Session Eleven (Social Cognitive Neuroscience) Flashcards
What is social cognitive neuroscience? How are it’s viewpoints different from those of other related disciplines?
- Extension of Cognitive Neuropsychology that thinks about cognitive processes in the context of our interactions with other people.
- Emphasis on functions that are either altered or entirely derived from interactions with others.
- Uses methods of cognitive neuroscience to address questions traditionally posed by social psychology
- Studies the brain as one unit in many, not as an independent social processor
Define SCN?
An attempt to understand and explain, using the methods and theories of neuroscience, how the thoughts feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual/ imagined/ implied presence of others.
What did Fotopoulou et al find in 2017 that supports the social element of CogNeuro?
Our sense of self is constructed through early social interactions.
Therefore…
CogNeuro alone is missing the social nature of humans
What does the Kuhl et al study from 2003 tell us about our language abilities?
Compared learning ability in two groups of American babies:
- Group A interacted with a Chinese person in real life
- Group B had the exact same conversation, but via a pre-recorded film
Found Group B learned nothing, Group A learned a substantial amount. This tells us some aspect of our language learning behaviour is entirely reliant on social processes, therefore SCN is vital to our understanding of language.
What did Redcay et al (2019) find to support Kuhl et al’s language learning in babies study?
- Neural processes differ entirely between individuals engaged in a 2nd person perspective vs a 3rd person perspective.
- Reciprocal social interaction/ direct engagement with partner in real time VS passive observation with no active participation treated as entirely different by the brain.
Highlights the importance of studying neuronal processes in a social context.
What is the Social Brain?
The complex network of brain areas that enable us to recognise others and evaluate their mental states, feelings, dispositions and actions.
What areas are included in the Social Brain?
- Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)
- Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)
- Inferior Frontal Gyrus
- Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS)
- Amygdala
- Anterior Insula
Why do we have a social brain?
The Social Brain Hypothesis:
- Adult brain makes up 2% of body weight but 20% of energy demands
- Humans have large brains to allow them to meet computational demands of living in complex social groups
- Social processes such as empathy, complex communication, deception, lying… all require immense computational power and therefore energy
- If we look across our nearest animal relatives (apes, monkeys, bonobos) there is a correlation between size of neocortex and group size
- Older theory of large brains was that it developed to better adapt to our environment, but this doesn’t explain why other Savannah animals haven’t developed brains like ours.
How does the brain develop?
- Significant growth after birth
- Baby = 450g, Adult = 1400g
- Most neurones are fully formed at birth, so expansion is due to growth of synapses, dendrites, axons, glial cells, myelination….
- Synaptic density of a baby is about 150% that of an adult (pruning)
- Different areas of the brain develop at different rates (PFC reaches adult levels at adolescence)
- Pruning occurs to increase efficiency, cuts out needless pathways
What research methods are common in SCN?
- Performance measures e.g. response times or accuracy
- Observational measures e.g. eye tracking
- Survey measures e.g. questionnaires, interviews
PET, MRI, TMS, ERP, Single cell recordings, Naturally occurring lesions
Explain the 4 different ways of studying social brain activity (single/dual brains)?
Single Brain 3rd Person =
- when 1 brain is being imaged, in response to a non-interactive stimuli.
- only measuring OBSERVER phenomena
Single Brain 2nd Person =
- when 1 brain is being imaged, but this time in response to an interactive stimulus
- measuring the SENDER and RECEIVER phenomena of the one brain
Dual Brain Sequential =
- when 2 brains are being imaged, 1 is sending stimulus and the other is being shown it and responding to it
- measure the SENDER activity of brain A and the RECEIVER activity of brain B
Dual Brain Simultaneous =
- when 2 brains are being imaged, both of which are sending and receiving stimuli
- total interaction between the two
- measure the SENDER and RECEIVER data from both brains being studied
What is the Theory of Mind?
A person’s ability to make attributions about mental states such as intentions, desires, or beliefs to others and to understand that others have beliefs intentions and desires that are different from one’s own.
AKA Mentalising or Cognitive Perspective Taking
Why is ToM important to human development?
- Vital aspect of how we navigate our social world.
- Processes such as lying, irony, sarcasm, teaching others, negotiating, predicting another’s behaviour, empathy or friendship forming would be impossible without ToM
- Furthermore, may be important to how we recognise others
What did Dodell-Feder et al (2016) find about the association between ToM and the development of close relationships?
Strongly related.
- Found that activity in regions of the brain associated with mentalising when thinking of your partner was associated with greater partner well-being and relationship satisfaction
- Shows that partners who are able to mentalist better create greater satisfaction in their partners.
- Therefore the ability to mentalist is essential to the development of strong social bonds.
How does facial recognition develop in humans, and what relevance might this have to ToM?
Farroni et al, 2005:
- Newborns preferentially focus on face like stimulus
- However doesnt have to be 100% biologically accurate, will respond to a stimulus with eyes on top even if they’re vertical
Berenthal et al, 1984:
- 3 month olds can detect biological motion
Systems becomes more specialised and mature from infancy to adulthood as additional areas of the cortex are recruited to the mentalising pathways.
ToM might develop in conjunction to our ability to recognise others as also being human
What are the two competing theories of brain development after birth?
Interactive Specialisation:
- Development involves organising patterns of interactions between brain regions
- As children develop new abilities, brain activity changes in many areas not just the one
- This is supported by the fact brain damage early on can be compensated for as other areas are recruited.
Maturation:
- As you age different parts of the brain ‘come online’ therefore you become able to do more
- Evidence: damage to SOME specific areas means you’ll never recover that ability e.g. damage to one highly specific area means you’ll never be able to recognise faces
Likely a mixture of the two
