Brain network efficiency during social interaction is associated with real-world social network size

Social ties critically influence individual health and well-being, raising important questions about why some individuals occupy advantageous social network positions. While social cognition is known to play a key role, it remains unclear whether neural differences during social information processing is associated with variability in the social network structure. Using the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG) combined with multilayered social network analysis, brain network analysis, and machine learning, we investigated how neural activation patterns relate to individual social network structures. The results revealed that individuals with a larger social network size were associated with (1) heightened nodal efficiency in the midcingulate cortex (MCC), (2) reduced efficiency in the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), (3) enhanced functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex-supplementary motor area (ACC-SMA) and olfactory-somatosensory regions, and (4) significantly negative predictive effects of nodal efficiency in both the IOG and hippocampus (as identified through machine learning). These findings demonstrate that efficient brain network organization, characterized by optimized integration in the cingulate cortex with a conflict monitoring function and selective suppression of visual attention and memory processing, is related to real-world social adaptation. Our study offers novel neurobiological insights into social networks, highlighting the crucial role of neural efficiency in social resource acquisition.