Neurosociology

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Neurosociology is the study of the social nature of the brain and human connection. It's premise is that it takes a plurality of brains to make one functioning brain. An example of the subject matter of neurosociology would be the new discovery of mirror neurons. It appears that we not only passively watch what others do (including the expression of emotions) but our motor cortex actually similates what is watched. So, watching involves actually doing the thing watched. This is part of the reason why strong emotions are contageous, and why we tighten up and say "oh" when we observe a hard hit in football. For example, autistic children have to operate without adequate mirror neurons, and are simply not that interested in the inner subjective experiences and intentions of other people. This was recently described in Scientific American, and also Time Magazine. Mirror neurons give the impetus for empathy, but obviously they are not the whole story given the range of human behaviour.