Fig 1.
Each block was composed of a ball catching phase for 26~28 seconds, with messages provided on the top center of the screen. Two messages and intervals of 12~18 seconds were provided for each block. There were five blocks in each condition.
Fig 2.
Subjective experiences of social distress during each condition.
The values for subjective experience of social distress were: (1) during participation in the virtual ball-tossing game (IN, mean value = 15.70, standard deviation (SD) = 3.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 14.75–16.64), (2) during exclusion from getting the ball (EX, mean value = 24.48, SD = 5.14, 95% CI 22.95–26.01), and (3) during supportive messages (SUP, mean value = 22.15, SD = 4.41, 95% CI 20.84–23.46). There were significant main effects of condition: Social pain was higher during EX and during SUP than during IN, and lower during SUP than during EX. IN = the social inclusion condition, EX = the social exclusion condition, SUP = the social support condition. *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.005.
Fig 3.
Brain regions indicating ostracism and social support.
The brain regions indicating ostracism-induced activation were identified during the social exclusion condition compared to during the social inclusion condition (A) and brain areas indicating social-support-induced activation were identified during the social support condition compared to the social exclusion condition (B).
Table 1.
Local maxima of brain activity showing significant social exclusion and social support effects.
Fig 4.
Correlation of the activation in the DLPFC between social anxiety and social distress.
The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L.DLPFC), for which significant positive correlation between changes of brain activation and BFNE scores were found (A). To illustrate the correlation between L.DLPFC activation and social anxiety, a scatter plot of the relationship between changes in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals in the L.DLPFC and BFNE scores during the social support condition compared to during the social exclusion condition is presented (B). To illustrate the correlation of L.DLPFC activation and subjective feelings of social distress, a scatter plot of the relationship between changes in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the L.DLPFC and subjective feelings of social distress during the social support condition compared to during the social exclusion condition is presented (C). BFNE = the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale.