Mirror Neuron System and Mentalizing System connect during online social interaction.

Two sets of brain areas are repeatedly reported in neuroimaging studies on social cognition: the Mirror Neuron System and the Mentalizing System. The Mirror System is involved in goal understanding and has been associated with several emotional and cognitive functions central to social interaction, ranging from empathy to gestural communication and imitation. The Mentalizing System is recruited in tasks requiring cognitive processes such as self-reference and understanding of other's intentions.

The dark side of self-focus: brain activity during self-focus in low and high brooders.

There are two distinct modes of self-focus: analytical self-focus is abstract, general and evaluative whereas experiential self-focus is concrete, specific and non-evaluative. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural bases of these two modes of self-focus in relation with brooding, the maladaptive form of rumination. Forty-one French-speaking right-handed healthy young adults (10 men, mean age ± s.

Reciprocal imitation: toward a neural basis of social interaction.

Social interaction is a coregulated coupling activity that involves at least 2 autonomous agents. Numerous methodological and technical challenges impede the production of natural social interaction within an Magnetic Resonance Imaging environment under controlled conditions. To overcome the obstacle, we chose a simple format of social interaction, namely "interactive imitation" through a double-video system.

Medial prefrontal cortex and the self in major depression.

Self-focus (i.e. the process by which one engages oneself in self-referential processing) is a core issue in the psychopathology of major depression.

Brain effects of antidepressants in major depression: a meta-analysis of emotional processing studies.

Background: A consistent brain activity pattern has been identified in major depression across many resting positron emission tomography (PET) studies. This dysfunctional pattern seems to be normalized by antidepressant treatment. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify more clearly the pattern associated with clinical improvement of depression following an antidepressant drug treatment, in emotional activation studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).