A deep understanding of any social species requires a neurobiological understanding of how and why brains interact. In this culminating seminar, we will critically examine the social contexts that forged and continue to shape human intelligence. We will be considering evolutionary, comparative, game-theoretic, computational, developmental, and pathological aspects of our social intelligence from a neurobiological perspective. The goal is to gain insight into how humans became such big-brained other-regarding apes, and how our brains developmentally construct and pathologically lose socio-cognitive faculties, as seems to be the case in certain psychiatric and neurological disorders. Students will be expected to read and critically assess the neuroscientific literature and explore empirical opportunities for new insights into the neurobiology of human social intelligence.

• Gain insight into how humans became such big-brained, other-regarding apes
• Gain insight into how human brains developmentally construct and pathologically lose socio-cognitive faculties
• Gain insight into how human brains interact and how this capacity underpins communication, culture, and society
• Learn to read and critically assess the neuroscience literature