Social Cognition in Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Ronja Weiblen ◽  
Melanie Jonas ◽  
Sören Krach ◽  
Ulrike M. Krämer
Keyword(s):  
Tourette Syndrome ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Decision Making System ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Work Done

Abstract. Research on the neural mechanisms underlying Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) has mostly concentrated on abnormalities in basal ganglia circuits. Recent alternative accounts, however, focused more on social and affective aspects. Individuals with GTS show peculiarities in their social and affective domain, including echophenomena, coprolalia, and nonobscene socially inappropriate behavior. This article reviews the experimental and theoretical work done on the social symptoms of GTS. We discuss the role of different social cognitive and affective functions and associated brain networks, namely, the social-decision-making system, theory-of-mind functions, and the so-called “mirror-neuron” system. Although GTS affects social interactions in many ways, and although the syndrome includes aberrant social behavior, the underlying cognitive, affective, and neural processes remain to be investigated.

Language is fundamentally a social affair

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-147
Author(s):  
Justin H. G. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Gestural Communication ◽  
Neuron System ◽  
Social Affair ◽  
Cognitive Context ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage

Perhaps the greatest evolutionary advantage conferred by spoken language was its ability to communicate mentalistic concepts, rather than just extending the vocabulary of action already served by an imitation function. An appreciation that the mirror-neuron system served a simple mentalising function before gestural communication sets Arbib's theory in a more appropriate social cognitive context.

The mirror neuron system in social interactions and schizophrenia

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2111-2111
Author(s):  
T. Kicher
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Body Language ◽  
Neuron System ◽  
The Social

The term social cognition comprises of the perception and cognitive processing of stimuli of the social environment that is necessary to understand one's own behaviour and that of others. Social cognition is important for conscious and unconscious behaviour in social interactions and is composed of the recognition and interpretation of emotions in faces, body language and speech, reflection of one's own mental state and intentions as well as the realization of others’ intentions, thoughts and feelings. The mirror neuron system is involved in empathetic processes. Several aspects of the neural correlates of social interaction, embodiment and the mirror neuron system in schizophrenia and autism will be reported.

scholarly journals The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1644) ◽  
pp. 20130289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Simpson ◽  
Lynne Murray ◽  
Annika Paukner ◽  
Pier F. Ferrari
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Natural Occurrence ◽  
Action Perception ◽  
Neuron System ◽  
Early Action ◽  
Perception System

There is strong evidence that neonates imitate previously unseen behaviours. These behaviours are predominantly used in social interactions, demonstrating neonates' ability and motivation to engage with others. Research on neonatal imitation can provide a wealth of information about the early mirror neuron system (MNS), namely its functional characteristics, its plasticity from birth and its relation to skills later in development. Although numerous studies document the existence of neonatal imitation in the laboratory, little is known about its natural occurrence during parent–infant interactions and its plasticity as a consequence of experience. We review these critical aspects of imitation, which we argue are necessary for understanding the early action–perception system. We address common criticisms and misunderstandings about neonatal imitation and discuss methodological differences among studies. Recent work reveals that individual differences in neonatal imitation positively correlate with later social, cognitive and motor development. We propose that such variation in neonatal imitation could reflect important individual differences of the MNS. Although postnatal experience is not necessary for imitation, we present evidence that neonatal imitation is influenced by experience in the first week of life.

Segregation and the Perpetuation of Disadvantage

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Massey
Keyword(s):  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Mechanisms ◽  
Ethnic Segregation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Racial Ethnic

This article examines how segregation contributes to the perpetuation of disadvantage over time and across generations. It first traces the historical origins of segregation and reviews early substantive and theoretical work done on the subject at the University of Chicago. It then considers the most commonly used measure of segregation as well as the social mechanisms by which residential segregation is produced, with particular emphasis on the paradigmatic case of African Americans in the twentieth century. It also discusses newer mechanisms that have been advanced to promote racial-ethnic segregation in the twenty-first century and how it fosters socioeconomic inequality through the spatial concentration of poverty. Finally, it describes current levels and trends with respect to both racial and class segregation in cities around the world.

scholarly journals Associative learning alone is insufficient for the evolution and maintenance of the human mirror neuron system

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay M. Oberman ◽  
Edward M. Hubbard ◽  
Joseph P. McCleery
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Neuron System ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Neuroscience ◽  
Species Comparisons

AbstractCook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate from associative learning processes, without evolutionary influence from social-cognitive mechanisms. We disagree with this claim and present arguments based upon cross-species comparisons, EEG findings, and developmental neuroscience that the evolution of mirror neurons is most likely driven simultaneously and interactively by evolutionarily adaptive psychological mechanisms and lower-level biological mechanisms that support them.

scholarly journals Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the Social Brain: Affect-Related Disruption of the Default and Mirror Networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Tan ◽  
Lisa J. Burklund ◽  
Michelle G. Craske ◽  
Matthew D. Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Social Inference ◽  
The Social

AbstractBackgroundSocial impairments, specifically in mentalizing and emotion recognition, are common and debilitating symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this, little is known about the neural underpinnings of these impairments, as there have been no published neuroimaging investigations of social inference in PTSD.MethodsTrauma-exposed veterans with and without PTSD (N = 20 each) performed the Why/How social inference task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The PTSD group had two fMRI sessions, between which they underwent affect labeling training. We probed the primary networks of the “social brain”—the default mode network (DMN) and mirror neuron system (MNS)—by examining neural activity evoked by mentalizing and action identification prompts, which were paired with emotional and non-emotional targets.ResultsHyperactivation to emotional stimuli differentiated PTSD patients from controls, correlated with symptom severity, and predicted training outcomes. Critically, these effects were generally non-significant for non-emotional stimuli. PTSD-related effects were widely distributed throughout DMN and MNS. Effects were strongest in regions associated with the dorsal attention, ventral attention, and frontoparietal control networks. Unexpectedly, effects were non-significant in core affect regions.ConclusionsThe array of social cognitive processes subserved by DMN and MNS may be inordinately selective for emotional stimuli in PTSD. This selectivity may be tightly linked with attentional processes, as effects were strongest in attention-related regions. Putatively, we propose an attentional account of social inference dysfunction in PTSD, in which affective attentional biases drive widespread affect-selectivity throughout the social brain. This account aligns with numerous findings of affect-biased attentional processing in PTSD.

Social Cognitive Bias

2018 ◽  
pp. 110-132
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Ingroup Bias ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Decision Making

Within social psychology and sociology there is a field of study in charge of studying how the social group affects the individual in all areas. In fact, several studies have found that the social decision-making process can be influenced by cognitive biases. This fields establishes two large categories of social groups called ingroup and outgroup depending on whether individuals are part of this group or not. Therefore, an ingroup is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an outgroup is a social group with which an individual does not identify. Moreover, the psychological membership of social groups and categories can be related with different aspects such as race, profession, religion, among others, so that individuals can categorize themselves and others in different ways, usually dependent on the context. This categorization that individuals do based in the pertinence to a group and the influence of the group on the person reproduce in the person social cognitive biases that can lead to erroneous decisions. Within these biases the best known is the ingroup bias. This chapter explores some of these social biases and how they influence the decision-making process.

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