Social Perception and Biological Motion Processing

Social perception and biological motion processing refer to the neural mechanisms by which observers extract socially meaningful information from dynamic cues such as body movements, gestures and interactions. These processes depend on a network of brain regions that includes the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), extrastriate body area (EBA), inferior parietal cortex and prefrontal nodes involved in mental state attribution. Biological motion perception allows for the rapid identification of actions, intentions and affective states from minimal visual input, often studied using point-light displays. Parallel but interacting systems—commonly described as the mirror neuron system and the mentalizing network—support the automatic resonance with observed actions and the inferential attribution of goals and beliefs. Together, these networks enable humans to recognise individuals, decode communicative gestures and anticipate interactive outcomes. Disruption to these processes is implicated in developmental disorders of social cognition and has practical applications in robotics, clinical diagnostics and virtual reality therapies.

Research from Nature Portfolio

One foundational study demonstrated that the mere presence of an evaluative audience modulates motor output through altered engagement of the inferior parietal cortex. Under social evaluation, participants exhibited increased grip force accompanied by reduced activity in bilateral inferior parietal regions. Simultaneously, the pSTS showed enhanced activation, although its functional connectivity with parietal sites was attenuated. These findings suggest that social monitoring induces a representational mismatch between one’s own intended action and the perceived intentions of observers, perturbing sensorimotor integration within the action-observation network.

Social Perception and Biological Motion Processing publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in social perception and biological motion processing across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS): A cortical region sensitive to dynamic social signals, including body movements and interactions, crucial for decoding intention and communicative intent.

Extrastriate body area (EBA): A visual region in the lateral occipital cortex specialised for processing body form and motion, contributing to the perception of biological movement.

Mirror neuron system: A network comprising premotor and parietal cortices that activates both during action execution and observation, supporting motor resonance.

Mentalizing network: A set of brain regions, including medial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction, involved in attributing mental states such as beliefs and desires.

Point-light displays: Minimalist stimuli in which key joints are represented by luminous points, used to isolate biological motion cues from form information.

Heteromodal region: A brain area responsive to multiple sensory modalities, integrating visual, auditory or other inputs to support higher-order perception.

References

1. Specialized Networks for Social Cognition in the Primate Brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience (2023).
2. Hierarchical organization of social action features along the lateral visual pathway. Current Biology (2023).
3. Auditory dyadic interactions through the “eye” of the social brain: How visual is the posterior STS interaction region?. Imaging Neuroscience (2023).
4. Recruitment of Both the Mirror and the Mentalizing Networks When Observing Social Interactions Depicted by Point-Lights: A Neuroimaging Study. PLOS ONE (2011).
5. Why I tense up when you watch me: Inferior parietal cortex mediates an audience’s influence on motor performance. Scientific Reports (2016).