Human Brain May Contain a Map for Social Navigation

According to a study recently conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the brain region that helps people judge whether an object is near or far, may also guide how emotionally close they feel to others and how they rank them socially. The findings, published in the journal Neuron, may offer new insight into the social deficits that often coincide with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression. The study focused on evidence for the existence of a “social map” in the hippocampus. “By quantifying the response patterns of people making decisions based on social interactions, we found that the hippocampus tracks relationships, intimacy and hierarchy within a kind of ‘social map,’” said one of the study’s lead researchers. “Our data suggests a common mechanism for how the brain codes for physical space, time and for social relationships.” The results from the study show how an impaired geometric representation of social space in the hippocampus may accompany social dysfunction across psychiatric populations. Further exploration of these hypotheses could lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic options for several psychiatric disorders. To read more about this study, click here.