Psychiatric neuroimaging
How Brains with Depression and Anxiety Handle Social Comparison
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
People with depression and social anxiety show heightened default mode network activation during upward social comparison, reflecting greater internal distress and rumination.
Key findings
When out-performed by their partner, participants in both groups experienced negative emotions, but those with depression or social anxiety reported significantly higher levels of negative feelings like embarrassment and guilt. Brain imaging revealed that during this upward comparison, the clinical group exhibited heightened activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and failed to deactivate the posteromedial cortex. These areas are key hubs of the default mode network, suggesting that underperforming triggers deep, inward-focused self-criticism and rumination in these individuals.
Methodology
The researchers evaluated 56 participants with depression and/or social anxiety symptoms and 47 healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. While in the scanner, participants completed a trivia game where they were told they were playing against a peer, though the feedback was actually preprogrammed. In each trial, participants saw whether they answered correctly or incorrectly alongside the performance of their partner, creating conditions of upward and downward social comparison.
Limitations
The study relied on a specific sample of university students, which prevents generalizing these findings to broader, more diverse age groups or clinical demographics. Because the researchers grouped participants with depression, social anxiety, or both together, the data cannot distinguish whether these neural responses are unique to one of these disorders. Additionally, 3 datasets were excluded from all analyses and 2 more from imaging due to technical issues, and the study did not find the expected group differences in brain reward pathways during downward comparison.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Clinical conditions of internal distress, such as depression and social anxiety, are characterized by abnormal hyperactivation of DMN hubs like the posteromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during social stressors.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
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