Neural Mechanisms of Social Cognition in Primates.

Activity in a network of areas spanning the superior temporal sulcus, dorsomedial frontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex is concerned with how nonhuman primates negotiate the social worlds in which they live. Central aspects of these circuits are retained in humans. Activity in these areas codes for primates' interactions with one another, their attempts to find out about one another, and their attempts to prevent others from finding out too much about themselves. Moreover, important features of the social world, such as dominance status, cooperation, and competition, modulate activity in these areas. We consider the degree to which activity in these regions is simply encoding an individual's own actions and choices or whether this activity is especially and specifically concerned with social cognition. Recent advances in comparative anatomy and computational modeling may help us to gain deeper insights into the nature and boundaries of primate social cognition.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Annual Review of Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2018-03-21

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061450PMID 29561702PMCID PMC7116801
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• A dedicated network for social interaction processing in the primate brain

  2017influential reference
• Oxytocin under opioid antagonism leads to supralinear enhancement of social attention

  2017cited by this paper
• The effect of face patch microstimulation on perception of faces and objects

  2017cited by this paper
• Primate brain size is predicted by diet but not sociality

  2017cited by this paper
• Social Decision-Making and the Brain: A Comparative Perspective.

  2017cited by this paper
• Causal neural network of metamemory for retrospection in primates

  2017cited by this paper
• Hierarchical prediction errors in midbrain and septum during social learning

  2017cited by this paper
• Social Information Is Integrated into Value and Confidence Judgments According to Its Reliability

  2017cited by this paper
• An Integrative Interdisciplinary Perspective on Social Dominance Hierarchies.

  2017cited by this paper
• How chimpanzees cooperate in a competitive world

  2016cited by this paper
• Predictive decision making driven by multiple time-linked reward representations in the anterior cingulate cortex

  2016influential reference
• The Anterior Cingulate Gyrus and Social Cognition: Tracking the Motivation of Others

  2016cited by this paper
• The anatomy of empathy: Vicarious experience and disorders of social cognition

  2016cited by this paper
• Value, search, persistence and model updating in anterior cingulate cortex

  2016cited by this paper
• What Cognitive Representations Support Primate Theory of Mind?

  2016cited by this paper
• Oxytocin Conditions Intergroup Relations Through Upregulated In-Group Empathy, Cooperation, Conformity, and Defense.

  2016cited by this paper
• Reward-Guided Learning with and without Causal Attribution

  2016cited by this paper
• Dopamine reward prediction-error signalling: a two-component response

  2016cited by this paper
• Intranasal Oxytocin: Myths and Delusions.

  2016cited by this paper
• Neural Basis of Strategic Decision Making.

  2016cited by this paper
• Conceptual Alignment: How Brains Achieve Mutual Understanding.

  2016cited by this paper
• Self-Other Mergence in the Frontal Cortex during Cooperation and Competition

  2016influential reference
• Computations Underlying Social Hierarchy Learning: Distinct Neural Mechanisms for Updating and Representing Self-Relevant Information

  2016cited by this paper
• Performance error-related activity in monkey striatum during social interactions

  2016cited by this paper
• Observational learning computations in neurons of the human anterior cingulate cortex

  2016cited by this paper
• Neural Mechanisms of Credit Assignment in a Multicue Environment

  2016cited by this paper
• Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies.

  2016cited by this paper
• Neurocomputational mechanisms of prosocial learning and links to empathy

  2016cited by this paper
• Neuronal prediction of opponent's behavior during cooperative social interchange in primates.

  2015cited by this paper
• Hierarchical Encoding of Social Cues in Primate Inferior Temporal Cortex.

