ABSTRACT
Social cognition is a relatively recent construct and a universally accepted definition is still forthcoming. In general terms, social cognition refers to our ability to read social cues (such as facial expressions) and to use these along with knowledge of the context to judge the mental states of others (i.e. their beliefs, feelings and intentions). Thus, social cognition underpins our ability to understand the behaviour of others and to respond appropriately in social settings. There are a number of distinct facets to social cognition including so called ‘hot’ processes (i.e. emotion recognition and empathy) and ‘cold’ processes (i.e. thinking about things from another's point of view), a construct commonly known as having a Theory of Mind (ToM). Social cognition deficits are common in a range of clinical conditions including acquired brain impairments, such as traumatic brain injuries, unilateral stroke or dementias, especially frontotemporal dementias (FTD). They are also prevalent in psychiatric disorders including borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, and developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Importantly, disorders of social cognition are strongly related to functional outcomes, especially social problem solving and social skills, and therefore constitute a major target for remediation. Despite this, efforts to both assess and treat disorders of social cognition have been uneven across clinical groups. While there has been a strong tradition of rehabilitation for people with schizophrenia, and to a lesser extent ASD, there has been very little rehabilitation research in the field of brain injury. In this chapter we overview the nature of social cognition, describe how this manifests in different populations and then focus on assessment instruments and remediation research to date.
