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social cognition

These brain scans shows the impact of oxytocin.

Autism Featured Open Neuroscience Articles

·December 3, 2013·2 min read

A Single Spray of Oxytocin Improves Brain Function in Children with Autism

A single dose of oxytocin can enhance brain activity while processing social information in children with autism, a new study reports.

This shows two heads and clock cog wheels

Autism Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·June 7, 2019·3 min read

Autism linked to less empathy in general population, but that may not be a bad thing

Findings provide new evidence that autism is linked to lower empathy in the general population, and atypical empathy in ASD is not simply due to alexithymia, or emotional blindness. Researchers stress that the lack of empathy may not always be a negative quality.

Image shows the brain regions affected by pregnancy.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 19, 2016·4 min read

Baby Brain: Pregnancy Brain Changes Last 2 Years After Birth

Study reports significant reduction in gray matter volume in brain regions associated with social cognition for up to two years following birth.

Image shows the location of the amygdala in the brain.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Psychology

·June 6, 2017·4 min read

Brain Damage Can Make Sideways Faces More Memorable and Give Us ‘Emotional Blindness’

Research sheds light on how damage to the amygdala affects facial recognition and gaze perception.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 21, 2023·3 min read

Brain Region That Links Language to Social Cognition Identified

Researchers discovered that neural activity in the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL) during sentence processing is tied to social-semantic working memory. Previously, these regions were attributed to general language processing. Using fMRI experiments, the study demonstrated that these regions respond to sentences with social meaning and maintain activity even after the linguistic stimulus is gone. This insight reshapes our understanding of the brain's cortical language network.

Image shows a man undergoing the experiment.

Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·June 8, 2016·6 min read

Differences in Male and Female Brain Activity When it Comes to Cooperation

A new study may provide clues as to how cooperative behavior could have evolved differently between men and women.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 18, 2022·4 min read

Do We Really ‘Lose Our Filter’ as We Age?

From age-related brain shrinkage that may affect our social cognition, to feeling more confident in our own skin, researchers investigate why older people appear to lose their "filter" when it comes to some social interactions.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·October 1, 2018·2 min read

Dog Intelligence ‘Not Exceptional’

Researchers say people may be over estimating the cognitive abilities of dogs. A new study reveals dog intelligence is matched with that of other domestic animals, social hunters and carnivores.

Featured Psychology

·February 27, 2017·5 min read

Dogs and Toddlers Show Similarities in Social Intelligence

A new study reports two year old children and dogs show similar patterns of social intelligence, more so than human children and chimps.

This shows emojis relaying different emotional expressions

Featured Neuroscience

·May 2, 2022·3 min read

Dopamine Involved in Recognizing Emotions

Researchers reveal dopamine, a neurotransmitter commonly associated with reward plays a key role in social cognition and emotional recognition.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 15, 2019·5 min read

Environment, not evolution, might underlie some human-ape differences

A new study sheds doubt on existing theories of ape social cognition. Researchers argue it is possible apes and humans are equally capable in some aspects of social cognition, such as social signaling. The study concludes it is essential to not just consider evolution, but also environmental factors when researching ape-human differences.