Functional and microstructural plasticity following social and interoceptive mental training

Abstract

The human brain supports social cognitive functions, including Theory of Mind, empathy, and compassion, through its intrinsic hierarchical organization. However, it remains unclear how the learning and refinement of social skills shapes brain function and structure. We studied if different types of social mental training induce changes in cortical function and microstructure, investigating 332 healthy adults (197 women, 20–55 years) with repeated multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral testing. Our neuroimaging approach examined longitudinal changes in cortical functional gradients and myelin-sensitive T1 relaxometry, two complementary measures of cortical hierarchical organization. We observed marked changes in intrinsic cortical function and micro-structure, which varied as a function of social training content. In particular, cortical function and microstructure changed as a result of attention-mindfulness and socio-cognitive training in regions functionally associated with attention and interoception, including insular and parietal cortices. Conversely, socio-affective and socio-cognitive training resulted in differential microstructural changes in regions classically implicated in interoceptive and emotional processing, including insular and orbitofrontal areas, but did not result in functional reorganization. Notably, longitudinal changes in cortical function and microstructure predicted behavioral change in attention, compassion and perspective-taking. Our work demonstrates functional and microstructural plasticity after the training of social-interoceptive functions, and illustrates the bidirectional relationship between brain organisation and human social skills.