title: Centrality of Social Interaction in Human Brain Function.
abstract: People are embedded in social interaction that shapes their brains throughout lifetime. Instead of emerging from lower-level cognitive functions, social interaction could be the default mode via which humans communicate with their environment. Should this hypothesis be true, it would have profound implications on how we think about brain functions and how we dissect and simulate them. We suggest that the research on the brain basis of social cognition and interaction should move from passive spectator science to studies including engaged participants and simultaneous recordings from the brains of the interacting persons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 15100, FI-00076 AALTO, Espoo, Finland. Electronic address: riitta.hari@aalto.fi.
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hari
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 15100, FI-00076 AALTO, Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 15100, FI-00076 AALTO, Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Sanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 15100, FI-00076 AALTO, Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Lauri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parkkonen
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception