Figure 3. Neural Correlates of Power Modulated by Affiliation, Measured by the Vector Angle.

The regressor tracking the angle between the participant’s point of view and the character (cosine θ), which corresponds to a character’s interaction between power and affiliation at each social interaction throughout the task, was contrasted with baseline in a whole-brain analysis.

(A) The resulting statistical map overlaid on the groups’ average anatomical image shows the hippocampus (p < 0.001, FWE rate of p < 0.05; K = 33). Talairach coordinates (x, y, z) of the peak voxel are indicated below the maps (see Figure S2 for three other regions).

(B) The Z-scored beta weights extracted from that peak voxel are shown for each condition.

(C) Options trials were separated into two types: high cosine θ and low cosine θ. Event-related averaging of the hippocampal mean percent signal change (from the entire cluster) shows higher BOLD responses for options trials where characters are perceived as having more power relative to the participant, modulated by affiliation (cosine θ closer to 1).

(D) The parametric regressor tracking the character’s power as a Cartesian coordinate at each social interaction throughout the task correlated with the BOLD signal in the left middle temporal gyrus (BA 37). The right panel shows the resulting statistical map overlaid on the groups’ average anatomical image (p < 0.001, FWE rate of p < 0.05; K = 32). Talairach coordinates (x, y, z) of the peak voxel are indicated below the maps. The left panel shows the Z-scored beta weights extracted from that peak voxel for each condition. Error bars indicate SEM.