Social cognition in normal and pathological aging

Abstract

The concept of social cognition refers to a set of skills and to emotional and social experiences regulating relationships between individuals. This concept is appropriate in order to help us to explain individual human behaviours and behaviours in groups. Social cognition involves social knowledge, perception and processing of social cues, and the representation of mental states. The concept of social cognition thus refers to a multitude of skills. This paper stops on several of them, namely theory of mind, empathy, moral reasoning, emotional processing and emotional regulation. We propose a conceptual approach to each of these skills also stopping on their cerebral underpinnings. We also make an inventory of knowledge about the effects of age and neurodegenerative diseases on social cognition.

Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases; normal aging; social cognition.