Figure 3.

Brain networks and social functioning. Recent work shows that network connectivity within parts of the default mode subnetwork (blue nodes) is greater following social exclusion (a), and that this effect is moderated by the density of an individual’s friendship network (b; adapted with permission from Schmälzle et al., 2017). We suggest that dynamic network methods can advance understanding of social functioning, including how people navigate multiple social identities. People who are better able to integrate multiple social identities may be able to do so, in part, because their brain flexibility adjusts to changing task demands and integrates information between subnetworks. In this case, people high in identity integration would have many brain regions that change communities frequently across time steps (c). ROIs=regions of interest; TPJ=temporoparietal junction.