  2015cited by this paper
• Neural mechanisms of social decision-making in the primate amygdala

  2015cited by this paper
• Connectivity reveals relationship of brain areas for reward-guided learning and decision making in human and monkey frontal cortex

  2015cited by this paper
• Vicarious Reinforcement Learning Signals When Instructing Others

  2015cited by this paper
• Adaptive effort investment in cognitive and physical tasks: a neurocomputational model

  2015cited by this paper
• Contrasting Roles for Orbitofrontal Cortex and Amygdala in Credit Assignment and Learning in Macaques

  2015cited by this paper
• Encoding of Vicarious Reward Prediction in Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Relationship with Trait Empathy

  2015cited by this paper
• Face Patch Resting State Networks Link Face Processing to Social Cognition

  2015cited by this paper
• Spatial gradient in value representation along the medial prefrontal cortex reflects individual differences in prosociality

  2015cited by this paper
• Rudimentary empathy in macaques’ social decision-making

  2015cited by this paper
• Learning-Induced Plasticity in Medial Prefrontal Cortex Predicts Preference Malleability

  2015cited by this paper
• Functional Organization of Social Perception and Cognition in the Superior Temporal Sulcus

  2015influential reference
• Hierarchical control over effortful behavior by rodent medial frontal cortex: A computational model.

  2015cited by this paper
• A common currency for the computation of motivational values in the human striatum.

  2015cited by this paper
• The neurobiology of rewards and values in social decision making

  2014cited by this paper
• Neural correlates of strategic reasoning during competitive games

  2014influential reference
• A Neural Circuit Covarying with Social Hierarchy in Macaques

  2014influential reference
• Multiple Neural Mechanisms of Decision Making and Their Competition under Changing Risk Pressure

  2014cited by this paper
• Capuchins’ (Cebus apella) sensitivity to others’ goal-directed actions in a helping context

  2014cited by this paper
• Neural mechanisms and temporal dynamics of performance monitoring.

  2014cited by this paper
• Theory of Mind: Did Evolution Fool Us?

  2014influential reference
• Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques

  2014cited by this paper
• The orbitofrontal oracle: cortical mechanisms for the prediction and evaluation of specific behavioral outcomes.

  2014cited by this paper
• A role for primate subgenual cingulate cortex in sustaining autonomic arousal

  2014cited by this paper
• Comparison of human ventral frontal cortex areas for cognitive control and language with areas in monkey frontal cortex.

  2014cited by this paper
• Male social bonds and rank predict supporter selection in cooperative aggression in wild Barbary macaques

  2014cited by this paper
• The Anterior Cingulate Gyrus Signals the Net Value of Others' Rewards

  2014cited by this paper
• Prefrontal-parietal function: from foraging to foresight.

  2014cited by this paper
• Report with Reduced Neural Response to Others ’ Pain in Children with Conduct Problems

  2013cited by this paper
• Causal effect of disconnection lesions on interhemispheric functional connectivity in rhesus monkeys

  2013cited by this paper
• Cortical signals for rewarded actions and strategic exploration.

  2013cited by this paper
• Supplemental Information Social Manipulation of Preference in the Human Brain

  2013cited by this paper
• Activity of striatal neurons reflects social action and own reward

  2013cited by this paper
• The role of the midcingulate cortex in monitoring others' decisions

  2013cited by this paper
• The role of the striatum in social behavior

  2013cited by this paper
• Reinforcement learning signals in the anterior cingulate cortex code for others' false beliefs

  2013cited by this paper
• Are there specialized circuits for social cognition and are they unique to humans?

  2013cited by this paper
• Prefrontal mechanisms of behavioral flexibility, emotion regulation and value updating

  2013cited by this paper
• Hierarchical prediction errors in midbrain and basal forebrain during sensory learning.

  2013cited by this paper
• Connectivity profiles reveal the relationship between brain areas for social cognition in human and monkey temporoparietal cortex

  2013cited by this paper
• Imaging Social Motivation: Distinct Brain Mechanisms Drive Effort Production during Collaboration versus Competition

  2013cited by this paper
• On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain”

  2012cited by this paper
• The Neurobiology of the Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Evolution, and the Origin of Insight

  2012cited by this paper
• Inhaled oxytocin amplifies both vicarious reinforcement and self reinforcement in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

  2012cited by this paper
• Confidence in value-based choice

  2012cited by this paper
• The Emergence and Representation of Knowledge about Social and Nonsocial Hierarchies

  2012cited by this paper
• A Meta-analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Self- and Other Judgments Reveals a Spatial Gradient for Mentalizing in Medial Prefrontal Cortex

  2012cited by this paper
• An Agent Independent Axis for Executed and Modeled Choice in Medial Prefrontal Cortex

  2012cited by this paper
• Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex.

