In recent years, especially adolescents and young adults interact frequently via social media and digital communication. Mimicking an online communication platform where participants could initiate short conversations with two computerized interlocutors, the Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task (VISTTA) was used to induce feelings of social rejection. Motivational and physiological reactions were investigated in 43 healthy young women undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), of which 22 received 24 international units (IU) intranasal oxytocin and 21 received placebo. Replicating previous findings, social rejection entailed a lower willingness to cooperate with the two peers. Increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral insula/inferior frontal gyrus was observed when receiving negative feedback from others, and in the precuneus when subsequently rating one’s willingness to cooperate with them in the future. Oxytocin did not seem to alter responses to social rejection. The current findings provide validation of the VISTTA for examining consequences of rejection in a virtual social interaction that bears a strong resemblance to online communication platforms.

中文翻译：

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女性对虚拟社会拒绝的神经生物行为反应——探索催产素的影响

近年来，尤其是青少年和年轻人通过社交媒体和数字通信频繁互动。模仿在线交流平台，参与者可以与两个计算机化对话者发起简短对话，言语互动社交威胁任务（VISTTA）被用来诱发社交排斥感。研究人员对 43 名接受功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 的健康年轻女性的动机和生理反应进行了调查，其中 22 名接受了 24 国际单位 (IU) 鼻内催产素，21 名接受了安慰剂。重复之前的研究结果，社会排斥导致与两个同伴合作的意愿较低。当收到他人的负面反馈时，观察到前扣带皮层和双侧岛叶/额下回的激活增加，而当随后评估一个人未来与他们合作的意愿时，楔前叶的激活增加。催产素似乎并没有改变对社会排斥的反应。目前的研究结果为 VISTTA 验证了虚拟社交互动中被拒绝的后果，该社交互动与在线交流平台非常相似。