Neuroimaging Evidence for Social Rank Theory

Recent advances in imaging have enabled the study of social rank, which refers generally to an individual’s social standing as either dominant or subordinate in a group, in relation to brain structure and function. From an evolutionary perspective, the mind is a modular structure from which various psychological traits and processes evolved in order to promote the success of the individual and the species. Gilbert (2000) argues that social rank theory explains responses reflecting such a system, which appears to have functional underpinnings linking limbic, prefrontal, and striatal structures (Levitan et al., 2000). Researchers argue that this evolved system for responding to status information during social exchanges serves to facilitate cohesion in social rank encounters; namely, competition and/or cooperation for access to resources (Gilbert, 2000; Levitan et al., 2000). Several questions emerge from this evolutionary perspective when considered in the context of social rank: How does social rank manifest behaviorally in humans? What environmental conditions might change how the brain uses rank to navigate social landscapes successfully? Furthermore, what are the underlying neural processes associated with these evolved systems? The present discussion briefly discusses social rank as a theoretical construct, explores the behavioral manifestations of social rank, and reviews the neuroimaging support for social rank theory as a conceptual framework in which neural processes reflect an evolved psychological process. While a wealth of research provides conceptual support for this process in the animal model (Blanchard et al., 2001; Sapolsky, 2005; Morrison et al., 2011), here we review recent evidence for the neural basis of social rank in humans.