Social cognitive neuroscience

The first scholarly works about the neural bases of social cognition can be traced back to Phineas Gage, a man who survived a traumatic brain injury in 1849 and was extensively studied for resultant changes in social functioning and personality. In 1924, esteemed psychologist Gordon Allport wrote a chapter on the neural bases of social phenomenon in his textbook of social psychology. However, these works did not generate much activity in the decades that followed. Inventions in the study of neuronal activity provided the groundwork for field development. In 1924, German physiologist and psychiatrist Hans Berger (1873–1941) recorded the electrical activity of the brain by inventing the first human electroencephalogram EEG. In 1953, Dr. Brownell and Dr. Aronow designed the first clinical positron imaging device, a prototype of a modern Positron Emission Tomography (PET). In 1971, American chemist and physicist Paul Christian Lauterbur invented the idea of MR imaging (MRI). Ph.D. in Chemistry, Michael E. Phelps developed the first PET scanner in 1973, based on discoveries of American scientists David Edmund Kuhl, Luke Chapman, and Roy Edwards, which constructed several tomographic instruments in the late 1950s. The beginning of modern social cognitive neuroscience can be traced to Michael Gazzaniga's book, Social Brain (1985), which attributed cerebral lateralization to the peculiarities of social psychological phenomenon. Isolated pockets of social cognitive neuroscience research emerged in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, mostly using single-unit electrophysiological recordings in nonhuman primates or neuropsychological lesion studies in humans. In 1996, Giacomo Rizzolatti's group made one of the most seminal discoveries in social cognitive neuroscience: the existence of mirror neurons in macaque frontoparietal cortex.) social cognitive functions such as theory of mind and mentalizing. However, PET is prohibitively expensive and requires the ingestion of radioactive tracers, thus limiting its adoption. The adoption of fMRI, a less expensive and noninvasive neuroimaging modality, induced explosive growth in the field. In 2001, the first academic conference on social cognitive neuroscience was held at University of California, Los Angeles. The mid-2000s saw the emergence of academic societies related to the field (Social and Affective Neuroscience Society, Society for Social Neuroscience), as well as peer-reviewed journals specialized for the field (Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Social Neuroscience). advanced computational methods (e.g. multivariate pattern analysis, causal modeling, graph theory), and brain stimulation techniques (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct-current stimulation, deep brain stimulation). Due to the volume and rigor of research in the field, the 2010s saw social cognitive neuroscience achieving mainstream acceptance in the wider fields of neuroscience and psychology. It is thought that exploring the correlation of neuronal activities of two or more brains in shared cognitive tasks can contribute to understanding the relationship between social experiences and neurophysiological processes. In 2024, inspired by research on interpersonal neural synchronization the mother-fetus neurocognitive model hypothesis has been put forward opening a new research direction. According to this position, interpersonal neurophysiological processes within the biological system of this dyad provide the fetal nervous system with training for proper reactions to stimuli at the onset of cognition. The hypothesis has shown that training is successful because of neural synchronization between nervous systems that occurs through the interference of local neuronal oscillations with the low-frequency electromagnetic field of the mother's heart. == Functional anatomy ==

Much of social cognition is primarily subserved by two dissociable macro-scale brain networks: the mirror neuron system (MNS) and default mode network (DMN). MNS is thought to represent and identify observable actions (e.g. reaching for a cup) that are used by DMN to infer unobservable mental states, traits, and intentions (e.g. thirsty). Concordantly, the activation onset of MNS has been shown to precede DMN during social cognition. In humans, similar sensorimotor "mirroring" responses have been found in the brain regions listed below, which are collectively referred to as MNS. MNS may encode the concept of an action, not just the sensory and motor information associated with an action. As such, MNS representations have been shown to be invariant of how an action is observed (e.g. sensory modality) and how an action is performed (e.g. left versus right hand, upwards or downwards). MNS has even been found to represent actions that are described in written language. Mechanistic theories of MNS functioning fall broadly into two camps: motor and cognitive theories. Classical motor theories posit that abstract action representations arise from simulating actions within the motor system, while newer cognitive theories propose that abstract action representations arise from the integration of multiple domains of information: perceptual, motor, semantic, and conceptual. The hypothesis of the mother-fetus neurocognitive model (MFN) contributes to the theory of the MNS's role in social cognition. It has been shown that local neuronal oscillations in both nervous systems are synchronized through interference with the low-frequency electromagnetic field of the mother's heart. The premotor cortex has been found to contain subregions with unique cytoarchitectural properties, the significance of which is not yet fully understood. In humans, sensorimotor mirroring responses are also found throughout premotor cortex and adjacent sections of inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor area. Action representations in inferior frontal gyrus can be evoked by language, such as action verbs, in addition to the observed and performed actions typically used as stimuli in biological motion studies. Intraparietal sulcus is considered a part of the dorsal visual stream, but is also thought to receive inputs from non-dorsal stream regions such as lateral occipitotemporal cortex and posterior superior temporal sulcus. LOTC includes cortical areas that are sensitive to motion, objects, body parts, kinematics, body postures, observed movements, and semantic content in verbs. Social cognitive functions such as theory of mind, mentalizing, emotion recognition, empathy, moral cognition, and social working memory consistently recruit DMN regions in human neuroimaging studies. Though the functional anatomy of these functions can differ, they often include the core DMN hubs of medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and temporoparietal junction. Aside from social cognition, the DMN is broadly associated with internally directed cognition. The DMN has been found to be involved in memory-related processing (semantic, episodic, prospection), self-related processing (e.g. introspection), and mindwandering. Unlike studies of the mirror neuron system, task-based DMN investigations almost always use human subjects, as DMN-related social cognitive functions are rudimentary or difficult to measure in nonhumans. The interrelations between social cognition, rest, and the diverse array of DMN-related functions are not yet well understood and is a topic of active research. Social, non-social, and spontaneous processes in the DMN are thought to share at least some underlying neurocomputational mechanisms with each other. The mPFC may subserve the most abstract components of social cognition, as it is one of the most domain general brain regions, sits at the top of the cortical hierarchy, and is last to activate during DMN-related tasks. Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) Abstract social cognition recruits a large area of posteromedial cortex centered around posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), but also extending into precuneus and retrosplenial cortex. Additionally, PCC may track social dynamics by facilitating bottom-up attention to behaviorally relevant sources of information in the external environment and in memory. Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is thought to be critical to distinguishing between multiple agents, such as the self and other. Moreover, VLPFC is often recruited in empathy, mentalizing, and theory of mind tasks. VLPFC is thought to support the inhibition of self-perspective when thinking about other people. == Notable figures ==

• David Amodio • Mahzarin Banaji • John T. Cacioppo • Jean Decety • Robin Dunbar • Naomi Eisenberger • Uta Frith • Chris Frith • Michael Gazzaniga • Joshua Greene (psychologist) • Todd Heatherton • Matthew Lieberman • Jason Mitchell • Elizabeth A. Phelps • Giacomo Rizzolatti • Rebecca Saxe • Tania Singer == See also ==