Neural basis of social interaction



Dartmouth Study Finds How the Brain Interprets the Intent of Others
Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs · Press Release
Posted 02/16/06 · Susan Knapp (603) 646-3661

Research is aimed at the neural basis of human social interactions
Two Dartmouth researchers have learned more about how the human brain
interprets the actions and intentions of others.

Scott Grafton, professor of psychological and brain sciences, and
Antonia Hamilton, a post-doctoral fellow, have learned that the brain's
parietal cortex handles how we understand the goals of other people's
actions. Their study was published on January 25 by The Journal of
Neuroscience.


Antonia Hamilton (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
"We were able to find the part of the brain involved in interpreting
the goal of another person, even if no words are spoken," says
Hamilton. "When you see another person reach for an object that they
want, like a cookie, a bit of brain called the anterior intraparietal
sulcus, which is found in the parietal lobe, is strongly activated."

She explains that their result is surprising because many would have
predicted that the frontal cortex, normally associated with language
and understanding, would be activated in this situation, not the
parietal cortex, usually thought to be involved with space and
movement. Also, Hamilton says that with this study, they have shown
it's possible to localize abstract things, like goals, in the brain.

"So, as we learn more about how the brain responds to seeing other
people do things, we can start to understand the neural basis of human
social interactions. This may help us understand what goes wrong in
impaired social interactions, like in children with autism, who
sometimes fail to interpret actions correctly."

The study involved twenty participants who watched a series of short
movies, shown in a random order, while their brain activity was
measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The movies
depicted a hand reaching, grasping, and taking one of two objects. For
example, a hand takes a cookie or takes a computer disk. The
participants then answered yes or no questions that elicited their
understanding of the goals involved of the actions represented in
movies.

The study was funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the
National Institutes of Health.



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