UCLA is fast establishing itself as the locus of a rapidly emerging, interdisciplinary field that connects experts on the brain and human behavior - social cognitive neuroscience (SCN), the study of how the brain processes social information.

Although SCN is still in its infancy, it took a giant step forward recently when UCLA hosted the first international conference on this field of study, bringing together for the first time social psychologists, cognitive scientists, brain mappers, neuroscientists, social scientists and others to share their work.

More and more researchers with a social science perspective are recognizing that brain research is essential to a better understanding of social psychology and many fundamental social processes, according to conference organizers.

At the same time, neuroscientists who are studying why the brain does what it does are finding that their research can be applied to understanding social behavior.

"People have the kinds of brains they have because they're social creatures, and people are social creatures because of the kinds of brains they have. So you can't study one without the other," explained Professor Alan Fiske, one of the organizers of the April 26-28 conference, along with Matthew Lieberman of psychology, Marco Iacoboni of psychiatry and Susanne Lohmann of political science.

Research in this field is being propelled by the latest neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and PET, which enable scientists to investigate the neural circuitry involved in all aspects of cognition and to pinpoint which structure in the brain is most active during specific mental tasks, the researchers explained.

For example, in Lieberman's lab, participants' brains are scanned while they are shown photos of people of their race and another race. As the subjects perform tasks that require different kinds of thinking, researchers look at their brains to see what kinds of mental processes tend to make implicit stereotypes go away. UCLA researchers are also looking at brain functions in social processes such as nonverbal communication and imitation, among other areas.

Understanding how the brain functions is key to understanding its malfunctions, such as autism, personality disorders and psychopathic behavior, said Fiske, who, as an anthropologist, is interested in the evolutionary and cultural aspects of SCN.

However, some social scientists are concerned that a more biological, brain-focused perspective on social interactions will shortchange their perspective. According to Fiske, "Understanding functional anatomy doesn't replace or make obsolete the methods and theories of social scientists. I think it'll help us fundamentally. I'm a social scientist, and looking at the brain will help me answer the social science questions."

The conference, funded by the College of Letters & Science, the Neuropsychiatric Institute, the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health, drew some 200 top researchers from fields as diverse as philosophy and linguistics. Organizers hope it helped create a sense of identity and infrastructure for the field.

Said Fiske, "I think it's safe to say that UCLA is arguably the best place to do this. We hope to be a major center for this field and to attract the very best. We already have great brain-mapping machines and the top people in the world working in that area."