Centrality of Social Interaction in Human Brain Function

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 181 - 193
• Main Authors: Hari, Riitta, Henriksson, Linda, Malinen, Sanna, Parkkonen, Lauri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 07.10.2015; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Behavior; Brain - physiology; Brain research; Cognition - physiology; Emotions; Grants; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Neurosciences; Robots; Social Behavior; Social interaction; Social Perception; Social skills; Verbal communication
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.022

People are embedded in social interaction that shapes their brains throughout lifetime. Instead of emerging from lower-level cognitive functions, social interaction could be the default mode via which humans communicate with their environment. Should this hypothesis be true, it would have profound implications on how we think about brain functions and how we dissect and simulate them. We suggest that the research on the brain basis of social cognition and interaction should move from passive spectator science to studies including engaged participants and simultaneous recordings from the brains of the interacting persons. Social interaction is central to human behavior and brain function. Hari et al. outline why brain imaging studies of social cognition should incorporate subjects’ active participation and discuss the promises and challenges involved in simultaneous brain imaging of interacting subjects.