Social Brains: Neural Bases of Social Perception and Cognition

9 units · Undergraduate

Intermittent: 9 units By some accounts, the large expansion of the human brain evolved due to the complex demands of dealing with social others?competing or cooperating with them, deceiving or empathizing with them, understanding or misjudging them. This discussion-based seminar surveys the emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience and its multi-level approach to understanding the brain in its social context. We will review current theories and methods guiding the field and recent research examining the neural bases of social processes, including: theory of mind, empathy, emotion, morality, among others. We will also discuss broader questions that apply to the specific topics that the course covers, including: What are appropriate levels of description for the target phenomena? How can different disciplines in neuroscience and the social sciences contribute to social neuroscience research? What can we learn from animals? behavior about human social cognition? Do neural systems exist that are specialized for social cognition, or do the systems that participate in social cognition have more general cognitive functions? Prerequisites: 88-251 or 85-355 or 85-310 or 85-340