Psychology: Mentalizing and Social Cognition

Mentalizing and Introspection

• Mentalizing involves inferring the mental states of others.
• Introspection refers to knowledge about oneself.

Social Cognition Networks

• Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): Associated with motivation, decision-making, conflict monitoring, and cost-benefit analysis.
• Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC): Involved in self-referential processing and subjective feelings.
• Posterior Cingulate Cortex: Important for planning and predictions.
• Medial Parietal Cortex: Plays a role in socio-emotional processing and perception.
• Orbital Frontal Cortex (OFC): Damage leads to inappropriate social behaviors.

Impact of Abuse and Isolation

• Abuse and isolation can impair synaptic plasticity.
• They increase fear, aggression, and anxiety.
• They alter prefrontal cortex function.
• They decrease dopamine and increase serotonin signaling.
• Perception of isolation correlates with Alzheimer's disease risk, lower IQ, and depression.
• They are associated with decreased glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity and increased Default Mode Network (DMN) sensitivity.

Self-Reference Effect

• Information processed in relation to the self is better encoded and recalled (self-reference effect).
• Medial Prefrontal Cortex activity increases during this process.
• Posterior Parietal Cortex is involved in the sense of self.

Default Mode Network (DMN) in Sense of Self

• DMN is active even at rest and particularly involved in the sense of self.
• DMN components include Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Dorsal Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Inferior Parietal Lobule, Retrosplenial Cingulate Cortex, and Temporal Parietal Junction.
• VDIRT is part of DMN, facilitating self-reflection, future actions, current condition evaluation, and considering other beliefs/actions.

Positive Self-Appraisal

• Anterior Cingulate Cortex is crucial for positive self-appraisals.
• Ventral Anterior Cingulate Cortex focuses attention during self-appraisal.
• OFC contributes to accurate self-perception.

Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) and Future Mental States

• vmPFC allows prediction of future mental states of oneself and others, and simulates social scenarios.
• vmPFC activity increases when delaying rewards.
• Damage to the vmPFC impairs the ability to predict likes/dislikes.

Angular Gyrus and Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ)

• Angular Gyrus and TPJ mediate the unity between self and body.
• Stimulating the angular gyrus disrupts this unity.
• TPJ facilitates thinking from another person's perspective and out-of-body experiences.

Autoscopic Hallucinations

• These involve seeing double oneself but not feeling out of body.
• They can result from failures in combining visual, vestibular, proprioceptive, or tactile information.

Infant Brain Development

• Infant occipital cortex shows gamma-range activation during facial expression processing.
• Prefrontal cortex activation occurs in response to eye contact.
• Amygdala response is dampened to prevent negative associations with the mother.
• Noradrenergic system supports rapid olfactory learning development.

Ventral vs. Dorsal Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC)

• Ventral MPFC is active when perceiving self or romantic partner.
• Dorsal MPFC is active when perceiving someone dissimilar to oneself.

Mirror Neuron Network and Amygdala

• Mirror Neuron Network (which includes MPFC, ventrolateral PFC, and Anterior Cingulate Gyrus) connects to amygdala via insula.

Unpleasantness Circuit

• Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Anterior Insula are part of the unpleasantness circuit.

Thinking About Self vs. Others

• Dorsal ACC is active when processing self, but not others.
• Right MPFC is more active when thinking about the self, and left MPFC for others.
• Dorsal Medial Prefrontal Cortex is activated when thinking about the behaviors of others.

Fairness and Pain

• Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex are active in people who are fair and experience pain.
• Nucleus accumbens and Ventral Striatum are activated in males who are cheaters and experience pain.

Emotional Responses to Team Outcomes

• Anterior Cingulate Cortex is active when a favorite team loses.
• Ventral Striatum is active when a rival team loses (schadenfreude).

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTDL)

• FTDL patients often have a lessened vmPFC function, leading to them ranking negative behaviors as more acceptable.

Intentional vs. Accidental Harm

• Amygdala makes associations between intentional and accidental harm.
• TPJ stimulation, implying "no harm, no foul," suppresses amygdala responses to unintentional transgressions.

Cognitive Domains (rule-based vs. personal)

• DLPFC and PFC are associated with rule-based reasoning.
• TPJ and Parietal Cortex are associated with personal interpretation and evaluation.

Social Support

• Social support inhibits amygdala activity, pain/threat detection, opioid release, HPA and SNS activation, and increases vmPFC activity. It also suppresses insula and ACC activity.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

• DMN is consistently offline in ASD.
• Neurons in the hippocampus show immature spines in ASD.

Neurological Damage and Language impairment

• Damage to Broca's area, supplementary motor area, basal ganglia, Thalamus, ACC, OFC, and posterior parietal cortex can affect social functioning and language.

This quiz explores the concepts of mentalizing and introspection, along with their implications for social cognition. It delves into the neural networks involved in these processes and examines the impact of abuse and isolation on mental health. Test your understanding of these critical psychological concepts.