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Review
. 2009 Dec;32(12):603-10.
doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2009.09.001. Epub 2009 Sep 24.

An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning

Aron K Barbey  1 , Frank Krueger, Jordan Grafman
Affiliations
Review

An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning

Aron K Barbey et al. Trends Neurosci. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Recent progress in cognitive neuroscience highlights the involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in social cognition. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that representations within the lateral PFC enable people to coordinate their thoughts and actions with their intentions to support goal-directed social behavior. Despite the importance of this region in guiding social interactions, remarkably little is known about the functional organization and forms of social inference processed by the lateral PFC. Here, we introduce a cognitive neuroscience framework for understanding the inferential architecture of the lateral PFC, drawing upon recent theoretical developments in evolutionary psychology and emerging neuroscience evidence about how this region can orchestrate behavior on the basis of evolutionarily adaptive social norms for obligatory, prohibited and permissible courses of action.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Integrative anatomy of the macaque monkey prefrontal cortex (PFC). Numbers refer to subregions within the lateral PFC defined by Brodmann. Modified with permission from Reference [51].
Figure 2
Figure 2
An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning. (a) The functional organization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is symmetric in both hemispheres is summarized (b), (c) and (d) illustrate supportive evidence. Panels (b) and (d) illustrate the left hemisphere, and panel (c) depicts the right hemisphere.
Figure 2
Figure 2
An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning. (a) The functional organization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is symmetric in both hemispheres is summarized (b), (c) and (d) illustrate supportive evidence. Panels (b) and (d) illustrate the left hemisphere, and panel (c) depicts the right hemisphere.
Figure 2
Figure 2
An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning. (a) The functional organization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is symmetric in both hemispheres is summarized (b), (c) and (d) illustrate supportive evidence. Panels (b) and (d) illustrate the left hemisphere, and panel (c) depicts the right hemisphere.
Figure 2
Figure 2
An evolutionarily adaptive neural architecture for social reasoning. (a) The functional organization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is symmetric in both hemispheres is summarized (b), (c) and (d) illustrate supportive evidence. Panels (b) and (d) illustrate the left hemisphere, and panel (c) depicts the right hemisphere.
Figure Box 1
Figure Box 1
Ontogenetic map of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) according to Flechsig [90]. The numeration of the areas indicates the order of their myelination. Modified with permission from Reference [90].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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