Developmental Social Neuroscience

Abstract

Introduction: Social neuroscience is an examination of the associations and influences between social and biological levels of orga- nization, particularly of the underlying neural, hormonal, cellular, and genetic mechanisms of interpersonal behav- iors and cognitions. Traditionally, the development of the nervous system has been studied in isolation, ignoring the influences of the social environments in which humans and nonhuman animals live and grow. Yet, humans are a social species, and as such organizational structures naturally emerge, ranging from individual dyads to fam- ilies, groups, and cultures (Cacioppo & Berntson, 1992). Like other social species, humans cannot survive and reproduce without others. Even our day-to-day existence is governed by direct and indirect contact with others. Con- sider the case of a solitary walk: we almost always bring others with us and virtually all of our actions are directed toward or are responses to others (Batson, 1990). Human social organizations, civilizations, cultures, and institutions are extensively developed, particularly in comparison to other species on the planet. These emergent structures have evolved hand in hand with neural and hormonal mechanisms to support them, as their consequent social behaviors helped these organisms survive, reproduce, and care for offspring sufficiently long that they too survived to reproduce (Cacioppo & Decety, 2011a).