The role of the body in social cognition

In this review, we discuss the actual and active dependence of social cognitive processes on the body, i.e., that part of the organism beyond the central nervous system. In particular, we will discuss mirror mechanisms, and assess the extent to which the body is recruited during these processes. We show that for emotion mirroring, this dependency is well-documented, but for action mirroring far less so. By reviewing these mechanisms and processes while contrasting body from brain, and social from general cognition, we show that both contrasts are arbitrary and problematic and that any study of cognitive processes, both social and general, should take the body into account.