Neurobiology

Train the trainers session

February 9th, 2011 applied to
6th Mediation Competition
mediation
Franois Bogacz
Jeremy Lack
Birgit Sambeth Glasner

1
 Agenda

1. Why this session?

2. A quick overview of the emotional and social
brain
3. The Ten Neuro-Commandments
4. The Five Coordinates for mediators: SCARF
as a compass
5. Applications of SCARF to the mediation
process
6. Discussion

2 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Why this session?

All individuals can benefit from understanding how the brain works
during conflict and its consequences on their behavior and well-
being
Understanding this helps in mediation!
Our brain is a complex, living and outdated evolved system
We must learn when to trust it or not
A 3-month learning study (including 14 experienced mediators, 6
online sessions x 1h30) helped them to gain new perspectives on
mediation and gain new tools. (Source: F. Bogacz post-graduate
research project (in publication))

We love our respective moral senses. They are as

much a part of us as anything. But if we are to live
together in the world we have created for ourselves, so
unlike the one in which our ancestors evolved, we must
know when to trust our moral senses and when to
ignore them.
Joshua Greene, Princeton University, 2002
3 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 A quick overview of the

1 brain as an emotional
and social regulator

4
 Pop quiz

Is there a key area of the

brain that primarily
manages emotions?

There is no single area,

but assemblies of at least
15 regions

5 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Last years oversimplification

Level 3. The
Neocortex:
High-order
thinking &
cognition

The
Amygdala, a
central Level 1. The Level 2. The
connection Reptilian Brain: Limbic System:
zone Survival Emotions

Source: http://www.cop.com/info/346edb.gif

The cortex comprises 33% of the human brain.

It is the center of all logical and high-order cognitive appreciation/thinking
6 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 Forget about regionalization: the limbic vs. cortical system

The amygdala is connected to all but 8 cortical areas.

We have to think in terms of neural networks across the brain.
Source: Pessoa, Nature Reviews | Neuroscience, 02/08

7 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 A current model of the emotional brain (until further notice)

Source: Pessoa, Nature Reviews | Neuroscience, 02/08

8 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Pop quiz

What makes us so special,

from a neurobiological
perspective, compared to all
other animals?

The disproportionate size of

our Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC)
and its relation to our social
nature.

9 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 To manage our relationships, we have developed a bigger cortex

10
Mean clique size
(# individuals)

Prosimians

Anthropoids

Homo Sapiens
22nd Century
Homo Internetus

1
Neocortex ratio 10

We are hard-wired to function as gregarious animals.

Our cortex adapts accordingly.
Source: Dunbar, Evolutionary Anthropology, 1998

10 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 A current model of the social brain (until further notice)

ACC PCC IFG IPS TPJ

mPFC
pSTS

Amygdala

AI

Key areas of the social are located in the cortex

Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) interpersonal norms and scripts, Theory of Mind,
in group/out group, similarity
Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) self-referential processing, first impression
Anterior insular cortex (AI) consistently involved in empathy, compassion, and
interpersonal phenomena such as fairness and cooperation
Source: Blakemore, Nature Reviews | Neuroscience, 04/08
11 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 Decreasing amygdala activation regulates emotional & social networks

Thinking
specifically about
your own
emotions causes
a decrease in
activation of the
amygdala
compared to
general self-
reflection or doing
nothing

The simple act of

being aware of 3 groups & questions:
your emotions 1/ feel yourself, be aware
helps to combat about your current emotions
amygdala arousal
and bodily feeling
2/ think about yourself,
This helps to reflect who you are, about
explain why
discussing your goals, etc.
emotions helps in 3/ do nothing specific, just
mediation await the neutral picture
12 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved Source: Herwig et al, Neuroimage (2010)
 This explains why conscious reappraisal is an excellent strategy

We have limited resources

in the brain e.g. O2 and
glucose that have to be
used effectively
The PFC and amygdala
compete for those
resources
Each plotted point
represents a single
Type tagline here
subjects activity in
RVLPFC and the
amygdala while labeling a
facial expression
More glucose/oxygen is
later available for
PFC/high-order cognitive Correlation between right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
appreciation (RVLPFC) and amygdala activity.

