From context to cortex: Discovering social neurons

The existence of new â?'socialâ'' neurons has just been demonstrated by scientists from the Institut de neurosciences des systèmes (Aix-Marseille University / INSERM), the Laboratoire de psychologie sociale et cognitive (Université Clermont Auvergne / CNRS), and the Institut de neurosciences de la Timone (Aix-Marseille University / CNRS). Their research on monkeys has shown that when these animals are made to perform a task, the presence or absence of a conspecificâ?'that is, another monkeyâ''determines which neurons are activated. Published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience , these findings broaden our knowledge of the social brain and help us better grasp the phenomenon of social facilitation. Understanding how the brain functions within a social context is a major challenge facing neuroscientists. Through their unique multidisciplinary collaboration, a primate neurophysiologist and an experimental social psychologist have now discovered two new classes of neurons in the prefrontal cortex: social and asocial neurons. Most areas of the brain are associated with specific tasks. Some are specialized in the processing of information related to life in society: they make up the so-called social brain.