Social Cognition through the Lens of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience

Figure 2

Brain networks of social cognition. Meta-analytic evidence for the neural networks underlying social perception (a), action observation (mirror system) (b), and mentalizing (Theory of Mind system) (c). As shown in the bottom sector of the figure, these three networks overlap in the STS, a crucial hub of the social brain providing inputs to both the mirror and mentalizing systems [66]. Reproduced with permission from Yang, Rosenblau, Keifer, and Pelphrey, An Integrative Neural Model of Social Perception, Action Observation, and Theory of Mind, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 51 (2015) 263–275, doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.020.

(a) Social perception

(b) Mirror system

(c) Mentalizing system

(d) Social perception and mirroring and mentalizing