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What is Social
Cognitive Neuroscience?
Social cognitive
neuroscience (SCN) is an interdisciplinary field that asks questions about topics
traditionally of interest to social psychologists (such as emotion
regulation, attitude change, or stereotyping) using methods traditionally
employed by cognitive neuroscientists (such as functional brain imaging and
neuropsychological patient analysis). By integrating the theories and
methods of its parent disciplines, SCN seeks to understand socioemotional phenomena in terms of interactions
between the social (socioemotional cues,
contexts, experiences, and behaviors), cognitive (information processing
mechanisms), and neural (brain bases) levels of analysis (for discussion
see Ochsner & Lieberman, 2001
or Ochsner,
2007). By contrast, social psychology emphasizes only the first and second, and cognitive neuroscience emphasizes only the
second and third, of these three levels.
Spring 2006 saw the
inception of a new Journal, Social
Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN), dedicated to publishing
Social Cognitive Neuroscience research as well as work in allied areas such
as Affective Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics.
Social Cognitive
Neuroscience at Columbia
University
The Social Cognitive
Neuroscience Lab is located in Columbia
University's Department
of Psychology (MAP),
which is located in the Morningside Heights
Neighborhood of Manhattan’s
Upper West Side The lab shares research space with the
laboratory of Ed Smith, director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab.
Close by in the Department
of Psychology are the labs of Hakwan Lau, Daphna Shohamy,
and Dean Mobbs. Together, the labs of these five faculty comprise the Social/Cognitive/Affective/Neuroscience
Unit (SCAN-U). The
integration of these five laboratories provides a unique research and
training environment for researchers interested in studying the neural
bases of social, cognitive and affective processes.
Functional imaging
resources are available at the fMRI Research Center housed in the Neurological
Institute of New York (upper left on map) on the campus of Columbia University 's medical school. Facilities for conducting TMS
experiments are also available at the Center
Conferences
The next annual meeting
of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society (SAN) will take place in New York City, April
20-21, 2012 with this lab as the local organizer. This meeting will bring together
scientists from all over the world who study the brain mechanisms
underlying social and emotional behaviors.
Please visit the website of the Social and Affective
Neuroscience Society for more information about this year’s
conference, past meetings, and the society more generally.
In the past, the lab
was one of the co-organizers of the annual Social Cognitive Neuroscience Preconferences that preceded annual meetings of the
Society for Personality and Social
Psychology in January and annual meetings of the Cognitive
Neuroscience Society in April. The preconferences
brought together leading researchers conducting social cognitive
neuroscience research investigating the neural systems supporting self
perception, self-regulation, and person perception.
Sample Media and
Scientific Articles about our Science
·
Study on the effects of Botox injections on emotional experience in USA
Today and various local papers, including the Pittsburgh Post
Gazette.
·
Emotion regulation work featured in Wired article on fear by John Lutz of 30 Rock.
·
Work on the regulation of craving in smokers on CNN.com.
·
Wall Street
Journal article and a video
that featuring our research on empathic accuracy.
·
Columbia record article on
our research on empathic accuracy.
·
Appearance on and blog posting for CNBC’s, The
Big Idea With Donny Deutsch.
·
Work on emotion regulation featured in the Wall Street
Journal.
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Article about relationship of our
emotion regulation work to depression.
·
Science article about a study on the deliberate
suppression of memories.
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Articles from TICS and the APA Monitor about
the early years of social cognitive neuroscience research.
·
NYAS
Imaging Emotions eBriefing (A web version of
talk given at NYAS in Feb 2005. To access, click "audio/slides"
to the right of ENTER icon).
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