social neuroscience Flashcards
social cognition 3 components
- understanding others
- understanding self
- -> 3. social interactions
social cognition: understanding others
- emotion recognition
- theory of mind
- empathy
social cognition: understanding self
- self recognition
- self-other differentiation
- agency
Experiment: brain processes social stimuli differently
- noun could be a person or an object
- task: Does this adjective relate to this noun?
- -> same task but social aspect is different
- -> different brain regions activated
the social brain
- social tasks elicit distinct patterns of activation
- recruited areas differ from those used on nonsocial cognitive processes
1. Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
2. Temporoparietal junction (TPJ)
Default Mode Network and social cognition
- about self-differentiating tasks
- mostly when thinking about oneselves
- activation during rest and deactivation during cognitive tasks
(so rest is not really the best control condition)
relationship between brain region development and friendship
- structural change in brain during adolescence
- faster cortical thinning: more increase in friendship (better in e.g., perspective taking)
- higher cortical thickness: lower friendship quality
measuring social cognition: director task: director condition
- director gives you instructions on what to do (move objects in the book shelf) –> if he wants you to move something it means that he can see it: so what can the director see?
- critical trial: there is another object that fits his description but he cannot see it
- control trial: only one object fits the description
measuring social cognition: no-director condition
- there is no director –> task: only move objects that are visible from both sides
measuring social cognition: director task results
- most errors in critical director trials
- children make the most errors: 30% in director critical, 15% in non-director critical
- huge drop in errors from children to adolescence
- -> more cortical thinning in social brain (better social perspective taking)
what does the director task measure?
- social cognition
- inhibitive control (you need to inhibit your own perspective to focus on the directors)
impairment in social interactions BPD
- unstable and intense social relationships
- exhibit social problem-solving deficits
impairments in social interactions ASD
- limited interest in social interactions
- difficulty recognizing emotions and using these to guide social interactions
impairments in social interactions social phobia
- fear of judgment or embaressment leads to avoiding social situations
impairment in social interactions psychosis
- reduced understanding of (social) agency