Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Apr 10;104(15):6430-5. Epub 2007 Apr 2.

Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior temporal cortex.

Zahn R, Moll J, Krueger F, Huey ED, Garrido G, Grafman J.

Source

National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Cognitive Neuroscience Section, Bethesda, MD 20892-1440, USA.

Abstract

Social concepts such as "tactless" or "honorable" enable us to describe our own as well as others' social behaviors. The prevailing view is that this abstract social semantic knowledge is mainly subserved by the same medial prefrontal regions that are considered essential for mental state attribution and self-reflection. Nevertheless, neurodegeneration of the anterior temporal cortex typically leads to impairments of social behavior as well as general conceptual knowledge. By using functional MRI, we demonstrate that the anterior temporal lobe represents abstract social semantic knowledge in agreement with this patient evidence. The bilateral superior anterior temporal lobes (Brodmann's area 38) are selectively activated when participants judge the meaning relatedness of social concepts (e.g., honor-brave) as compared with concepts describing general animal functions (e.g., nutritious-useful). Remarkably, only activity in the superior anterior temporal cortex, but not the medial prefrontal cortex, correlates with the richness of detail with which social concepts describe social behavior. Furthermore, this anterior temporal lobe activation is independent of emotional valence, whereas medial prefrontal regions show enhanced activation for positive social concepts. Our results demonstrate that the superior anterior temporal cortex plays a key role in social cognition by providing abstract conceptual knowledge of social behaviors. We further speculate that these abstract conceptual representations can be associated with different contexts of social actions and emotions through integration with frontolimbic circuits to enable flexible evaluations of social behavior.

PMID:: 17404215; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID:: PMC1851074

Free PMC Article

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Fig. 2.

(a) Social vs. animal function concepts (ROI analysis, section at x = 59) showed activation of a superior anterior temporal region [BA38; right hemisphere activation greater than left hemisphere activation (right > left); 51, 18, −12, Z = 3.5, surviving P = 0.05 corrected for 360 anterior temporal voxel volume activated by social concepts vs. fixation] and less strongly anterior middle temporal cortex (BA21; right > left; 57, −3, −21, Z = 2.17). (b) Animal function concepts vs. fixation engaged the same anterior middle temporal area (BA21, right > left; 57, −3, −21; Z = 3.62, section at x = 60). This region was also activated by social concepts vs. fixation (BA21, right > left; 54, −3, −21; Z = 4.83, corrected P = 0.001 by using the total 914 voxel volume of the bilateral anterior temporal ROI mask; data not shown). (Note that Z scores for clusters with P values that are < 0.05 and were small-volume-corrected by using a 12-mm sphere around the peak voxel in the whole-brain analysis are bold.) (c) Regions in which activity was higher for social than for animal concepts and that were independently correlated with descriptiveness of social behavior and meaning relatedness: conjunction null analysis for all of these three effects (ROI for display, sagittal at x = 57, and axial views at z = −6) revealed a selective right superior anterior temporal region on a whole-brain basis (BA38; right vs. left; 51, 15, −12; Z = 2.9). (d) Parameter estimates and SEs for descriptiveness of social behavior, meaning relatedness, and domain-specificity (social vs. animal) at right superior anterior temporal, orbitofrontal, and medial prefrontal peak coordinates. (e) Number of individual subjects with activation within middle and superior anterior temporal lobe (aTL) at P = 0.05 for social vs. animal function concepts (right superior aTL, n = 19; right middle aTL, n = 6; other, n = 1) and animal concepts vs. fixation (right superior aTL, n = 0; right middle aTL, n = 22; other, n = 4). Fisher's two-sided exact tests showed that type of contrast (social vs. animal or animal vs. fixation) influenced how many subjects had activations located within the superior aTL or middle aTL, respectively (right, P < 0.0001; left, P < 0.001; see SI Methods).

Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior temporal cortex

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 April 10;104(15):6430-6435.