Abstract
Contemporary mental health practice primarily centers around the neurobiological and psychological processes at the individual level. However, a more careful consideration of interpersonal and other group-level attributes (e.g., interpersonal relationship, mutual trust/hostility, interdependence, and cooperation) and a better grasp of their pathology can add a crucial dimension to our understanding of mental health problems. A few recent studies have delved into the interpersonal behavioral processes in the context of different psychiatric abnormalities. Neuroimaging can supplement these approaches by providing insight into the neurobiology of interpersonal functioning. Keeping this view in mind, we discuss a recently developed approach in functional neuroimaging that calls for a shift from a focus on neural information contained within brain space to a multi-brain framework exploring degree of similarity/dissimilarity of neural signals between multiple interacting brains. We hypothesize novel applications of quantitative neuroimaging markers like inter-subject correlation that might be able to evaluate the role of interpersonal attributes affecting an individual or a group. Empirical evidences of the usage of these markers in understanding the neurobiology of social interactions are provided to argue for their application in future mental health research.
Highlights
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Clinical and Health Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
Keeping this view in mind, we discuss a recently developed approach in functional neuroimaging that calls for a shift from a focus on neural information contained within brain space to a multi-brain framework exploring degree of similarity/dissimilarity of neural signals between multiple interacting brains
Interpersonal perspective necessitates a direct evaluation of the functioning of the interpersonal space comprising of the patient, related individuals, and their interactions rather than the assessment of the social and interpersonal skills of the patient as employed in approaches that focus on the individual patient
Summary
Contemporary mental health paradigm limits mental disorders to problems within an individual. An attractive postulate is that much relevant information regarding mental health is contained in the interpersonal interactions that cannot be fully captured by limiting our search of markers to individual brains This possibility calls for employing a multi-brain reference frame in functional imaging studies where interactions among multiple brains are the main object of study, rather than individual brain activations. This may reflect the neurobiological processes that help in mental simulation of other’s emotional, attentional, and sensory states by synchronizing the brain activities of specific neural circuits This notion was further validated by the observations from the same study (Nummenmaa et al, 2012) that the ISC in the posterior middle temporal gyrus, an area that has been proposed to encode the intentions of an agent’s actions, was positively associated with self-reported empathy, i.e., the capacity to understand other people’s feelings. The higher the self-reported empathy scores were the more similar were the MTG time courses among those participants
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
