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Social Neuroscience

Social Neuroscience

Brain, Mind, and Society

Edited by Russell K. Schutt, Larry J. Seidman, and Matcheri S. Keshavan

ISBN 9780674728974

Publication date: 06/09/2015

Human beings evolved in the company of others and flourish in proportion to their positive social ties. To understand the human brain, we must situate its biology in the wider context of society. To understand society, we must also consider how the brains and minds of individuals shape interactions with other human beings. Social Neuroscience offers a comprehensive new framework for studying the brain, human development, and human behavior.

In this book, leading researchers in the fields of neurobiology, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology elucidate the connections between brain biology and the brain’s functioning in the social world, providing a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary explanation of how humans think and act, as well as the ways we define and treat pathological behavior. Synthesizing the insights and perspectives of these experts, Social Neuroscience examines how neural processes make the brain sensitive to social experience, how cognition shapes social behavior, and how social networks create a range of responses among different individuals to the same environmental stimuli.

The mutually reinforcing connections between brain, mind, and society have profound implications for human health, from the emotionally damaging effects of severe social deprivation to the neurological impact of parental abuse and neighborhood violence. The authors explore these connections, with special focus on mental illnesses, including schizophrenia—a disorder characterized by marked social deficits in which a neurological basis is now well established.

Praise

  • This first-class synthesis of the latest research in neurobiology, sociology, and psychiatry/psychology will be of the greatest interest to both pure scientists and practical clinicians. A new field is being born. Don’t miss it!

    —Robert Rosenheck, Professor of Psychiatry and of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine

Authors

  • Russell K. Schutt is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Lecturer on Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
  • Larry J. Seidman was Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
  • Matcheri S. Keshavan is Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Book Details

  • 448 pages
  • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches
  • Harvard University Press

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