Reading Faces And Bodies Behavioural And Neural Processes Underlying The Understanding Of And Interaction With Others

The aim of this Research Topic was to offer an interdisciplinary forum for researchers interested in the interplay of face, eye gaze, and body perception in the understanding of others, with an emphasis on behavioural and neural processing. The papers included in this topic come from cognitive, neuroscience and social psychology perspectives and shed new light on how facial and body cues interact with each other and with social, ecological and contextual factors (such as for example social identification and group membership) to form a unified representation that can guide our perceptions and responses to other people. Altogether, they provide an up-to-date picture of advances in this fascinating research field.

The fifth edition of a work that defines the field of cognitive neuroscience, with entirely new material that reflects recent advances in the field. Each edition of this classic reference has proved to be a benchmark in the developing field of cognitive neuroscience. The fifth edition of The Cognitive Neurosciences continues to chart new directions in the study of the biological underpinnings of complex cognition—the relationship between the structural and physiological mechanisms of the nervous system and the psychological reality of the mind. It offers entirely new material, reflecting recent advances in the field. Many of the developments in cognitive neuroscience have been shaped by the introduction of novel tools and methodologies, and a new section is devoted to methods that promise to guide the field into the future—from sophisticated models of causality in brain function to the application of network theory to massive data sets. Another new section treats neuroscience and society, considering some of the moral and political quandaries posed by current neuroscientific methods. Other sections describe, among other things, new research that draws on developmental imaging to study the changing structure and function of the brain over the lifespan; progress in establishing increasingly precise models of memory; research that confirms the study of emotion and social cognition as a core area in cognitive neuroscience; and new findings that cast doubt on the so-called neural correlates of consciousness.

Body, Brain, Behavior: Three Views and a Conversation describes brain research on the frontiers, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between the brain and its development and evolution, peripheral organs, and other brains in communication. The book expands current views of neuroscience by illustrating the integration of these disciplines. By using a novel method of conversations between 3 scientists of different disciplines, cellular, endocrine, developmental, and social processes are seamlessly woven into topics that relate to contemporary living in health and disease. This book is a critical read for anyone who wants to become familiar with the inner workings of the nervous system and its intimate connections to the universe of contemporary life issues. Introduces the reader to basic principles of brain research and integrative physiology Dissects the dispute between Cajal and Golgi regarding the state-of-the art in the neurosciences and immunobiology Provides a short history of brain research and metabolism Discusses contemporary approaches in the neurosciences, along with the importance of technological versus conceptual advances Examines the dynamics of social connections between two brains, integrating mechanisms of Body/Brain/Behavior-to-Body/Brain/Behavior between subjects

The human visual system is particularly attuned to and remarkably efficient at processing social cues. This text examines the functional and neuroanatomical mechanisms which underpin social vision.

The face has long been considered the gateway to understanding human emotion and cognition. Body language is an equally powerful means of communication, however. Although faces and bodies can express themselves in many similar ways, examining their differences may be the best way to learn how bodies communicate. Exploring the body's role in perceiving and expressing emotion has opened broad new avenues for research in cognitive neuroscience. Emotions and the Body discusses the neural basis and temporal processing signatures of emotional body language by drawing on state-of-the-art research in the neuropsychology of emotional face and body disorders. Beatrice de Gelder explores a range of fascinating questions such as: How do facial and bodily expressions interact? What role does emotional body language play in social interaction? If body language is perceived even with limited attention and reduced visual awareness, as studies with patients have shown, then what is the nature of emotional experience, and how is awareness affected? Are some cultures less expressive in their body language? And are there notable gender and cultural differences in emotional body language, as is the case for facial expressions? Research on emotional body language shows that emotions are tools for adaptive action, and that they allow us to predict interactions with real, imagined, and virtual others. These data prompt de Gelder to consider virtual bodies as well as physical ones, including avatars and robots. The wide-ranging implications of her study will appeal especially to scholars and students of cognitive neuroscience, but also to those working in such related fields as information and communication technology, computer science, animation, and robotics.

This volume provides a broad and comprehensive overview of current theory and research in the field of nonverbal behavior and details the major contemporary research areas within it. The contributions, written by prominent researchers in this area of study, consider nonverbal behavior from a broad perspective, focusing on the fundamental psychological processes that underlie the phenomenon. Several meanings of nonverbal behavior are employed throughout the volume and the contributors, whose work represents disparate research traditions and methodologies, consider biological and neuropsychological approaches, cognitive processes, gestures, facial expressions, and other symbolic behavior. The papers are united by a shared conviction that nonverbal behavior represents an important phenomenon with implications both for people's understanding of their own phenomenological and emotional worlds and for the nature of their social interactions with others.

The eyes represent an important social cue and they typically play key roles within key part of typical non-verbal communication. When people view the faces of other people, they typically spend the most time looking at the eyes compared to other features of the face. Attending to the eyes facilitates social interactions because they can be used to indicate interest by someone else, and during conversations the eyes help to indicate turn-taking or disapproval etc. Since people tend to gaze in the direction of items in their environment that they are most interested in, perceiving the direction and target of others' gaze can help inform about the focus of people's current mental and emotional state, including their interests, beliefs and desires. The gaze of others is so powerful that when people shift their attention, this also tends to shift observers' own attention in the same direction. This effect happens even when we know that the shift of attention by someone else is not informative, or is even misleading. Gaze also helps us to interpret other types of social signals in others. For example, different directions of gaze help to facilitate specific emotional expressions that are linked to those gaze directions, over the processing of other emotions. Our understanding about the normal mechanisms underlying the processing of gaze has also been informed by research and theory involving people with disorders involving differences in gaze processing, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There are commonly reported difficulties in reading mental states from the eyes of others in ASD, which are associated with differences in brain activity in regions associated with the processing of gaze. However, while people with ASD have difficulties reading mental states from the eyes, they often show typical effects of reflexive gaze from the gaze shifts of others. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the underlying mechanisms for the pattern of intact and atypical processing of gaze in ASD at cognitive and neural levels. There is currently a need for further theoretical development and understanding at both the cognitive and neural level of functioning. While there are regions of the brain associated with gaze processing, how the neurons in these different regions exactly code for different gaze directions is still not well known, nor how we integrate cues from different aspects of the eyes, head and context to perceive the gaze of others. Similarly, little is known about inhibiting gaze information when it is task irrelevant, or is even detrimental for performance. The aim of this Research Topic collects articles on different types of methodologies and on the processing of gaze. This includes the effects of others' gaze on our cognitive, behavioural and neural processes, and the use of gaze in understanding other people etc.