Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have collaborated for more than a decade with the common goal of understanding how the mind works. These collaborations have helped unravel puzzles of the mind, including aspects of perception, imagery, attention, and memory. Many aspects of the mind, however, require a more comprehensive approach to reveal the mystery of mind-brain connections. Attraction, altruism, speech recognition, affiliation, attachment, attitudes, identification, kin recognition, cooperation, competition, empathy, sexuality, communication, dominance, persuasion, obedience, morality, contagion, nurturance, violence, and person memory are just a few. Through classic and contemporary articles and reviews, "Social Neuroscience: Key Readings" illustrates the complementary nature of social, cognitive, and biological levels of analysis and how research integrating these levels can foster more comprehensive theories of the mechanisms underlying complex behavior and the mind.

Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have collaborated for more than a decade with the common goal of understanding how the mind works. These collaborations have helped unravel puzzles of the mind, including aspects of perception, imagery, attention, and memory. Many aspects of the mind, however, require a more comprehensive approach to reveal the mystery of mind-brain connections. Attraction, altruism, speech recognition, affiliation, attachment, attitudes, identification, kin recognition, cooperation, competition, empathy, sexuality, communication, dominance, persuasion, obedience, morality, contagion, nurturance, violence, and person memory are just a few. Through classic and contemporary articles and reviews, Social Neuroscience: Key Readings illustrates the complementary nature of social, cognitive, and biological levels of analysis and how research integrating these levels can foster more comprehensive theories of the mechanisms underlying complex behavior and the mind.

A textbook that lays down the foundational principles for understanding social neuroscience Humans, like many other animals, are a highly social species. But how do our biological systems implement social behaviors, and how do these processes shape the brain and biology? Spanning multiple disciplines, Introduction to Social Neuroscience seeks to engage students and scholars alike in exploring the effects of the brain's perceived connections with others. This wide-ranging textbook provides a quintessential foundation for comprehending the psychological, neural, hormonal, cellular, and genomic mechanisms underlying such varied social processes as loneliness, empathy, theory-of-mind, trust, and cooperation. Stephanie and John Cacioppo posit that our brain is our main social organ. They show how the same objective relationship can be perceived as friendly or threatening depending on the mental states of the individuals involved in that relationship. They present exercises and evidence-based findings readers can put into practice to better understand the neural roots of the social brain and the cognitive and health implications of a dysfunctional social brain. This textbook's distinctive features include the integration of human and animal studies, clinical cases from medicine, multilevel analyses of topics from genes to societies, and a variety of methodologies. Unveiling new facets to the study of the social brain's anatomy and function, Introduction to Social Neuroscience widens the scientific lens on human interaction in society. The first textbook on social neuroscience intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students Chapters address the psychological, neural, hormonal, cellular, and genomic mechanisms underlying the brain's perceived connections with others Materials integrate human and animal studies, clinical cases, multilevel analyses, and multiple disciplines

It has been over 10 years since we initiated work on our first series of collaborative experiments. As graduate students, we had great fun planning, conducting, and writing this research (Petty & Cacioppo, 1977). We enjoyed arguing with each other at our initial meeting in 1973 and have sub sequently become best friends, but neither of us suspected at the time that we would or could actively maintain a research collaboration over the next decade, or that we would now find ourselves in a position to write this monograph. As we note in Chapter 1, we began our studies of persuasion at a time when social psychology was in "crisis," and interest in research on attitude change in particular was declining. As we write this, we are aware of six new volumes on persuasion that are in press or in preparation and that should appear over the next few years. In retrospect, it is not so surprising that research on attitudes and persuasion would reemerge as a central concern of social psychology. We believe that human feelings, beliefs, and behaviors, whether in the domain of interpersonal relations (e. g. , marriage, aggression), politics (e. g. , voting, revolution), health (e. g. , following a medical regimen), or economics (e. g. , consumer purchases) are greatly influenced by the evaluations people have of other people, objects, and issues. Furthermore, evaluations (attitudes) are influenced by affect, cognition, and behavior.

University of Chicago social neuroscientist John T. Cacioppo unveils his pioneering research on the startling effects of loneliness: a sense of isolation or social rejection disrupts not only our thinking abilities and will power but also our immune systems, and can be as damaging as obesity or smoking. A blend of biological and social science, this book demonstrates that, as individuals and as a society, we have everything to gain, and everything to lose, in how well or how poorly we manage our need for social bonds.

