Lower subjective social status, as reflected by a lower self-reported ranking on a “social ladder”, was associated with reduced gray matter volume in the perigenual area of the anterior cingulate cortex (pACC). (A) Illustration of 10-point social ladder scale used to assess subjective social status. (B) Overlaid on an anatomical template is a statistical parametric map of color-scaled t-values, which illustrate the pACC area where lower subjective social status was associated with reduced gray matter volume across individuals. (C) Plotted along the y-axis is the standardized (z-score) gray matter volume values for pACC area profiled in B. Plotted along the x-axis are social ladder rankings from the scale illustrated in A (1 = “Worst Off,” 10 = “Best Off”). *P < 0.001. From Gianaros et al. (2007), reprinted with permission.