The Relationship between Social Cognition and Neural Function in Psychopathology

Many psychiatric disorders depict dysfunctional characteristics with regard to social functioning. Although there is extensive literature on social cognition, research concerning learning processes of social abilities and neural systems that support social behavior is limited. Identifying these deficits may allow for interventions and treatment opportunities in patient groups.

Researchers

Prof. Dr. Katja Bertsch, Dr. Aleya Flechsenhar

Description

Social interactions are essential to our everyday life and a highly complex process that we need to constantly practice and adapt. Human behavior and experience changes as a function of the dynamics or the context of an interaction that in turn may influence prospective strategies or approaches.
We aim to identify deficient processing in psychiatric disorders with regard to social understanding, neural function and behavior in a multi-method approach, also accounting for realistic social settings. Investigating the rigidity or adaptability to certain situations may reveal specific deficits in social abilities or motivation and further allows for individual interventions. Further, this approach may allow for new ways of classifying psychopathology based on dimensions of observable behavior or biological measures instead of categories.

Ongoing Studies

We are currently looking for participants to take part in our experimental studies. For more information please contact studien.klips@psy.lmu.de.