The human social cognitive network contains multiple regions within the amygdala.

ABSTRACT: Reasoning about someone's thoughts and intentions-i.e., forming a "theory of mind"-is a core aspect of social cognition and relies on association areas of the brain that have expanded disproportionately in the human lineage. We recently showed that these association zones comprise parallel distributed networks that, despite occupying adjacent and interdigitated regions, serve dissociable functions. One network is selectively recruited by social cognitive processes. What circuit properties differentiate these parallel networks? Here, we show that social cognitive association areas are intrinsically and selectively connected to anterior regions of the medial temporal lobe that are implicated in emotional learning and social behaviors, including the amygdala at or near the basolateral complex

SUBMITTER: Edmonds D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11584017 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature