Human beings evolved in the company of others and flourish in proportion to their positive social ties. To understand the human brain, we must situate its biology in the wider context of society. To understand society, we must also consider how the brains and minds of individuals shape interactions with other human beings. Social Neuroscience offers a comprehensive new framework for studying the brain, human development, and human behavior.

In this book, leading researchers in the fields of neurobiology, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology elucidate the connections between brain biology and the brain’s functioning in the social world, providing a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary explanation of how humans think and act, as well as the ways we define and treat pathological behavior. Synthesizing the insights and perspectives of these experts, Social Neuroscience examines how neural processes make the brain sensitive to social experience, how cognition shapes social behavior, and how social networks create a range of responses among different individuals to the same environmental stimuli.

The mutually reinforcing connections between brain, mind, and society have profound implications for human health, from the emotionally damaging effects of severe social deprivation to the neurological impact of parental abuse and neighborhood violence. The authors explore these connections, with special focus on mental illnesses, including schizophrenia―a disorder characterized by marked social deficits in which a neurological basis is now well established.

Table of Contents

1. Changing Perspectives in Three Disciplines / Russell K. Schutt, Larry J. Seidman, and Matcheri S. Keshavan

The Social Brain

2. The Evolution, Structure, and Functioning of the Social Brain / Matcheri S. Keshavan

3. The Neurology of Human Nature: Implications for the Sociological Analysis of Health and Well- Being/ Jonathan H. Turner

4. In Search of the Functional Neuroanatomy of Social Disturbance in Schizophrenia / Paul G. Nestor, Victoria Choate, and Ashley Shirai

5. Social Neuroscience and Psychopathology: Identifying the Relationship between Neural Function, Social Cognition, and Social Behavior/ Christine I. Hooker

The Social Mind

6. The Mind and Social Cognition/ Larry J. Seidman

7. Social Cognition in Schizophrenia: Where We Are and Where We Are Going/ Junghee Lee. William P. Horan, and Michael F. Green

8. Social Cognition in Those at High Risk of Psychosis / Jean Addington and Mariapaola Barbato

9. Criticism and the Course of Mental Disorders/ Jill M. Hooley

The Social World

10. The Social Brain in a Social World / Russell K. Schutt

11. Linking the Social Brain to the Social World through Network Connections / Bernice A. Pescosolido

12. Functional and Structural Correlates of Early Severe Social Deprivation/ Michael E. Behen and Harry T. Chugani

13. Violence, Cognition, and Neighborhood Inequality in America/ Patrick Sharkey and Robert J. Sampson

14. The Normal Pain of the Social Brain: Confusing Depressive Disorder with Normal Sadness/ Allan V. Horwitz

15. Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Improving the Social Brain and Cognition in Schizophrenia/ Shaun M. Eack and Matcheri S. Keshavan

16. Conclusions/ Russell K. Schutt, Larry J. Seidman, and Matcheri S. Keshavan

Review

“This first-class synthesis of the latest research in neurobiology, sociology, and psychiatry/psychology will be of the greatest interest to both pure scientists and practical clinicians. A new field is being born. Don’t miss it!”―Robert Rosenheck, Professor of Psychiatry and of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine

“A valuable contribution to this new and exciting field, with implications for potentially new solutions to age-old problems of human nature.”―A. Olivera, Choice

About the Authors

Russell K. Schutt is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Lecturer on Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Larry J. Seidman was Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Matcheri S. Keshavan is Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.