  2012cited by this paper
• Neuronal reference frames for social decisions in primate frontal cortex

  2012cited by this paper
• Social and monetary reward learning engage overlapping neural substrates.

  2012cited by this paper
• Learning to simulate others' decisions.

  2012cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of social cognition.

  2012cited by this paper
• Social error monitoring in macaque frontal cortex

  2012cited by this paper
• Modulation of value representation by social context in the primate orbitofrontal cortex

  2012cited by this paper
• The prefrontal cortex: comparative architectonic organization in the human and the macaque monkey brains.

  2012cited by this paper
• Social signals in primate orbitofrontal cortex.

  2012cited by this paper
• Behavior and Social Dynamics of Rhesus Macaques on Cayo Santiago

  2012cited by this paper
• Dissociable neural representations of reinforcement and belief prediction errors underlie strategic learning

  2012cited by this paper
• Monkeys represent others' knowledge but not their beliefs.

  2011cited by this paper
• Social Network Size Affects Neural Circuits in Macaques

  2011influential reference
• Counterfactual Choice and Learning in a Neural Network Centered on Human Lateral Frontopolar Cortex

  2011cited by this paper
• Neuronal basis of sequential foraging decisions in a patchy environment

  2011cited by this paper
• Meta-analytic evidence for common and distinct neural networks associated with directly experienced pain and empathy for pain

  2011cited by this paper
• Online social network size is reflected in human brain structure

  2011cited by this paper
• Relationship between Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Identified Regions and Neuronal Category Selectivity

  2011cited by this paper
• Distinct Roles of Three Frontal Cortical Areas in Reward-Guided Behavior

  2011cited by this paper
• Mindreading Animals: The Debate over What Animals Know about Other Minds

  2011cited by this paper
• The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex

  2011cited by this paper
• Localization of dysfunction in major depressive disorder: prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

  2011cited by this paper
• Ventromedial prefrontal volume predicts understanding of others and social network size

  2011cited by this paper

• Between-species variation in neocortical sulcal anatomy of the carnivoran brain

  2026cites this paper
• Computational origins of cortical brain circuits for social cognition.

  2026cites this paper
• Primate ACC encodes natural vocal interactions in a ‘cocktail party’

  2025cites this paper
• Fundamental features of social environments determine rate of social affiliation

  2025cites this paper
• Neural representations in mPFC and insula encode individual differences in estimating others’ preferences

  2025cites this paper
• Anterior cingulate cortex parvalbumin and somatostatin interneurons shape social behavior in male mice

  2025cites this paper
• Basis functions for complex social decisions in dorsomedial frontal cortex

  2025cites this paper
• Ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions disrupt learning to reward others

  2025cites this paper
• Asymmetric projection of introspection reveals a behavioural and neural mechanism for interindividual social coordination

  2025cites this paper
• Behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying contextual processing in naturalistic short video viewing

  2025cites this paper
• Continuous dynamics of cooperation and competition in social decision-making

  2025cites this paper
• Comparative neuroimaging of the carnivoran brain: Neocortical sulcal anatomy

  2025cites this paper
• Active disambiguation guides inferring controllability and cause in social interactions

  2025cites this paper
• Chronic restraint stress induces depression-like behaviors and alterations in the afferent projections of medial prefrontal cortex from multiple brain regions in mice.

  2024cites this paper
• Husserl’s Layered Theory of Empathy and Theory of Mind

  2024cites this paper
• Major depressive disorder and perceived social support: Moderated mediation model of security and brain dysfunction.

  2024cites this paper
• Role of Prefrontal Cortex Circuitry in Maintaining Social Homeostasis.

  2024cites this paper
• Emotions in multi-brain dynamics: a promising research frontier.

