# Neural Mapping of the Social Landscape

> **NIH NIH F31** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2021 · $44,436

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Psychiatric disorders that feature social impairment (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder) pose a significant
health burden in the United States. Attempts to understand the underlying neurobiology of such social
impairments have largely focused on classical `social brain' networks that include regions such as the medial
prefrontal cortex. However, these disorders also tend to show hippocampal dysfunction – a region not normally
included in descriptions of social brain networks. This prompts the question: are social and hippocampal
dysfunction linked? Social cognitive mapping, whereby social information is organized and stored in the
hippocampal formation to inform flexible social decision-making, is one candidate mechanism that may unify
these seemingly distinct observations. In this proposal, we will use a naturalistic choose-your-own-adventure
task that probes social cognitive mapping processes. Dimensions of social power and affiliation define a `social
space' within which other people are coordinates and evolving relationships are trajectories. Previous work in
our lab showed that hippocampus and posterior cingulate cortex activity tracked trajectories within this space.
Furthermore, the parameter estimates from the hippocampus related to self-reported social function,
suggesting that this neural tracking is relevant to real-world social cognition and behavior. To characterize the
role of social cognitive mapping in both normal and abnormal social cognition, this proposal will use a large,
multidimensional dataset, and cutting-edge approaches to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). First,
we will leverage data-driven methods on a large and diverse online sample to relate the geometry of behavior
within this two-dimensional social space to the underlying structure of social dysfunction. Second, we will use
ultra-high field (7T) fMRI and state-of-the-art analyses to test for specific neural signatures within the social
space that are predicted by the social cognitive mapping perspective (e.g., a grid-like representation). These
results will further the fields of social cognitive and computational neuroscience, by revealing the behavioral
and neural correlates of evolving relationships and how they relate to social function, and by extending
hippocampal function to abstract, non-spatial domains. Further, this approach will allow the role of cognitive
mapping in social dysfunction to be explored, and may provide candidate therapeutic targets for psychiatric
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10154808
- **Project number:** 1F31MH123123-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Schafer
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $44,436
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10154808

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10154808, Neural Mapping of the Social Landscape (1F31MH123123-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10154808. Licensed CC0.

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