Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks

In virtually all human groups, differences in popularity induce social status and shape interactions. How do we recognize that certain individuals are popular—highly liked by the group—even when this collective preference differs from our own? Our results suggest that group members' popularity is tracked by activity in neural valuation systems, which in turn engage social cognition systems that facilitate understanding others' mental states. Popular participants' valuation systems demonstrated enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members' popularity. These neural data offer insights into how status guides social behavior and reinforces social network structures, and why the affective valuation and social cognition systems are critical for navigating these networks and achieving high status within them.