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نمایش مقاله

Title:

Bibliometric analysis of neuroimaging research on social behavior: 30 years of social neuroscience (1996-2026)

Subject:

Cognitive-Social Applications of Brain Mapping, such as talent identification, neuroleadership, and neurocognitive recruitment

Presenter Author:
Name:	Fatemeh Parsa

Author:
Name 1:	Fatemeh Parsa - Corresponding - Presenter
Affiliation 1:	Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch

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Abstract

Original Research

introduction :

The social functioning of the brain is the foundation of all of human societies. Despite it's importance, social behavior, from an individual to societal level, is poorly understood. While social behavior has long been studied, neuroimaging provides insight into mechanisms behind the behavior. In this study, we systematically analyze neuroimaging research on social behavior using bibliometric methods to describe its development and frontiers and investigate its conceptual, intellectual, and social structure.

Methods:

Metadata for 6,106 relevant documents was retrieved from the OpenAlex database and filtered to 2,383 eligible documents published over 30 years between 1996 and 2026 on the basis of normalized citations, and publication in Bradford's Law core and zone 2 journals for the majority of the analysis. Both VOSviewer and the Bibliometrix R package were used to describe, analyze, and visualize the metadata.

Results:

Neuroimaging research about social behavior has grown logistically (7.6% annually for eligible documents) from its early phase around 2000, taking off around 2010, and accelerating up to the present (nearly 600 relevant publications in 2025). Over 10,654 authors contributed to the 2,383 eligible documents (38.5% internationally co-authored). While subjects and methods are diverse (1,449 keywords plus; 2,179 author keywords), co-occurrence analysis shows the field can be broadly divided into a few key areas: By approach and audience, there are 4 main clusters: conceptual (integrating psychology, sociology, and other approaches), medicine, neurobiological, and developmental. By concept, the clusters focus on physical realization (biological and behavioral), cognitive processes, networks and connectivity (deeply tied to autism research), non-verbal communication (focused around face and emotion perception), and pathology. We analyzed the most influential works using both network and citation volume based approaches. Perhaps the most conceptually important work is Amodio and Frith's 2006 review, which is both the most locally cited work and a central node that is well connected to all clusters. This work helped establish the field by synthesizing research to describe the general pattern by which perceptual information is ultimately integrated into higher level social behaviors as it propagates through the physical structures of the brain. Though less cited, key works to the development of the field may also include Fletcher, Frith, et al. 1995 paper investigating the theory of mind through functional neuroimaging; both Haxby's and Allison's papers in 2000 on face and social perception; and others.

Conclusion:

Over the past three decades, neuroimaging has become an valuable tool for understanding social behavior and should be expected to continue to grow rapidly. From its roots in perception, it expanded to describe the emergence of more complex social behavior, and most recently, research in networks and connectivity is beginning to enable more nuanced, biologically realistic, and explanatory understanding of social behavior. Future research should focus on advancing research on networks and connectivity, synthesizing evidence to form tractable and powerful general conceptual frameworks, and working to translate basic research findings into applications in the numerous impactful areas where social behavior matters—from enabling individualized evidence-based medicine to managing global societal issues.

Keywords:

Bibliometrics, Neuroimaging, Social Behavior, Cognitive Neuroscience