Social Cognition in Humans

Frith, Christopher D.; Frith, Uta

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.068

Cited by 564 publications

(436 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…T he amygdala is considered a critical node of the "social brain" that contributes to myriad social behaviors exhibited by primates (1)(2)(3)(4). Neurons in both the monkey (5) and human amygdala (6) respond prominently to faces, and lesions of the monkey amygdala result in complex impairments in social behavior (7,8).…”

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confidence: 99%

Amygdala lesions do not compromise the cortical network for false-belief reasoning

Spunt

Elison

Dufour

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The amygdala plays an integral role in human social cognition and behavior, with clear links to emotion recognition, trust judgments, anthropomorphization, and psychiatric disorders ranging from social phobia to autism. A central feature of human social cognition is a theory-of-mind (ToM) that enables the representation other people's mental states as distinct from one's own. Numerous neuroimaging studies of the best studied use of ToM-false-belief reasoning-suggest that it relies on a specific cortical network; moreover, the amygdala is structurally and functionally connected with many components of this cortical network. It remains unknown whether the cortical implementation of any form of ToM depends on amygdala function. Here we investigated this question directly by conducting functional MRI on two patients with rare bilateral amygdala lesions while they performed a neuroimaging protocol standardized for measuring cortical activity associated with false-belief reasoning. We compared patient responses with those of two healthy comparison groups that included 480 adults. Based on both univariate and multivariate comparisons, neither patient showed any evidence of atypical cortical activity or any evidence of atypical behavioral performance; moreover, this pattern of typical cortical and behavioral response was replicated for both patients in a follow-up session. These findings argue that the amygdala is not necessary for the cortical implementation of ToM in adulthood and suggest a reevaluation of the role of the amygdala and its cortical interactions in human social cognition.theory-of-mind | amygdala | lesions | false-belief | fMRI

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Amygdala lesions do not compromise the cortical network for false-belief reasoning

Spunt

Elison

Dufour

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Recent research has suggested that alongside impairments in understanding other's mental states (Baron-Cohen et al 1985;Frith and Frith 2007;Frith 2012;Senju 2012), people with ASD also have difficulty with taking another person's visual perspective (Hamilton et al 2009). Hamilton and colleagues found that whilst children with autism were impaired at visual perspective taking (VPT), they showed unimpaired performance on a task involving a non-social spatial transformation (mental rotation).…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatial Transformations of Bodies and Objects in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Pearson

Marsh

Hamilton

et al. 2014

J Autism Dev Disord

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Previous research into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown people with autism to be impaired at visual perspective taking. However it is still unclear to what extent the spatial mechanisms underlying this ability contribute to these difficulties. In the current experiment we examine spatial transformations in adults with ASD and typical adults. Participants performed egocentric transformations and mental rotation of bodies and cars. Results indicated that participants with ASD had general perceptual differences impacting on response times across tasks. However, they also showed more specific differences in the egocentric task suggesting particular difficulty with using the self as a reference frame. These findings suggest that impaired perspective taking could be grounded in difficulty with the spatial transformation used to imagine the self in someone else's place. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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“…We become capable of learning what motivates other people in their social interactions, even if these do not directly involve us. All these skills map onto schemas that are encoded in an associative network in memory and is orchestrated to ensure normal, skilled social adaptation (1).…”

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confidence: 99%

Genetic Influences on Social Cognition

Skuse

Gallagher

2011

Pediatric Research

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Human social behavior develops under the influence of genetic, environmental, and cultural factors. Social cognition comprises our ability to understand and respond appropriately to other people's social approaches or responses. The concept embraces self-knowledge and theory of mind, or the ability to think about emotions and behavior from the perspective of another person. The neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) are now known to play an important role, affecting individual differences in parenting behavior, social recognition, and affiliative behaviors. The processes of social cognition are also supported by reward circuitry, underpinned by the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system. Reward processes build social relationships, in parenting and pair-bonding, and influence social interactions that require trust, or display altruism. The impact of emotional regulation upon social behavior, including mood and anxiety, is also mediated through the serotonergic system. Variation in activity of serotonergic networks in the brain influences emotional responsivity, including subjective feelings, physiological responses, emotional expressions, and the tendency to become engaged in action as a consequence of a feeling state. Genetic variation in the receptors associated with OT, AVP, dopamine, and serotonin has been intensively studied in humans and animal models. Recent findings are building an increasingly coherent picture of regulatory mechanisms. (Pediatr Res 69: 85R-91R, 2011) W e, as humans, usually possess the ability to rapidly process social information about the thoughts and actions of other people and to interact in complex ways with them. Social cognition comprises a set of skills that enable us to understand thoughts and intentions that may differ from our own experiences or predispositions. As we develop through early childhood, we are increasingly capable of taking another person's perspective, and we develop self-knowledge. We can accurately predict how another person might behave in the future, from our social perceptions and experiences. We become capable of learning what motivates other people in their social interactions, even if these do not directly involve us. All these skills map onto schemas that are encoded in an associative network in memory and is orchestrated to ensure normal, skilled social adaptation (1).The process by which we acquire social cognitive competence evolves with development and is modified in response to the environment. To begin with, infants cannot easily differentiate between themselves and other people, but they rapidly become aware that their actions have an impact on the physical and social world around them. In due course, they develop social understanding, language, and imitation. Eventually, most of us acquire the ability to "read the mind" of others. By this, we mean that it becomes possible for us to understand why other people behave the way they do and to respond appropriately to them in social situations. If we have not acquired this ability...

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Social Cognition in Humans

Cited by 564 publications

References 102 publications

Amygdala lesions do not compromise the cortical network for false-belief reasoning

Amygdala lesions do not compromise the cortical network for false-belief reasoning

Spatial Transformations of Bodies and Objects in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Genetic Influences on Social Cognition

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