week 11 - Social cognition Flashcards
WHat is the role of the ventrolateral amygdala and what netork does it link to ?
- Perception Network
Left OFC, ventro-lateral temporal cortex, sensory association areas (temporal, fusiform, insula)
Detecting & decoding relevant stimuli, affective faces, eye gaze, group identity, hierarchy
Damage/deficits associated with abnormal eye contact, lack of understanding social behaviour, body language, prosody, facial expressions; breaching boundaries, understanding sarcasm
WHat is the main area of the brain that links to social cognition
- Amygdala
What is the role of the Medial amygdala and what network does it link to
Goal-directed learning, appetitive learning, social reward
Damage/deficits associated with detachment, unresponsive to others’ feelings, lack in empathy and interpersonal warmth, reduced altruism
Ventro-medial PFC, ACC, ventro-medial striatum, ventro-medial hypothalamus, dorso-medial & medial temporal lobe, mesolimbic regions
Dorsal amydala and what network
- Aversion Network
Caudal ACC, OFC, operculum, ventro-medial striatum, hypothalamus, brain stem, nucleaus accumbens/dopaminergic nuclei
Learning what/who to avoid, interpreting negative feedback
Damage/deficits associated with loss of social apprehension, increased trust, vulnerability to scams / being taken advantage of
What is meant by both the cognitive and affective theory of mind
Cognitive: cognitive Theory of Mind, mentalizing, cognitive empathy
Affective: affective Theory of Mind, affective empathy, empathy
What areas of the brain are linked with the mentalising system and what do they do
Mentalizing network:
Includes dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, temporal pole, mPFC and precuneus
Consistently activated in tasks requiring thinking about people’s intentions, actions, mental states, motivations or feelings, whether one’s own or another person’s
What brain areas are linked to the mirror neuron system and what do they do
Mirror neuron system:
Neurons in cortical motor areas (premotor cortex, supplementary motor area, primary somatosensory cortex, inferior parietal cortex) sensitive to the actions of others
Suggested to play a role in action imitation, and / or understanding of intentions through action simulation (eg grasping something for what purpose?)
how is the brain changed in some psychiatric disorders in regards to emotional regualtion
- There is a difficulty downregulating negative emotions
- Overactivity in emotional brian regions
- Impaired PFC functioning
what is theory of mind
guessing how another person is feeling or their intentions
what is theory of mind
where we try to understand someone elses thoughts intentions etc, could be called mentalizing , it is where we attribute our cognitive mind to something else, where we are more likely to see emtoions alongisde the circle trying to escape the famous example
What brain area is linked to mentalizing
- tempoparietal junction also the mPFC
how does mentalizing link to in groups and out groups ?
Generally speaking, the meta-analysis found that thinking about members of our in-group tends to activate brain regions associated with mentalizing, such as the mPFC, more so than thinking about members of our out-group.
