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Neuropsychology's Social Landscape: Common Ground With Neuropsychology © 2017 American Psychological Association 2017, Vol. 31, No. 8, 981–1002 0894-4105/17/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0000395 Neuropsychology’s Social Landscape: Common Ground With Social Neuroscience Miriam H. Beauchamp University of Montreal and Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Canada Looking back 25 years into neuropsychology’s past coincides almost perfectly with the birth of social neuroscience as a discipline. Social neuroscience aims to identify the biological bases of social behavior through multilevel analyses of neural, cognitive, and social processes. Neuropsychology, on the other hand, aspires to understand brain-behavior relationships more generally. Given that much of human behavior comprises social interactions, the goals, theories, methods, and findings derived from social neuroscience are likely to have bearing on the issues and interests of neuropsychologists. This review summarizes some of the main developments that have emerged from social neuroscience and their relevance to neuropsychology. Applications of social neuroscience principles are presented in the context of brain insult, assessment, and intervention. Recommendations are made for improving neuropsycho- logical approaches to the evaluation of social cognition and competence. In closing, a discussion of the challenges and possible future directions for the 2 disciplines is offered. General Scientific Summary Neuropsychology and social neuroscience share some common goals and methods. In this review, the contributions of social neuroscience to neuropsychological research and practice are considered and applications of social neuroscience findings to the study of brain disorders, assessment, and intervention are discussed, alongside recommendations for the joint evolution of the 2 disciplines. Keywords: neuropsychology, social neuroscience, social cognition, behavior, assessment Humans are a uniquely social species and as such, an over- in turn led to an appreciation for the cognitive skills it subsumes whelming proportion of our behavioral manifestations have to do and an interest in describing “Social Cognition” in typical devel- with social interaction and navigating complex social environ- opment, as well as in the context of acquired, developmental, and ments. Neuropsychologists have observed and reported social and degenerative brain insult. This shift toward understanding and emotional disturbance throughout the history of the discipline, quantifying social cognition and social competence leads to a though until relatively recently, neuropsychological theories and number of questions for experimental and clinical neuropsycholo- methods have focused mainly on defining core cognitive functions gists. What and how can social neuroscience contribute to neuro- such as attention, memory, and executive skills. In the last 25 psychology? Do fundamental social neuroscience discoveries have years, the field of neuropsychology has become increasingly fo- practical utility within neuropsychology? What does neuropsy- cused on brain-behavior relationships within the social realm. This chology have to gain from social neuroscience? And what does the recent emphasis has likely stemmed from the emergence of social future hold for the joint evolution of these two disciplines? neuroscience as a discipline, from an interest in furthering our This review seeks to summarize major discoveries in social understanding of the social manifestations of brain disorders such neuroscience and describe their importance for neuropsychology. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedas publishers. autism, and from the assertion that social and affective pro- It does not presume to do justice to the rich history of either This article is intended solely for the personal use ofcesses the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. and behaviors can be reliably linked to specialized brain discipline, and detailed accounts of each would be beyond the networks. These discoveries pertaining to the “Social Brain” have scope of a single article. Thus, in many instances, the reader is referred to existing reviews of relevant topics. The present article includes references to both affective and social–cognitive pro- This work was supported by a Fonds de la recherché en santé du Québec cesses insomuch as they relate to social functioning, recognizing career fellowship to Miriam H. Beauchamp. The author is grateful for the that while there is considerable overlap between social and emo- constructive comments provided by Keith Yeates and Lyn Turkstra on a tional functioning and their neural substrates (Adolphs & Ander- preliminary version of the manuscript. Thank you to Cindy Beaudoin, son, 2013; Barrett & Satpute, 2013), the two cannot simply be Anne Seni and Catherine Landry-Roy for their assistance with the content equated and that affective neuroscience constitutes its own sub- and preparation of the boxes and figures. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miriam H. discipline within the neurosciences (see Davidson & Sutton, 1995; Beauchamp, Department of Psychology, University of Montreal and Ste- Verweij et al., 2015). Similarly, the longstanding tradition of Justine Hospital Research Center, C.P. 6128 Succursale Centre-Ville, Mon- neuropsychological investigation of mood disorders and socio- tréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7. E-mail: [email protected] emotional manifestations within developmental, acquired, or de- 981 982 BEAUCHAMP generative conditions should not be overlooked (Anderson, neuroscience” was coined by J. T. Cacioppo and Bernston (1992) Bechara, Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 1999; Beblo, Sinnamon, & to define an “interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how Baune, 2011; Borod, 2000; Eslinger, Flaherty-Craig, & Benton, biological systems implement social processes and behavior” (J. T. 2004; Stuss & Levine, 2002; Suchy, 2011); the focus here is on Cacioppo et al., 2010, p. 5). An in-depth examination of the social and affective topics in the context of the emergence and history, definition, and innovations of social neuroscience as a evolution of social neuroscience. The aim, therefore, is to explore discipline is provided by Matusall and colleagues (2011),inthe the associations between social neuroscience and neuropsychology highly relevant Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience. Al- by describing the major advances of the former, and to reflect on though social neuroscience feeds directly on aspects of interest to their potential for advancing experimental and clinical neuropsy- social psychologists, such as intrapersonal processes (e.g., social chology, in particular with respect to the study of brain disorders perception, social cognition) and interpersonal and group pro- and the development of assessment and intervention methods. cesses (e.g., social interaction and influence), it is distinguishable Challenges are described and future directions are proffered to by its emphasis on biological factors of influence rather than stimulate reflection on the positive influences the two disciplines situational and dispositional factors. The field is characterized by can have on one another. its multilevel, integrative approach, which requires consideration of both social and biological levels of organization to understand Neuropsychology and Social Neuroscience’s Silver social phenomena. Ochsner and Lieberman (2001) subsequently Anniversary: 25 Years of Common Ground coined the term “social cognitive neuroscience” to define an in- terdisciplinary approach that integrates knowledge across social, Neuropsychology “seeks to understand the relationship between cognitive, and neural levels. Whether social cognitive neurosci- the brain and behavior, that is, it attempts to explain the way in ence constitutes a subspeciality or a distinct research field is which the activity of the brain is expressed in observable behavior” debatable, but regardless of its source and traditions, social cog- (Beaumont, 2008, p. 4). Details of the evolution of the discipline nitive neuroscience is of special importance to neuropsychology are provided elsewhere (e.g., Beaumont, 2008; Puente, 1989), but because of its focus on human social cognition. Despite its short some of its founding principles are worth highlighting because of history, the field has evolved rapidly, with countless position their relevance to social neuroscience and its methods. For in- articles published on its evolution and the challenges and future of stance, localizationist theory emerged in the 1860s from the study the field (e.g., Adolphs, 2003a, 2010; Blakemore, Winston, & of patients with brain lesions and associated psychological deficits, Frith, 2004; J. T. Cacioppo, 2002; Lieberman, 2012; Ochsner, and led to the practice of mapping brain-behavior relationships, a 2004; Singer, 2012). Its exponential growth as a discipline is focus that initially defined neuropsychology and that contributed further reflected in the emergence of subfields, including social to its recognition as a discipline in the 1940s (Ruff, 2003). Nota- cognitive neuroscience, social affective neuroscience, cultural neu- bly, the practice of inferring brain-behavior relations was in place roscience, computational social neuroscience, social developmen- well before the era of neuroimaging and created ties between tal neuroscience, and comparative social neuroscience. neuropsychology and behavioral neurology because
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