Importance for mediation?

13 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved Source: Lieberman et al, Psychological
Science (2007)
 Summary: PFC and amygdala compete for resources

O2 &
Glucose

14 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 2 The 10 Neuro-
Commandments

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 Thou shalt avoid pain and seek reward

Our biologic survival mechanisms, governed by

memories of stimuli, make us behave
unconsciously (i.e., automatically/reflexively):

Avoid pain and danger = the Away reflex

Seek rewards and pleasure = the Toward reflex

16 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Danger/Fear shall be more dominant than reward

Threat/
Pain Reward

Faster acting Slower acting

Stronger Milder
Longer lasting Shorter
Adversarial capacities up Cognitive capacities up
Cognitive capacities (i.e., pre-frontal cortex
slowed down decision making)
More likely Less likely

17 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt always predict (unconsciously & consciously)

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty

uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg
the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan
mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah, it dseno't
Type mttaer
taglineinhere
waht oderr the lterets in a
wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is
taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the
rhgit pclae.

Source: D. Radecki Neuroleadership Institute

18 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 to have a sense of Certainty

The brain is a prediction machine & rapid

screening/relevance detector
Uncertain Pain is stronger than Certain reward
It requires much glucose/oxygen & is resource-intensive
Information is key: Risk (informed decision) is less
threatening than ambiguity (missing information) (Hsu
et al. 2005)
Our brain tends to categorize quickly
E.g., friend vs. foe = to avoid danger
Meeting someone unknown (e.g., a mediator) may
generate an automatic fear response based on
autobiographical memories or primal reflexes

19 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt regulate your emotions (consciously & by habits)

Minimize danger (away) &

Maximize reward (toward)

Thinking Self-
Emotion
& Feeling regulation

Significant Automatic Self-generated (Cognitive)

stimulus 20

Time 0ms 100ms 200ms 300ms 400ms 500ms s min. h Plasticity

20 Source: Evans, NeuroLeadership Journal - 2008

Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 Thy Social stimuli shall be as powerful as thy Physical ones

Sources: Lieberman and Eisenberger, 2009 - Takahashi et al. Science 2009

21 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt seek comfortable Status positions

Binary: We unconsciously and automatically

compute our status using similar circuits as for
processing numbers (Xiao, 2003)
Resource-intensive: The brains preoccupation
with our status in relation to others affects
cognitive processes (Zink, 2008)
Powerful:
An increase in status is similar in strength and impact
to a financial windfall (Izuma et al, 2008)

22 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt Relate to others

Empathy is natural (it is limited but can be

stimulated)
Mirror neurons help non-verbal communication
Oxytocin amplifies our toward/away reflexes. It is not
a magical bonding ingredient.
more trustworthiness and generosity in positive contexts
(Kosfeld at al, 2005)
more envy and Schadenfreude in competitive contexts
(Shamay-Tsoory, 2009)
Perceived similarities help cooperation
Thinking consciously about another person as similar
engages a region of the PFC that is used for self-
perception, whereas thinking about another person as
dissimilar engages a different sub-region of the brain
(Mitchell, 2006)
Its rewarding to see others win if they are similar to
ourselves and likeable (Mobbs, 2009)

23 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt prefer Fair behavior

If Fairness is a reward, Unfairness is like acute pain

Fairness affects Relatedness
Empathic neural responses are modulated by the
perceived fairness of others (Singer et al., 2006)
Looking at faces of cooperators activate reward centers
and particularly for those introduced as intentional agents
(Singer at al., 2004)
Rewarding cooperation leads to more cooperation
The more the cooperation is rewarding, the higher the
probability of cooperation again (Rilling et al., 2002)
Once Im satisfied, satisfying somebody else is rewarding
(Tricomi et al., 2010)

24 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt seek to retain your Autonomy

