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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Published on: July 6, 2011

The medial prefrontal cortex mediates social event knowledge.

Frank Krueger¹, Aron K Barbey, Jordan Grafman

¹Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1440, USA. krugerf@ninds.nih.gov

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|February 19, 2009

Summary

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) generates social event knowledge through abstract representations called elators. These elators bind with other brain regions to form event, person, and self schemas.

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Area of Science:

Social Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neurobiology

Background:

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is increasingly recognized for its role in social cognition.
Understanding the neural mechanisms of social event knowledge is a key challenge in neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

To present an integrative theory on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of social event knowledge.
To propose the Structural and Temporal Representation Binding (STRing) theory.

Main Methods:

Theoretical integration of existing social neuroscience evidence.
Review of neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience findings related to mPFC function.

Main Results:

The mPFC generates abstract dynamic summary representations termed 'elators'.
Elators are proposed to bind with posterior cortical and limbic regions to form social event knowledge.
Functional segregation of elator functions along the dorso-ventral mPFC axis is hypothesized.

Conclusions:

The STRing theory provides a framework for understanding how the mPFC supports social event knowledge.
Elators are posited as the neural basis for event, person, and self schemas.
Further research is needed to empirically validate the proposed elator functions and their segregation.