Warum wir Gesellschaft so sehr brauchen

Ist Einsamkeit vielleicht ein viel ernsteres Problem, als wir bisher dachten? John T. Cacioppos bahnbrechende Forschungsarbeiten zu diesem Thema bilden den Ausgangspunkt fur dieses Buch, das nicht nur darstellt, welche uberraschenden Auswirkungen jene allzu menschlich erscheinende Erfahrung hat, sondern dem Leser auch eine ganz neue Vorstellung davon vermittelt, welche Bedeutung soziale Einbindung fur uns Menschen hat und wie sie uns vor schmerzlicher Isolation schutzen kann. Cacioppo greift bei seinen Untersuchungen auf bildgebende Verfahren ebenso zuruck wie auf die Analyse von Blutdruck, Immunreaktionen, Stresshormonspiegeln, Verhaltensweisen und genetischen Faktoren. Seine Befunde zeigen, wie intensiv Menschen miteinander in Verbindung stehen und wie abhangig sie physiologisch wie psychologisch voneinander sind Erkenntnisse, fur die uns aufgrund unserer kulturellen Vorgaben der Blick lange verstellt war.

Cacioppo vermittelt seine Botschaft mit Nachdruck: Anhaltende Einsamkeit kann ebenso schadlich fur unsere Gesundheit sein wie Rauchen oder Ubergewicht. Doch belegen seine Arbeiten auch die therapeutische Kraft der sozialen Einbindung und verdeutlichen, wie jeder deren heilende Wirkung auf sich selbst anwenden kann.

Gemeinsam mit dem Wissenschaftsautor William Patrick spurt Cacioppo im vorliegenden Buch der Evolution dieser gegensatzlichen Krafte nach und zeigt, dass das Uberleben unserer fruhen Vorfahren nicht von grosserer Muskelkraft, sondern von einem starkeren Zusammenhalt untereinander abhing. Der Schmerz der Einsamkeit soll so seine Ursprungsfunktion uns dazu bringen, an beeintrachtigten Beziehungen zu arbeiten. Daraus entwickelte sich eine machtvolle, ja geradezu zerstorerische Furcht so stark, dass ein anhaltendes Gefuhl des Zuruckgewiesenwerdens noch heute, Jahrmillionen spater, die DNA-Transkription in den Zellen unseres Immunsystems beeintrachtigen kann. Unser Denken, unsere Willenskraft und unser Durchhaltevermogen leiden darunter ebenso wie unsere Fahigkeit, soziale Signale zu deuten und unsere sozialen Fertigkeiten anzuwenden. Ein solches Gefuhl schrankt zudem unsere Fahigkeit zur emotionalen Selbstregulation ein. All das kann letztlich zu abwehrenden Verhaltensweisen fuhren, die wiederum die von uns gefurchtete Isolation und Ablehnung noch verstarken.

"Einsamkeit" zeigt, wie wir diesem Teufelskreis entrinnen konnen, um gesunder und glucklicher zu werden. Auch die Gesellschaft kann davon profitieren, denn grosseres soziales Vertrauen bewirkt sozialen Zusammenhalt und Wohlstand.

Nicht zuletzt fuhrt uns "Einsamkeit" auch vor Augen, wie irrational stark unsere Kultur auf Wettbewerb und Individualismus fokussiert ist; Familie und Gemeinschaft werden dabei oft vernachlassigt. Das Buch lehrt uns, dass es selbst bei Themen wie Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden des Individuums keineswegs ausreicht, nur die Einzelperson zu betrachten."

The Handbook of Psychophysiology has been the authoritative resource for more than a quarter of a century. Since the third edition was published a decade ago, the field of psychophysiological science has seen significant advances, both in traditional measures such as electroencephalography, event-related brain potentials, and cardiovascular assessments, and in novel approaches and methods in behavioural epigenetics, neuroimaging, psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, neuropsychology, behavioural genetics, connectivity analyses, and non-contact sensors. At the same time, a thoroughgoing interdisciplinary focus has emerged as essential to scientific progress. Emphasizing the need for multiple measures, careful experimental design, and logical inference, the fourth edition of the Handbook provides updated and expanded coverage of approaches, methods, and analyses in the field. With state-of-the-art reviews of research in topical areas such as stress, emotion, development, language, psychopathology, and behavioural medicine, the Handbook remains the essential reference for students and scientists in the behavioural, cognitive, and biological sciences.

The Handbook of Psychophysiology has been the authoritative resource for more than a quarter of a century. Since the third edition was published a decade ago, the field of psychophysiological science has seen significant advances, both in traditional measures such as electroencephalography, event-related brain potentials, and cardiovascular assessments, and in novel approaches and methods in behavioural epigenetics, neuroimaging, psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, neuropsychology, behavioural genetics, connectivity analyses, and non-contact sensors. At the same time, a thoroughgoing interdisciplinary focus has emerged as essential to scientific progress. Emphasizing the need for multiple measures, careful experimental design, and logical inference, the fourth edition of the Handbook provides updated and expanded coverage of approaches, methods, and analyses in the field. With state-of-the-art reviews of research in topical areas such as stress, emotion, development, language, psychopathology, and behavioural medicine, the Handbook remains the essential reference for students and scientists in the behavioural, cognitive, and biological sciences.

