Anatomical Basis for Social Cognition and EEG/ERP Correlates: A review of last 20 years

In the past 20 years, a significant number of studies have been done upon Social Cognition and its EEG & ERP Correlates. Some common trends and themes of the researches done in the past have been highlighted through this paper. The main aspect identified in this field is the brain anatomical structures that correlate to Social Cognition and the characteristic brain wave activity that accompanies it. The brain regions identified that are associated with Social Cognition are the posterior and central regions. The electrical activity identified for Social Cognition is the posterior alpha and central mu rhythms in 8-13 Hz frequency range. The ERP component identified is the Error or Feedback Related Negativity. The FRN peaks around 80- 150 milliseconds after an erroneous response is made characterized by a sharp negative peak. The Mirror Neuron System is an arrangement of a particular set of neurons found in the aforementioned brain regions that activate during the process of Social Cognition. This paper presents a summary of the research done in the past 20 years on Social Cognition and its electrophysiological correlates, in a way that attempts to show the basic trends that have shaped the ongoing research in the field. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a useful and brief review of the trends in the past EEG/ERP studies done on Social Cognition. The secondary aim of the paper is to suggest some drawbacks, and the improvements that can be made for those drawbacks, as a reference for the studies that will be done in the future.