JOHN T. CACIOPPO
Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
University of Chicago

Social Neuroscience

The Neuroscience of Social Interaction: Decoding, Imitating, and Influencing the Actions of Others
Edited by Christopher D. Frith and Daniel M. Wolpert. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xxvii + 329 pp. Paper, $59.50.

Collaborations between cognitive scientists and neuroscientists in the twilight of the 20th century helped unravel puzzles of the mind, including aspects of object perception, imagery, attention, and memory. However, many aspects of the mind require a more comprehensive approach to reveal the mystery of mind¬brain connections. Attraction, altruism, aggression, affiliation, attachment, attitudes, attribution, and autism are examples from the top of the alphabet alone. Humans are fundamentally social creatures whose mental and physical health depends on their social position and relationships. Accordingly, the human brain has evolved to promote social coordination, communication, interactions, relationships, and collective enterprises. The Neuroscience of Social Interaction, edited by Christopher Frith and Daniel Wolpert, therefore marks a step toward a more comprehensive understanding of the human mind and brain.