🚨 new paper out! Perception of motion and of social interactions are two processes that happen to be localized around the same brain anatomy: lateral occipitotemporal areas. Is motion necessary to see social interactions network? link.springer.com/article/10.1... @cnrs.fr @babylyon.bsky.social

Two key findings: • Key regions of the social-interaction network (pSTS, EVA and MT) show selectivity to social interaction also when depicted in static images. Thus, motion is not necessary to trigger the social interaction network

• Seeing two bodies face-to-face is sufficient to trigger the social interaction network, with effects that are strongly left lateralized (see also www.cell.com/current-biol... )

The paper includes a table reviewing available fMRI studies on social interaction perception, organized according to stimulus modality (dynamic vs. static) and content (just facing bodies vs. meaningful interaction), which reveals interesting patterns www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If you are aware of any relevant study that is missing, let us know and we’ll update the table! 😊