When caution becomes neglect: Deep brain stimulation and cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.

Social cognition can be defined as the set of mental processes and cognitive abilities that enable individuals to perceive, interpret, and respond to the behaviors, intentions, emotions, and social signals of others. Social cognition supports the understanding of social interactions, from overt actions performed by others to more subtle cues such as facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language. In addition, it underpins the capacity to navigate and maintain interpersonal social relationships. The key components of social cognition are: 1. Social perception, which corresponds to the processing of social cues, including facial expressions, vocal tones, and body language, to interpret social information accurately, 2. Emotion recognition and the processing or the ability to recognize, interpret, and respond appropriately to the emotional expressions of others, which is essential for empathy and social responsiveness, 3. Empathy or the capacity to feel and understand the emotions of others, often divided into cognitive empathy (understanding another's emotional state) and affective empathy (emotionally resonating with them), 4. Theory of Mind (ToM), which refers to the mentalization capacity necessary to attribute mental states—such as beliefs, desires, and intentions—to oneself and others, recognizing that others have perspectives different from one's own, 5. Social decision-making and judgment, which include the evaluation and interpretation of social interactions, norms, and values that inform decision-making in social contexts and finally 6. Self-referential thinking or the process of relating social information to oneself, which is important for understanding one's role in social interactions and forming a social identity. ToM is a multifaceted cognitive ability that can be further divided into two main components: Cognitive ToM and Affective ToM. The first component is the ability to infer beliefs, intentions, and knowledge states of others, and is often regarded as a “cold” cognitive function as it requires perspective-taking and mentalizing without necessarily involving emotional processing. The second component involves understanding and empathizing with others’ emotions, often seen as a “hotter” aspect of ToM due to its reliance on emotional resonance and empathy. The mirror neurons model (MNM) is presumed to play a critical role for social cognition. Mirror neurons are activated both when individuals perform a specific action and when they observe someone else performing similar action. This unique feature makes mirror neurons essential for understanding the actions, intentions, and emotions of others by simulating or “mirroring” those experiences internally. This system simulates an observed action, by translating it into an internal motor representation. This system is not only involved in body motion, but also in emotional processes, making it a key player in social interaction. There is a conceptual overlap between mirror neurons and ToM, particularly via their shared goal of understanding others. However, their mechanisms and roles are distinct, with mirror neurons contributing to automatic simulation and ToM enabling higher-order reasoning. Understanding their interaction is key to comprehending the full spectrum of social cognition.