Autonomy is the perception of having the capacity of self-

governance
Freedom stimulates toward reflexes
Intrinsic motivation is a form of optimal experience that leads to flow
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
Greater autonomy for being in a relationship is associated with greater
satisfaction, relationship stability, and well-being for both partners (Knee et
al., 2006)
When a stressor is controllable, the mPFCv inhibits the stress-induced
activation of the brainstem and its behavioral consequences (Amat et al.,
2005)
Restrictions stimulate away reflexes
Controlling contexts yield negative effects on wellness, whereas those that
are supporting autonomy enhance it (Ryan & Deci, 2001)
Autonomy choice but
Having too many choices can be overwhelming (Iyengar & Lepper, 1999 &
2000)
Autonomy Certainty
The brain likes to be able to predict and have a say in the future

25 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thou shalt operate cognitively in 2 gears

Two socio-cognitive systems coexist

to screen new behavioural data and
assess the other person
X-System = 1st gear (default)
Reflexive, in charge of conscious
perception
Performs rapid pattern-matching
operations on data to check if
consistent with
beliefs/autobiographical memory
Basic thinking
C-System = 2nd gear (high-order)
Reflective, in charge of abstract
thought
Uses intentional memory
Complex thinking

We tend to coast along using only our X-system

26 Based on Lieberman, 2010
Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 (Thou canst activate thy 2nd gear)

Too much pre-existing

cortical load reduces the
Insignificant capacity to deal with
1st Gear: dissonances with the C-
Default mode
by X-System
Dissonance system
the groove
In a toward mode, the
Significant
C-system does a much
Low better job in regulating the
Cognitive
capacity X-system
It helps to recognize/
High
reinforce good behavioral
2nd Gear:
surprises to activate the
C-System is invoked to C-system (increases
cognitively resolve the
incoherence and significance)
regulates the X-system
Mindfulness provides
time/space for the cortex
NB: The C system regulates the X system to have high potential
capacity
27 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved Based on Lieberman, 2010
 Translating the 10
Commandments
into 5 Coordinates:
SCARF
2 (a compass for
mediators)

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 The mediators main goals from a neurobiological perspective

Minimize perceptions of danger

Allow cognitive appreciation of emotions (e.g.,
verbalizing them)
Recognize mediation as part of a social process
(allow time for animals or cliques to build relations)
Allow optimal decision-making and cognitive
assessments of possible rewards (perspective
taking v. empathy)
Help parties work in 2nd gear: enhance reflective
v. reflexive appreciation (including rest, breaks, food,
etc.)

29 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Summary of the 10 Neuro-Commandments

1. Thou shalt avoid pain and seek reward

2. Thou shalt be sensitive more to Danger/Fear than
Reward
3. Thou shalt always predict to have a sense of Certainty
4. Thou shalt regulate your emotions (consciously & by
habits)
5. Thy Social stimuli shall be as powerful as thy Physical
ones
6. Thou shalt seek comfortable Status positions
7. Thou shalt Relate to others
8. Thou shalt prefer Fair behavior
9. Thou shalt retain your Autonomy
10. Thou shalt operate cognitively in 2 gears

30 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 The SCARF model

By leveraging the following 5 key drivers of

social behavior, you will maximize the
chances of success in your mediations

Status
Threat Reward
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Fairness
= SCARF

31 Source: David Rock, Neuroleadership Institute, 2008

Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved
 Applications of
SCARF to
mediation:

3 Discussion

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 Debate

Divide yourself in 5 groups, each one of them in charge of one factor:

S, C, A, R, or F
The letter you have received indicates your workgroup
Each group appoints a speaker
Each workgroup discusses during 15mn how SCARF has been or
could have been used for BABLOs LIZARD case before, during or
after one of the sessions they attended. Think from the perspective
of:
Mediator
The Parties
Their Lawyers/Advisors
Each speaker reports his/her groups conclusions during 3mn
Ideas
Issues
Questions
Comments
Etc.
General discussion

33 Franois Bogacz & Jeremy Lack 2011 All rights reserved

 Thank you!

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