New article on increased network integration for complex social cognition

In a new meta-analytic connectivity modeling study, Lara Maliske, Matthias Schurz, and Philipp Kanske investigated how neural network interaction patterns associated with empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) are dynamically modulated by the social context of an experimental task. Building on the results of a previous meta-analysis, the authors examined how the connectivity patterns of individual brain regions were altered by the type of social-affective or -cognitive task that was performed. Classical empathy and complex naturalistic social cognition tasks, but not classical ToM tasks, showed enhanced interaction of empathy and ToM networks. The results highlight the complexity of neural representations of naturalistic social cognitive processes, and suggest the importance of network integration as a mechanism in complex social cognition. You can read the article here.