  2024cites this paper
• Controllability and cause in human collaboration

  2024cites this paper
• Moral Learning and Decision-Making Across the Lifespan.

  2024cites this paper
• Closed-loop microstimulations of the orbitofrontal cortex during real-life gaze interaction enhance dynamic social attention.

  2024cites this paper
• Neural representations of vicarious rewards are linked to interoception and prosocial behaviour

  2023cites this paper
• Closed-loop microstimulations of the orbitofrontal cortex during real-life gaze interaction enhance dynamic social attention

  2023cites this paper
• Autism and Religion

  2023cites this paper
• Dissociation of vicarious and experienced rewards by coupling frequency within the same neural pathway.

  2023cites this paper
• A neuro-computational social learning framework to facilitate transdiagnostic classification and treatment across psychiatric disorders.

  2023cites this paper
• Neuronal mechanisms of dynamic strategic competition

  2023cites this paper
• A Hypothalamic Perspective of Human Socioemotional Behavior

  2023cites this paper
• Distinct neural representations for prosocial and self-benefiting effort

  2022cites this paper
• Psychopathic and autistic traits differentially influence the neural mechanisms of social cognition from communication signals

  2022cites this paper
• Beyond the three-chamber test: toward a multimodal and objective assessment of social behavior in rodents

  2022cites this paper
• Learning whom to cooperate with: neurocomputational mechanisms for choosing cooperative partners.

  2022cites this paper
• Teamwork Makes the String Work: A Pilot Test of the Loose String Task with African Crested Porcupines (Hystrix cristata)

  2022cites this paper
• Medial and orbital frontal cortex in decision-making and flexible behavior.

  2022cites this paper
• Neural signatures of individual variability in context-dependent perception of ambiguous facial expression

  2022cites this paper
• Neural representations of vicarious rewards are linked to interoception and prosocial behaviour

  2022cites this paper
• More Than the Face: Representations of Bodies in the Inferior Temporal Cortex.

  2022cites this paper
• Neurocomputations of strategic behavior: From iterated to novel interactions

  2022influential citation
• A specific brain network for a social map in the human brain

  2022cites this paper
• Stronger mentalizing network connectivity in expectant fathers predicts postpartum father-infant bonding and parenting behavior

  2022cites this paper
• A comparative neuroimaging perspective of olfaction and higher-order olfactory processing: on health and disease.

  2021cites this paper
• Impact of internal and external factors on prosocial choices in rhesus macaques

  2021cites this paper
• Social prediction modulates activity of macaque superior temporal cortex

  2021cites this paper
• Learning, exploitation and bias in games

  2021cites this paper
• Seven computations of the social brain

  2021cites this paper
• Face processing of social cognition in patients with first episode psychosis: Its deficits and association with the right subcallosal anterior cingulate cortex

  2021cites this paper
• The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Moderating Neural Representations of Self and Other in Primates.

  2021cites this paper
• Toward a computational theory of social groups: A finite set of cognitive primitives for representing any and all social groups in the context of conflict

  2021cites this paper
• Social and non-social brain areas in risk behaviour: The role of social context.

  2021cites this paper
• Large-scale functional brain networks for consciousness

  2021influential citation
• Viewing Ambiguous Social Interactions Increases Functional Connectivity between Frontal and Temporal Nodes of the Social Brain

  2021cites this paper
• Social preferences correlate with cortical thickness of the orbito-frontal cortex

  2021cites this paper
• Multivariate approaches to social neuroscience Special Issue Seven computations of the social brain

  2021cites this paper
• Causal manipulation of self-other mergence in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex

  2021influential citation
• Neural activity tracking identity and confidence in social information

  2021cites this paper
• Mapping Mentalising in the Brain

  2021cites this paper
• Social agent identity cells in the prefrontal cortex of interacting groups of primates

  2021cites this paper
• Game Theory in Biology: Moving beyond Functional Accounts

  2021cites this paper
• Model-based representational similarity analysis of blood-oxygen-level-dependent fMRI captures threat learning in social interactions

