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Related Experiment Video

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

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Published on: July 6, 2011

Orbital prefrontal cortex volume correlates with social cognitive competence.

Joanne L Powell¹, Penelope A Lewis, Robin I M Dunbar

¹Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Centre (MARIARC), University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom. joanne.powell@liverpool.ac.uk

Neuropsychologia

|August 18, 2010

Summary

Higher orbital prefrontal cortex volume is linked to better intentionality, the ability to understand others' mental states. This finding supports the role of social cognition in human brain evolution.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Evolutionary Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

Intentionality, or Theory of Mind, is crucial for social cognition and may have influenced brain evolution.
While brain activity during Theory of Mind tasks is well-studied, the neuroanatomical basis, specifically brain region volume, is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between prefrontal cortex (PFC) subfield volumes and intentionality competence in healthy adults.
To test the hypothesis that larger PFC volumes correlate with enhanced social cognitive abilities, potentially linking to brain size evolution.

Main Methods:

Stereological methods were used to estimate the volume of four prefrontal subfields in each cerebral hemisphere.
40 healthy adult humans underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for volumetric analysis.

Main Results:

A significant linear relationship was found between intentionality scores and the volume of the orbital PFC (p=0.01).
This suggests that individuals with higher intentionality competence possess larger orbital PFC volumes.

Conclusions:

The orbital PFC's involvement in social information processing supports its role in intentionality.
These findings suggest that social cognitive mechanisms, particularly those supported by the orbital PFC, have contributed to human brain size evolution and social cohesion.