Università Roma Tre

The course will address the cognitive and affective mechanisms that underpin the social relationships. The covered topics will focus on the dynamic sinergy between the mind-body union, by proposing a redefinition of the relationships between emotions and other mental domains according to the perspective of modern cognitive science. Ample space will be given to new theories according to which the mind, conceived in its cognitive and emotional aspects, is one with the corporeality and is aimed at the action and the surrounding social environment. In particular, the following topics will be covered: 1) embodied simulation and rejection of the brain metaphor as a "computer"; 2) reward mechanisms and somatic marker theory; 3) the sensorimotor bases of intersubjectivity; 4) Language as action; 5) emotion and embodied cognition; 6) Mirror neurons and the social dimension of emotions; 7) motor contagion and empathy

Required readings

1) Salovey Mayer, 1990 - Emotional intelligence
2) Gross, 1998 - Emotion regulation
3) Juslin Vastfjall, 2008 - Emotional responses to music
4) Ekman 1970 - Universal facial expressions of emotions
5) Mastandrea et al., Front Psychol 2019 - Art and psychological well-being

All the articles are freely availables on the Formonline platform

The course deals with the cognitive and affective mechanisms that mediate social relationships among individuals. By adopting the perspective of modern Cognitive Science, we will emphasize the mind-body unity, proposing a redefinition of the relationship between emotions and other mental processes. Large space will be given to the new theories according to which the mind, conceived in its cognitive and emotional aspects, needs to be considered as a whole with the body, and is directed towards action and the surrounding social environment, according to the perspective of Embodied Cognition. In particular, the following topics will be addressed: 1) embodied simulation and rejection of the brain-computer metaphor; 2) reward mechanisms and somatic marker theory; 3) sensori-motor bases of inter-subjectivity; 4) Language as action; 5) emotion and embodied cognition; 6) Mirror neurons and the social dimension of emotions; 7) motor contagion and empathy

to be defined