New insights into neurocognition provided by brain mapping: Social cognition and theory of mind
Social cognition refers to the mental processes that are used to perceive and process social cues, stimuli, and environments, and has traditionally been studied by social, developmental, and neuropsychologists from conceptual and behavioral perspectives.
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Introduction Social cognition refers to the mental processes that are used to perceive and process social cues, stimuli, and environments, and has traditionally been studied by social, developmental, and neuropsychologists from conceptual and behavioral perspectives. Advances in brain imaging technology within the last two decades have also provided a means of investigating the neural underpinnings of these three interrelated concepts. Researchers from the field of social neurosciences have recently started to map abstract sociocognitive concepts in the brain, and the value and practical applications of this cortical mapping are wide ranging, diverse, and profound. In particular, greater insight into the neural substrates of social cognition is beneficial to medical practice in explaining the sociocognitive deficits that may result from neurosurgical interventions for conditions such as epilepsy and brain tumors. Furthermore, knowledge of the brain regions and circuits that underlie uniquely human social skills can deepen our understanding of neurological and psychiatric illnesses in which the presenting symptoms include socioemotional and sociocognitive deficits, such as in autism or schizophrenia. To illustrate these points, this chapter will focus on two central components of social cognition, theory of mind and moral reasoning, in the context of H. Duffau (ed.), Brain Mapping © Springer-Verlag/Wien 2011
human brain mapping. These concepts will first be defined and distinguished from one another, before we turn to a study of their development and neural substrates. External factors that have bearing on neurocognition, such as culture and gender, will also be highlighted. Lastly, to underscore the importance of these issues for the clinical community, we will illustrate how sociocognitive abilities are affected in a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, what implications such impairments may have for our understanding of neurocognition, and how knowledge of sociocognitive substrates may help inform clinical practice, such as neurosurgery. Scourfield and colleagues [27] define social cognition as “those aspects of higher cognitive function which underlie smooth social interactions by understanding and processing interpersonal cues and planning appropriate responses.” As such, it includes a vast range of functions. Within these, one of the processes most central to appropriate social and emotional functioning is the theory of mind (ToM), or “mentalizing”, which is the ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge) to oneself and others, and to understand that others have mental states that are different from one’ s own. ToM is a subcomponent of social cognition because it refers specifically to inferences about other people’ s mental states and is distinct from oth-
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J. S. Bellerose, M. H. Beauchamp and M. Lassonde
er social cues such as eye gaze and gestures, which can also be used to make judgments in social situations [10]. ToM has been found to influenc
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