Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.11.11.377895v1?rss=1 Authors: Valk, S. L., Kanske, P., Park, B.-y., Hong, S.-J., Boeckler-Raettig, A., Trautwein, F.-M., Bernhardt, B. C., Singer, T. Abstract: Social skills such as our abilities to understand feelings and thoughts are at the core of what makes us human. Here, we combined a unique longitudinal intervention study with cutting-edge connectomics to study the organization and plasticity of brain networks associated with different social skills (socio-affective, socio-cognitive, and attention-mindfulness). Baseline analysis in our cohort (n=332) showed that social brain networks have (i) compact and dissociable signatures in a low-dimensional manifold governed by gradients of brain connectivity, (ii) specific neurobiological underpinnings, and (iii) reflect inter-individual variations in social behavior. Furthermore, longitudinal brain network analyses following a 9-month training intervention indicated (iv) domain-specific reorganization of these signatures that was furthermore predictive of behavioral change in social functions. Multiple sensitivity analyses supported robustness. Our findings, thus, provide novel evidence on macroscale network organization and plasticity underlying human social cognition and behavior, and suggest connectome-reconfigurations as a mechanism of adult skill learning. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info