceived food/water while hungry/thirsty and social interactions while experiencing exclusion. This analysis revealed overlapping activation in the mid-posterior insula, caudate head and ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as regions consistently engaged when perceiving relevant stimuli across both physiological and social deprivation. Furthermore, we found high spatial correlation between this shared network and the distribution of dopamine receptors, and we identified a significant positive correlation with the 5HT4 among serotonin receptors. Our findings suggest that perceiving deprivation-related stimuli activates brain regions and neurotransmitters involved in aversive affect and goal-directed behavior. These results highlight a neural bridge linking basic physiological drives with complex social needs, offering new insights into the neurobiological architecture of human affective states--while representing just one part of a much larger puzzle.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

A computational account of need states, reward and wanting

Need states are internal states that arise from deprivation of crucial biological stimuli. They direct motivation, independently of external learning. Despite their separate origin, they interact with reward processing systems that respond to external stimuli. This paper aims to illuminate the functioning of the needing system through the lens of active inference, a framework for understanding brain and cognition. We propose that need states exert a pervasive influence on the organism, which in active inference terms translates to a "pervasive surprise" - a measure of the distance from the organisms preferred state. Crucially, we define needing as an active inference process that seeks to reduce this pervasive surprise. Through a series of simulations, we demonstrate that our proposal successfully captures key aspects of the phenomenology and neurobiology of needing. We show that as need states increase, the tendency to occupy preferred states strengthens, independently of external reward prediction. Furthermore, need states increase the precision of states (stimuli and actions) leading to preferred states, suggesting their ability to amplify the value of reward cues and rewards themselves. Collectively, our model and simulations provide valuable insights into the directional and underlying influence of need states, revealing how this influence amplifies the wanting or liking associated with relevant stimuli.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Common brain areas for processing physiologically and socially 'needed' stimuli

We looked at the overlap between brain areas related to perception of physiologically and socially (non-physiological) needed stimuli and how they might regulate serotonin levels. First, we conducted separate ALE meta-analyses on published results pertaining to brain activation patterns when participants perceived food while hungry or water while thirsty, and social interactions while being excluded. This allowed us to identify common consistent brain activation patterns for physiological and social needed stimuli. We also looked at significant spatial association between the common network and serotonin receptor distribution. We found that regions within the mid-posterior insula, the anterior cingulate cortex and the caudate are at the intersection of physiological (hunger and thirst) and social (exclusion) aspects of needing. Furthermore, we found a significant positive spatial correlation between that common network and 5HT4 receptor among serotonin receptors. While this was the highest for serotonin receptors, it was not the highest of all receptors. Our study suggests there is a common brain pattern during the processing of physiologically and socially needed stimuli, and discusses their spatial association with serotonin receptors and its possible implication.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

DLPFC controls the rapid neural response to visual threat: An ERP and rTMS study

Individuals are faster at detecting threatening stimuli than neutral stimuli. While generally considered a rapid bottom-up response, this threat superiority effect is also modulated by top-down mechanisms known to rely on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). What remains unclear is whether the response is modulated only at later stages of processing, or whether rapid attention to threat itself is controlled in a top-down manner. To test this, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to inhibit activity in the DLPFC, and measured EEG to index the immediate neural response to threat. Participants attended two sessions where they performed a visual search task with threatening or neutral targets. Prior to this, they received 15 minutes of 1 Hz inhibitory or sham rTMS targeting the right DLPFC. We measured the impact of rTMS on the P1, a rapid visually-evoked potential that is modulated by attention. We found that threatening targets increased the amplitude of the P1 in the sham condition, but inhibition of the DLPFC abolished this increase. These results suggest that the neural signature of rapid attentional detection of threat, even at its earliest stage, is influenced in a top-down fashion by the right DLPFC.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

'Wanting' versus 'Needing' related value: an fMRI meta-analysis

Consumption and its excesses are sometimes explained by imbalance of need or lack of control over wanting. Wanting assigns value to cues that predict rewards, whereas needing assigns value to biologically significant stimuli that one is deprived of. Here we aimed at studying how the brain activation patterns related to value of wanted stimuli differs from that of needed stimuli using ALE neuroimaging meta-analysis approaches. We used the perception of a cue predicting a reward for wanting related value and the perception of food stimuli in a hungry state as a model for needing related value. We carried out separate, contrasts, and conjunction meta-analyses to identify differences and similarities between wanting and needing values. Our overall results for wanting related value show consistent activation of the ventral tegmental area, striatum and pallidum, regions that both activate behaviour and direct choice; while for needing related value we found an overall consistent activation of the middle insula and to some extent the caudal-ventral putamen, regions that only direct choice. Our study suggests that wanting has more control on consumption, and a needed stimuli must become wanted in order to be pursued.

neuroscience↗