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People see social situations similarly: A new study on how people's understanding of social situations works
20.08.2023 10:10
Updated: 13.05.2024 21:24
You might think that everyone has their unique point of view, but our brains seem to process lots of things similarly.
A recent study from the University of Turku in Finland has revealed that diverse individuals exhibit similar brain activity when processing social situations.
Let's find out more.
A study on how brain sees various situations around us
Researchers identified a comprehensive neural network in the human brain responsible for effectively interpreting various social cues.
Social interaction is a fundamental aspect of human life, involving perception, interpretation, and how we respond.
The brain is capable of swift and automatic social information processing, although the exact mechanisms behind this remain unclear.
Conducted at the Turku PET Centre, the study unveiled an extensive neural network within the human brain dedicated to processing diverse social information.
This network processes distinct dimensions of social perception which affect our communication.
These dimensions activate specific brain regions located predominantly in the occipital and temporal lobes.
Using neuroimaging, researchers observed synchronized brain activity in these crucial regions as people watched movies portraying social situations.
This synchronization indicates that information processing is relatively consistent across different people.
Understanding the results
People tend to perceive things related to concrete and immediate action more similarly than abstract social features, such as insecurity or trustworthiness of others.
Despite assessing over a hundred social features in various scenarios, the study identified a limited set of primary dimensions in the human social perceptual world.
