Theory of Mind, empathy, and action observation are central themes in social neuroscience research. Meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging studies show substantial heterogeneity in brain activation for these cognitive abilities, depending on the type of experimental task used. We followed up on these findings by a comparison to basic connectivity networks of the brain. In particular, we evaluated to what extent brain activation for social cognition tasks draws on areas of different fMRI resting-state networks (e.g., Default Mode, Ventral Attention Network) in parallel. Our review illustrates high prevalence of such network co-recruitments across Theory of Mind, empathy, and action observation tasks. To characterize these observations in more detail, we additionally conducted a literature review of fMRI effective connectivity studies. Findings reveal two main types of cross-network interactions in social cognition tasks: Negative coupling (segregation) between Default Mode and Control Networks (Ventral Attention, Frontoparietal, and Dorsal Attention Network), and positive coupling (integration) between these networks. The two patterns reflect different types of brain network organization taking place in the context of social cognition tasks–segregation for specialized, versus integration for flexible processing. We discuss evidence from connectivity research in other research fields, suggesting that increased network integration indicates more effortful and controlled processing. Based on that, we consider how findings of network segregation versus integration can provide new perspectives on dual-system accounts of social cognition, which differentiate between automatic and controlled processes. Moreover, we discuss how the reviewed evidence relates to neural processes which are assumed to take place during naturalistic social cognition.

心理理论，同理心和行动观察是社会神经科学研究的中心主题。对功能性神经影像学研究的荟萃分析显示，对于这些认知能力，大脑激活存在很大的异质性，具体取决于所使用的实验任务的类型。我们通过与大脑的基本连通性网络进行比较来跟踪这些发现。特别是，我们评估了社交认知任务的大脑激活在多大程度上并行地利用了不同功能磁共振成像静止状态网络（例如，默认模式，腹腔注意网络）的区域。我们的评论说明了这种网络共招在心智理论，同理心和行动观察任务中的普遍性。为了更详细地描述这些观察，我们另外对fMRI有效连接性研究进行了文献综述。研究结果揭示了社交认知任务中跨网络交互的两种主要类型：默认模式和控制网络（静脉注意，额叶和背侧注意网络）之间的负耦合（隔离），以及这些网络之间的正耦合（整合）。两种模式反映了在社会认知任务的背景下发生的不同类型的大脑网络组织-隔离用于专业，而集成用于灵活的处理。我们讨论了来自其他研究领域的连通性研究的证据，表明增加的网络集成表明更加努力和可控的处理。在此基础上，我们考虑了网络隔离与整合的发现如何为社会认知的双系统账户提供新的视角，区分自动过程和受控过程。此外，我们讨论了审查的证据如何与假定在自然主义社会认知中发生的神经过程有关。