The social brain: timing and localization of inferences on other persons

The aim of the project is to expand our understanding of the brain regions and functions underlying inferences about other people using novel brain imaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERP). fMRI and ERP techniques provide information on the spatial location and temporal dynamics respectively of neural mechanisms, and so allow unprecedented insight in how the brain is involved in cognitive and affective processes, including social cognition or how we interpret the behavior of other people or how we view ourselves. More than fifteen years ago, the use of the fMRI technique for studying psychological processes was only a dream; now more and more labs around the world and in Europe apply these novel tools for peeking inside the brain.