  2021cites this paper
• A role of anterior cingulate cortex in the emergence of worker–parasite relationship

  2021cites this paper
• Joint Attention in Human and Chimpanzee Infants in Varied Socio‐Ecological Contexts

  2021cites this paper
• The dark side of morality: Neural mechanisms underpinning moral convictions and judgments about violence

  2021cites this paper
• Special Issue: Computational Methods in Social Neuroscience Seven computations of the social brain

  2021cites this paper
• Distinct neural representations for prosocial and self-benefitting effort

  2021cites this paper
• The Dark Side of Morality – Neural Mechanisms Underpinning Moral Convictions and Support for Violence

  2020cites this paper
• The effects of reward and social context on visual processing for perceptual decision-making

  2020cites this paper
• Human and macaque pairs employ different coordination strategies in a transparent decision game

  2020cites this paper
• Effects of blocking mGluR5 on primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortical neuronal firing and working memory performance

  2020cites this paper
• Effort shapes social cognition and behaviour: A neuro-cognitive framework.

  2020cites this paper
• Is There a 'Social' Brain? Implementations and Algorithms.

  2020influential citation
• Spatial migration of human reward processing with functional development: Evidence from quantitative meta‐analyses

  2020cites this paper
• Shedding Light on Social Reward Circuitry: (Un)common Blueprints in Humans and Rodents

  2020cites this paper
• University of Birmingham Computational modelling of social cognition and behaviour—a reinforcement learning primer

  2020influential citation
• Inferences on a multidimensional social hierarchy use a grid-like code

  2020cites this paper
• Mapping social reward and punishment processing in the human brain: A voxel-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging findings using the Social Incentive Delay task

  2020cites this paper
• Bayesian modelling captures inter-individual differences in social belief computations in the putamen and insula.

  2020cites this paper
• Computational modelling of social cognition and behaviour—a reinforcement learning primer

  2020influential citation
• Human and macaque pairs coordinate differently in a dyadic decision game with face-to-face action visibility

  2020cites this paper
• Perceived ambiguity of social interactions increases coupling between frontal and temporal nodes of the social brain

  2020cites this paper
• Anatomically precise relationship between specific amygdala connections and selective markers of mental well-being in humans

  2020cites this paper
• Breaking human social decision making into multiple components and then putting them together again.

  2020cites this paper
• Social Cognition and White Matter: Connectivity and Cooperation

  2020cites this paper
• Neural mechanisms of social learning and decision-making

  2020cites this paper
• Prefrontal–amygdala circuits in social decision-making

  2020cites this paper
• Model-free decision making is prioritized when learning to avoid harming others

  2020cites this paper
• Social interaction networks in the primate brain.

  2020cites this paper
• Upward and downward comparisons across monetary and status domains

  2020cites this paper
• Multiple associative structures created by reinforcement and incidental statistical learning mechanisms

  2019cites this paper
• Sulcal organization in the medial frontal cortex reveals insights into primate brain evolution

  2019cites this paper
• Neural signatures of model-free learning when avoiding harm to self and other

  2019cites this paper
• Neural Mechanisms for Accepting and Rejecting Artificial Social Partners in the Uncanny Valley

  2019cites this paper
• Primate Amygdala Neurons Simulate Decision Processes of Social Partners

  2019cites this paper
• Sulcal organization in the medial frontal cortex provides insights into primate brain evolution

  2019cites this paper
• Foraging optimally in social neuroscience: computations and methodological considerations

  2019cites this paper
• Unique allometry of group size and collective brain mass in humans and primates relative to other mammals

  2019cites this paper
• The neural basis of shared preference learning

  2019influential citation
• The evolution and development of the uniquely human capacity for emotional awareness: a synthesis of comparative anatomical, cognitive, neurocomputational, and evolutionary psychological perspectives.

  2019cites this paper
• Shining Light on Social Learning Circuits.

  2018cites this paper
• Neural mechanisms for learning self and other ownership

  2018cites this paper
• Extraordinary Altruism and Transcending the Self.

  2018cites this paper