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Abstract:
Social capacities like empathy, compassion and mentalizing (also termed Theory of Mind) enable us to successfully interact with one another. This presentation will first delineate the neural networks underlying these functions, with anterior insula, inferior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal/anterior temporoparietal junction, and striatal regions for socio-affective skills and ventral/posterior temporoparietal junction, superior temporal gyrus, temporal poles, and anterior and posterior midline regions for socio-cognitive functioning. Second, malleability of these capacities will be described within the longitudinal ReSource Project, which trained participants in three separate modules (Presence, Affect, and Perspective). While the Affect module (focusing on cultivating compassion and prosocial motivation) mainly increased participants’ reports of compassion towards others, the Perspective module (focusing on perspective-taking on self and others) selectively enhanced performance in mentalizing. This behavioral improvement was associated with increased cortical thickness in the respective neural networks after each module suggesting not only plasticity on the functional brain and behavioral level but also on the structural brain level. The findings bear relevance for interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aiming at cultivating social competence and cooperation.
