Affective and cooperative social interactions modulate effective connectivity within and between the mirror and mentalizing systems.

ABSTRACT: Decoding the meaning of others' actions, a crucial step for social cognition, involves different neural mechanisms. While the "mirror" and "mentalizing" systems have been associated with, respectively, the processing of biological actions versus more abstract information, their respective contribution to intention understanding is debated. Processing social interactions seems to recruit both neural systems, with a different weight depending on cues emphasizing either shared action goals or shared mental states. We have previously shown that observing cooperative and affective social interactions elicits stronger activity in key nodes of, respectively, the mirror (left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), superior parietal cortex (SPL), and ventral/dorsal premotor cortex (vPMC/dPMC))

SUBMITTER: Arioli M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6866589 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature