Hierarchy is a pervasive feature of social organization. The ability to rapidly discriminate hierarchical information is critical for social interaction. Here, we took advantage of a special technique in electroencephalography (EEG) known as fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS). We used this technique, which captures the automatic perception of faces, to explore the neural signature of social dominance discrimination. A stream of computer-generated faces was presented at 6 Hz, i.e. six faces/second. In the experimental condition, faces alternated from high to low social dominance within a sequence, bringing about a frequency of interest of 3 Hz (6 Hz/2), i.e. three high/low dominance faces appeared in one second. In two control conditions, we presented faces which came exclusively from one of two hierarchical ranks (either lower or higher). Participants were asked to respond to information unrelated to this hierarchical information, namely pressing the spacebar when the fixation changes color. Results revealed a significant 3 Hz response for the experimental condition only. This response was located bilaterally in the occipito-temporal region, indicating discrimination of differences in social dominance. Through the use of FPVS, we provide electrophysiological evidence to show that social hierarchical information can be detected automatically.

等级制度是社会组织的普遍特征。快速区分等级信息的能力对于社交互动至关重要。在这里，我们利用了一种称为快速周期性视觉刺激 (FPVS) 的脑电图 (EEG) 特殊技术。我们使用这种捕捉面部自动感知的技术来探索社会优势歧视的神经特征。以 6 Hz 的频率呈现计算机生成的人脸流，即每秒六人脸。在实验条件下，面孔在一个序列内从高社会优势度到低社会优势度交替出现，带来了 3 Hz (6 Hz/2) 的兴趣频率，即在一秒钟内出现了三个高/低优势度面孔。在两种控制条件下，我们展示了完全来自两个等级等级（较低或较高）之一的面孔。参与者被要求对与此分层信息无关的信息做出反应，即当注视改变颜色时按空格键。结果显示仅对实验条件有显着的 3 Hz 响应。这种反应位于枕颞区域的双边，表明对社会优势差异的歧视。通过使用 FPVS，我们提供了电生理学证据，表明可以自动检测社会等级信息。表明对社会支配地位差异的歧视。通过使用 FPVS，我们提供了电生理学证据，表明可以自动检测社会等级信息。表明对社会支配地位差异的歧视。通过使用 FPVS，我们提供了电生理学证据，表明可以自动检测社会等级信息。