Human beings evolved in the company of others and flourish in proportion to their positive social ties. To understand the human brain, we must situate its biology in the wider context of society. To understand society, we must also consider how the brains and minds of individuals shape interactions with other human beings. Social Neuroscience offers a comprehensive new framework for studying the brain, human development, and human behavior.

In this book, leading researchers in the fields of neurobiology, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology elucidate the connections between brain biology and the brain's functioning in the social world, providing a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary explanation of how humans think and act, as well as the ways we define and treat pathological behavior. Synthesizing the insights and perspectives of these experts, Social Neuroscience examines how neural processes make the brain sensitive to social experience, how cognition shapes social behavior, and how social networks create a range of responses among different individuals to the same environmental stimuli.

The mutually reinforcing connections between brain, mind, and society have profound implications for human health, from the emotionally damaging effects of severe social deprivation to the neurological impact of parental abuse and neighborhood violence. The authors explore these connections, with special focus on mental illnesses, including schizophrenia-a disorder characterized by marked social deficits in which a neurological basis is now well established.

About the Author
Russell K. Schutt is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Lecturer on Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Larry J. Seidman was Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Matcheri S. Keshavan is Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Reviews
This first-class synthesis of the latest research in neurobiology, sociology, and psychiatry/psychology will be of the greatest interest to both pure scientists and practical clinicians. A new field is being born. Don't miss it! -- Robert Rosenheck, Professor of Psychiatry and of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine
A valuable contribution to this new and exciting field, with implications for potentially new solutions to age-old problems of human nature. -- A. Olivera * Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780674728974
Author Russell K. Schutt
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press