Biological Explanations of Social Cognition
Biological Explanations of Social Cognition
Evidence from study of ‘neurotypicals’
Adolphs (2003) reviewed the brain-scanning evidence in normal human pts and found there was a complex network of structures and pathways involved in various aspects of social cognition. Some key areas include:
- The amygdala – a structure within the temporal lobe of the brain which is important in recognising and interpreting facial emotions in others. It is also involved in organising our emotional responses.
- The parietal cortex – a part of the forebrain, this area is important in our ability to distinguish ourselves from other people, the self-other distinction.
- The frontal cortex – the main part of the human forebrain, vital in bringing information from other parts of the brain to build an integrated picture of our social environment. Therefore, it is also the area involved in social decision making, planning and reasoning.
- Motor-related areas – these are parts of the cortex involved in the control of movement as well as other functions. Important in social cognition are the premotor cortex in the frontal lobe (at the front) and areas in the lower part of the parietal cortex.
IDA link
Although brain scanning can provide a huge amount of information on the brain systems involved in social cognition, there is a great danger of reductionism. Social cognition involves complicated cognitive social and emotional behaviours between people, and so to reduce social cognition down to the level of brain structure and neurons may be too simplified an idea to understand this complex interaction between people.
Evidence from people with autism
Previous evidence indicates that people with autism do not have a theory of mind. Theory of mind overlaps with many areas of social cognition such as the self-other distinction, interpreting social situations. Therefore, we can look at the brains of those people with autism for clues as to the structures involved in their deficient social functioning.
Studies are inconsistent, but some areas often found in abnormal in autism are (Frith, 2001) the amygdala, the frontal cortex, the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the brain.
It is also significant that autism involves a significant genetic factor. Concordance rates for MZ twins range between 36% and 90%,higher than the concordance rate for DZ twins. The early development of imitation shown in newborns is lacking in children who go on to develop autism (Ramachandran and Oberman, 2006). In normal infants, there must be an innate/hardwired ability to map the mother’s facial expression onto its own brain centres controlling facial movement. This innate ability is missing in autism, and it may be part of a genetically controlled abnormality in development.
Link – IDA
There is evidence for a significant genetic factor in autism. Therefore this condition represents an example of the nature-nurture debate in psychology. It may be that children with autism inherit a brain dysfunction that prevents the normal development of social cognition. Opponents of this nature argument however believe that environmental stimulation can help reduce autistic symptoms, which suggests that social cognition may actually be linked to the environment.
Evidence from Psychopathy
The psychopath on tv is usually an aggressive serial killer, however it is in fact described as a range of features which revolve around social cognition. The psychopath manipulates others for their own ends, apparently with no conscience or guilt. A core symptom is a lack of empathy (if we see someone in pain, we recognise how distressed they must feel and we also experience sympathy). Empathy leads us to help people in trouble, but it can also prevent us doing things that hurt others by being able to predict how others will feel.
Psychopaths therefore still have theory of mind, but they seem to lack the link between mentalising and empathising. They can identify the emotions of others, but this does not lead to the feelings of compassion that are fundamental to social cognition. Brain scanning has shown two key structures that seem to function abnormally in psychopathy. These are the amygdale and one part of the frontal cortex, the orbitofrontal area (the part at the very front and bottom of the frontal cortex).