Humans have a unique ability to understand the beliefs, emotions, and intentions of others-a capacity often referred to as mentalizing. Much research in psychology and neuroscience has focused on delineating the mechanisms of mentalizing, and examining the role of mentalizing processes in other domains of cognitive and affective functioning. The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on the mechanisms of mentalizing at the neural, algorithmic, and computational levels of analysis. The book includes contributions from prominent researchers in the field of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience, as well as from related disciplines (e.g., cognitive, social, developmental and clinical psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, primatology). The contributors review their latest research in order to compile an authoritative source of knowledge on the psychological and brain bases of the unique human capacity to think about the mental states of others. The intended audience is researchers and students in the fields of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience and related disciplines such as neuroeconomics, cognitive neuroscience, developmental neuroscience, social cognition, social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and affective science. Secondary audiences include researchers in decision science (economics, judgment and decision-making), philosophy of mind, and psychiatry.

Humans have a unique ability to understand the beliefs, emotions, and intentions of others-a capacity often referred to as mentalizing. Much research in psychology and neuroscience has focused on delineating the mechanisms of mentalizing, and examining the role of mentalizing processes in other domains of cognitive and affective functioning. The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on the mechanisms of mentalizing at the neural, algorithmic, and computational levels of analysis. The book includes contributions from prominent researchers in the field of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience, as well as from related disciplines (e.g., cognitive, social, developmental and clinical psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, primatology). The contributors review their latest research in order to compile an authoritative source of knowledge on the psychological and brain bases of the unique human capacity to think about the mental states of others. The intended audience is researchers and students in the fields of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience and related disciplines such as neuroeconomics, cognitive neuroscience, developmental neuroscience, social cognition, social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and affective science. Secondary audiences include researchers in decision science (economics, judgment and decision-making), philosophy of mind, and psychiatry.

Cognitive neuroscience has grown into a rich and complex discipline, some 35 years after the term was coined. Given the great expanse of the field, an inclusive and authoritative resource such as this handbook is needed for examining the current state-of-the-science in cognitive neuroscience. Spread across two volumes, the 59 chapters included in this handbook systemically survey all aspects of cognitive neuroscience, spanning perception, attention, memory, language, emotion, self and social cognition, higher cognitive functions, and clinical applications. Additional chapters cover topics ranging from the use of top-down cognitive processes in visual perception to the representation and recognition of objects and spatial relations; attention and its relationship to action as well as visual motor control; language and related core abilities including semantics, speech perception and production, the distinction between linguistic competence and performance, and the capacity for written language. Special coverage is also given to chapters describing the psychopharmacology of cognition, the theory of mind, the neuroscience underlying the regulation of emotion, and neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence that supports the special status of self-knowledge in memory. This handbook provides a comprehensive compendium of research on cognitive neuroscience that will be widely accessible to students, researchers, and professionals working in this exciting and growing field.