This course will provide a broad overview of social neuroscience. We will consider how social processes are implemented at the neural level, but also how neural mechanisms help give rise to social phenomena and cultural experiences. Many believe that the large expansion of the human brain evolved due to the complex demands of dealing with social others—competing or cooperating with them, deceiving or empathizing with them, understanding or misjudging them. What kind of “social brain” has this evolutionary past left us with? In this course, we will review core principles, theories and methods guiding social neuroscience, and research examining the brain basis of social processes, including theory of mind; empathy; emotion; reading faces, bodies, and voices; morality; among others. Overall, this course will introduce students to the field of social neuroscience and its multi-level approach to understanding the brain in its social context.

Psychology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks