The social brain: allowing humans to boldly go where no other species has been - PubMed (original) (raw)

The social brain: allowing humans to boldly go where no other species has been

Uta Frith et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2010.

Abstract

The biological basis of complex human social interaction and communication has been illuminated through a coming together of various methods and disciplines. Among these are comparative studies of other species, studies of disorders of social cognition and developmental psychology. The use of neuroimaging and computational models has given weight to speculations about the evolution of social behaviour and culture in human societies. We highlight some networks of the social brain relevant to two-person interactions and consider the social signals between interacting partners that activate these networks. We make a case for distinguishing between signals that automatically trigger interaction and cooperation and ostensive signals that are used deliberately. We suggest that this ostensive signalling is needed for 'closing the loop' in two-person interactions, where the partners each know that they have the intention to communicate. The use of deliberate social signals can serve to increase reputation and trust and facilitates teaching. This is likely to be a critical factor in the steep cultural ascent of mankind.

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Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Observation of biological motion elicits activity in STS. The schematic figure shows regions where observation of many different kinds of biological motion elicits activity along STS (adapted from Allison, Puce & McCarthy, Trends Cogn. Sci. 2000).

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Areas of activity elicited by watching triangles whose movements evoke attributions of intentions. Activity is seen in extra-striate areas (a and b) specific to the visual nature of the stimuli as well as in (a) temporal pole, (c) STS and (d) medial prefrontal cortex, regions where activity has been elicited by a wide range of tasks evoking mentalizing. The diagram (e) contrasts activity in these areas in volunteers with Asperger's syndrome (dark blue) and controls (light blue). Asperger individuals showed less activity in areas associated with mentalizing: basal temporal, STS, medial prefrontal, but not extra-striate regions (based on data from Castelli et al. 2002).

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Motor resonance is modified by social interaction. Magnetoencephalography signals were measured while volunteers watched a video of an actor moving their left or right arm up and down (lower panel). Oscillations in the alpha-frequency range were relatively greater in parietal cortex contralateral to the hand being observed (middle panels), but only when the actor was facing the observer (adapted from Kilner, Marchant & Frith, Soc. Cogn. Affect Neurosci. 2006).

Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Activity is elicited in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) by the experience of pain in the self (green line in graph on right) and by a signal indicating that a loved one is receiving pain (red line in graph on right) (adapted from Singer et al., Science 2004).

Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Activity is elicited when volunteers play the inspector game. The upper panel (a) shows activity elicited in left and right STS when the opponents' move is not what the players expect on the basis of how much influence they think they are exerting on their opponents. The lower panel (b) shows that there is more activity in medial prefrontal cortex in players who base their strategy on working out how much influence they have on their opponents. Yellow: p < 0.001; light orange: p < 0.05; dark orange p < 0.01. Adapted from Hampton, Bossaerts & O'Doherty, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 2008. Copyright (2008) National Academy of Sciences, USA.

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