The complexities of the brain and nervous system make neuroscience an inherently interdisciplinary pursuit, one that comprises disparate basic, clinical, and applied disciplines. Behavioral neuroscientists approach the brain and nervous system as instruments of sensation and response; cognitive neuroscientists view the same systems as a solitary computer with a focus on representations and processes. The Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience marks the emergence of a third broad perspective in this field. Social neuroscience emphasizes the functions that emerge through the coaction and interaction of conspecifics, the neural mechanisms that underlie these functions, and the commonality and differences across social species and superorganismal structures. With an emphasis on the neural, hormonal, cellular, and genetic mechanisms underlying social behavior, social neuroscience places emphasis on the associations and influences between social and biological levels of organization. This complex interdisciplinary perspective demands theoretical, methodological, statistical, and inferential rigor to effectively integrate basic, clinical, and applied perspectives on the nervous system and brain. Reflecting the diverse perspectives that make up this field, The Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience brings together perspectives from across the sciences in one authoritative volume.

When people are in a certain mood, whether elated or depressed, that mood is often communicated to others. When we are talking to someone who is depressed it may make us feel depressed, whereas if we talk to someone who is feeling self-confident and buoyant we are likely to feel good about ourselves. This phenomenon, known as emotional contagion, is identified here, and compelling evidence for its effects is offered from a variety of disciplines--social and developmental psychology, history, cross-cultural psychology, experimental psychology, and psychopathology. The authors propose a simple mechanism to account for the process of contagion. They argue that people, in their everyday encounters, tend automatically and continuously to synchronize with the facial expressions, voices, postures, movements, and instrumental emotional behaviors of others. Emotional experiences are affected, moment-to-moment, by the feedback from such mimicry. In a series of orderly chapters, the authors provide observational and laboratory evidence to support their propositions. They then offer practical suggestions for clinical psychologists, physicians, husbands and wives, parents, and professionals who wish to become better at shaping the emotional tone of social encounters.

When people are in a certain mood, whether elated or depressed, that mood is often communicated to others. When we are talking to someone who is depressed it may make us feel depressed, whereas if we talk to someone who is feeling self-confident and buoyant we are likely to feel good about ourselves. This phenomenon, known as emotional contagion, is identified here, and compelling evidence for its effects is offered from a variety of disciplines--social and developmental psychology, history, cross-cultural psychology, experimental psychology, and psychopathology. The authors propose a simple mechanism to account for the process of contagion. They argue that people, in their everyday encounters, tend automatically and continuously to synchronize with the facial expressions, voices, postures, movements, and instrumental emotional behaviors of others. Emotional experiences are affected, moment-to-moment, by the feedback from such mimicry. In a series of orderly chapters, the authors provide observational and laboratory evidence to support their propositions. They then offer practical suggestions for clinical psychologists, physicians, husbands and wives, parents, and professionals who wish to become better at shaping the emotional tone of social encounters.

The complexities of the brain and nervous system make neuroscience an inherently interdisciplinary pursuit, one that comprises disparate basic, clinical, and applied disciplines. Behavioral neuroscientists approach the brain and nervous system as instruments of sensation and response; cognitive neuroscientists view the same systems as a solitary computer with a focus on representations and processes.
The Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience marks the emergence of a third broad perspective in this field. Social neuroscience emphasizes the functions that emerge through the coaction and interaction of conspecifics, the neural mechanisms that underlie these functions, and the commonality and differences across social species and superorganismal structures.
With an emphasis on the neural, hormonal, cellular, and genetic mechanisms underlying social behavior, social neuroscience places emphasis on the associations and influences between social and biological levels of organization. This complex interdisciplinary perspective demands theoretical, methodological, statistical, and inferential rigor to effectively integrate basic, clinical, and applied perspectives on the nervous system and brain.
Reflecting the diverse perspectives that make up this field, The Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience brings together perspectives from across the sciences in one authoritative volume.

John T. Cacioppo's groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of social context-a factor so strong that it can alter DNA replication. He defines an unrecognized syndrome-chronic loneliness-brings it out of the shadow of its cousin depression, and shows how this subjective sense of social isolation uniquely disrupts our perceptions, behavior, and physiology, becoming a trap that not only reinforces isolation but can also lead to early death. He gives the lie to the Hobbesian view of human nature as a "war of all against all," and he shows how social cooperation is, in fact, humanity's defining characteristic. Most important, he shows how we can break the trap of isolation for our benefit both as individuals and as a society.