Date of Award
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College/School
College of Science and Mathematics
Department/Program
Biology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Julian Paul Keenan
Committee Member
Christos Suriano
Committee Member
Ruth Propper
Abstract
Social exclusion refers to the experience of rejection by one or more people during a social event. Cyberball, a computer program, is one of the most common tools for analyzing social exclusion. Cyberball simulates a game of catch in which any number of individuals or computer- generated players can pass a virtual ball to one another. Regions of the brain that underlies pain perception include networks lined to the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC). Direct manipulation of this area may provide a better understanding of how the DLPFC can influence the perception of social exclusion. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to both the left and right DLPFC to gauge different reactions to the Cyberball experience. Social exclusion responses were influenced to further explore the role of the DLPFC. It was found that there were elevated levels of agitation from 10Hz rTMS processes that excited the DLPFC.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Minervini, Anthony, "Social Exclusion : How Inhibition and Excitation of the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) Influences Feelings of Social Exclusion" (2023). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1308.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1308