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sociobiology
exploring the biological basis of social behavior
how evolution and development shapes social interaction
social psychology
behavior of individuals in social settings
understanding dynamics of interpersonal relationships
mentalizing
processes supporting understanding one’s own and others’ mental states
self-perception
ones’ view of themselves and their traits and feelings
theory of mind
ability to infer and understand others’ thoughts, beliefs, and intentions
self-perception
cognitive process involving the self as both observer and observed
observable attributes such as physical characteristics
unobservable attributes such as memories, internal states, and personality traits
self-referential effect
people tend to encode and remember information better when processed in relation to themselves
default mode network
while at rest, brains continue to engage in psychological processes
MPFC, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex, tempero-parietal junction (TPJ), medial temporal lobe, inferior parietal lobule
active during autobiographical memory, moral dilemmas, evaluating intentions of others
envisioning self in conditional situation
self-knowledge biases
unrealistic positive self-perception
more likely than others to be smart, above average, or experience positive future events
neural basis of positive perception
activity in ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) associated with making positive vs. negative self-descriptive judgements
different activation with imagining positive vs. negative future events
patients with OFC damage have unrealistically positive self-views, bring up impolite conversation topics, unaware until watching a recording
future mental states
vmPFC/OFC important for generating predictions about future mental states
damage leads to inconsistency about own likes/dislikes
embodiment
awareness of observable attributes such as physical characteristics about one’s body
temperoparietal junction (TPJ) plays a crucial role
low stimulation produces an experience that feels like falling, high stimulation produces an out-of-body experience
autoscopy
seeing one’s own body in external space similar to looking at a mirror
sense of self-location within the body (unlike OBE)
damage to right aprieto-occipital / right temporo-occipital cortex
heautoscopy
seeing a double of oneself in extra personal space where double can act independently and interact
experiencing a doppelgänger
damage to left temporoparietal cortex
xenomelia
dysfunction of the superior parietal lobule
integration of the somatosensory, visual, and vestibular signals
feeling that a limb does not belong to one’s body
experience sharing theory
theory of how we translate external observables into inferences about others’ psychological states
simulating others’ behaviors within one’s own mental framework
observing and mimicking actions and emotional responses, using own mental state to model and predict others
“sharing” experience to gain insight
theory of mind
ability to perceive and recognize mental states of others and recognize that they can be different from our own
levels of complexity:
first order: predicting based on beliefs and desires
second order: understanding what one thinks about another person’s thoughts
depend more on medial premotor cortex (internal)
false-belief task
schematic in which Sally and Anne interact with a marble
participant must disregard own knowledge and consider Sally’s perspective
neural basis of mental states of others
MPFC, temporoparietal junction (TPJ), superior temporal sulcus, temporal poles
MPFC: broad range of social cognitive processes, forming impression of others’ mental states, interpreting others’ beliefs, desires, emotions
rTPJ: false-belief tasks, understanding the internal representations of another person, mentalizing, shifting attention to social information
mirror neurons
play crucial role in extracting information about mental state from external cues
active when an individual performs and actuaron and when observing someone else performing the same action
fire even when action is not fully observed, purposeful actions
facial expression, eye gaze, body movement
depend more on lateral premotor cortex (external)
superior temporal sulcus (STS)
important for processing eye gaze and interpreting mental states
signaling focus of attention, social signals
also active for posture, facial movement, recognizing voice
abnormalities in childhood autism
empathy
enables us to understand and respond to emotions and mental states of others
empathetic accuracy
accurate ability to infer another’s thoughts and feelings
vital mechanism served by mirror neurons
insula
active when experiencing disgust and perceiving disgust
active when experiencing pain and perceiving (especially a loved one) experience of pain
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
mental disorder
may have difficulties understanding mental states of others
heterogeneous in biology and symptoms
abnormal stem cell proliferation, leading to abnormal neuronal migration
general intelligence normal, often struggle with social intelligence and theory of mind (mindblindness), reduced cognitive empathy
difficulty picking up on basic social cues
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
mental disorder
children may have difficulties understand the perspectives of others
schizophrenia
mental disorder
multiple deficits in theory of mind
may have trouble recognizing emotions in others and understanding social cues
lost ability to distinguish between own thoughts and those of others
reduction in gray matter thickness for social cue perception/theory of mind, including MPFC, cingulate, STS, ínsula, striatum, thalamus
borderline personality disorder (BPD)
mental disorder
may have difficulty understanding emotions of others
disrobed sense of own mental state
Williams Syndrome
genetic condition, mental disorder
associated with range of cognitive and behavioral features
difficulty with theory of mind
neural correlates of ASD
no single brain region/system
abnormal function in: MPFC, amygdala, FFA, STS, ínsula, and TPJ
abnormal functioning of default mode network, no change in MPFC when switching tasks
mirror neurons and ASD
children with ASD lack same degree of automatic mimicry
can imitate familiar individuals/actions, but impaired in copying unfamiliar/meaningless actions
abnormal functioning of mirror neurons
social behavior
navigating social interactions: complex, lacking rules
OFC plays crucial role in evaluating social situations and determining appropriate rules
important for learning and applying social knowledge
feedback of social behavior
updating behavior based on feedback
damage to vmPFC / OFC may have learning from negative experiences and adjusting behavior
negative consequences of social behavior
vmPFC important for evaluating negative consequences of social decisions
more strongly for negative than positive
FTLD (frontotemporal lobar degeneration) patients lack awareness of socially inappropriate or illegal behavior
