Sadato Norihiro
Department of Cerebral Research, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
Nihon Shinkei Seishin Yakurigaku Zasshi. 2012 Nov;32(5-6):299-303.
Social cognition is defined as the capacity to engage in information processing with the aim of accurate cognition of other persons' character or intentions. Development of social cognition can be observed in behavioral patterns. However, their neural basis remains largely unknown. A functional neuroimaging technique has enabled us to observe neural activities in the human brain noninvasively. First the principle and history of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and its future perspective are introduced. As an example, presented is our attempt to apply simultaneous fMRI measurements of two individuals to elucidate the neural basis of joint attention, one of the most important behavioral milestones in the development of social cognition. Second, neural substrates of pro-social behavior are discussed. Specifically, it was found that social acceptance or praise is important for human altruistic behavior, and has a neural basis similar to that of basic reward or monetary reward. Lastly, I stress the importance of combining current and ongoing progress in neuroscience, from the 'micro' through 'macro' levels, with scholarship within the humanities. As a connecting node for the different research fields, functional neuroimaging techniques will play a critical for the ultimate goal of comprehensive understanding of human social cognition.
社会认知被定义为以准确认知他人性格或意图为目的进行信息处理的能力。社会认知的发展可以在行为模式中观察到。然而，其神经基础在很大程度上仍然未知。一种功能性神经成像技术使我们能够非侵入性地观察人类大脑中的神经活动。首先介绍功能磁共振成像（fMRI）的原理、历史及其未来前景。作为一个例子，展示了我们尝试对两个人同时进行fMRI测量，以阐明共同注意的神经基础，共同注意是社会认知发展中最重要的行为里程碑之一。其次，讨论亲社会行为的神经基础。具体而言，发现社会接纳或赞扬对人类利他行为很重要，并且其神经基础与基本奖励或金钱奖励的神经基础相似。最后，我强调将神经科学从“微观”到“宏观”层面的当前及正在取得的进展与人文领域的学术研究相结合的重要性。作为不同研究领域的连接节点，功能性神经成像技术对于全面理解人类社会认知这一最终目标将发挥关键作用。
