The influence of relationship closeness on default-mode network connectivity during social interactions

Reciprocated trust plays a critical role in forming and maintaining relationships, and has consistently been shown to implicate neural circuits involved in reward-related processing and social cognition. Less is known about neural network connectivity during social interactions involving trust, however, particularly as a function of closeness between an investor and a trustee. We examined network reactivity and connectivity in participants who played an economic trust game with close friends, strangers and a computer. Network reactivity analyses showed enhanced activation of the default-mode network (DMN) to social relative to non-social outcomes. A novel network psychophysiological interaction (nPPI) analysis revealed enhanced connectivity between the DMN and the superior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule when experiencing reciprocated vs violated trust from friends relative to strangers. Such connectivity tracked with differences in self-reported social closeness with these partners. Interestingly, reactivity of the executive control network (ECN), involved in decision processes, demonstrated no social vs non-social preference, and ECN-ventral striatum connectivity did not track social closeness. Taken together, these novel findings suggest that DMN interacts with components of attention and control networks to signal the relative importance of positive experiences with close others vs strangers.