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The Ochota Human Brain and Behavior meeting (OHubb) meeting will take place on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, at 15:15 at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, ul. S. Banacha 2D, Warsaw in room 5.01 on the 5th floor. Agnieszka Pluta, PhD hab. Assoc. Prof., Faculty of Psychology UW, will deliver a lecture, entitled “From Observing to Interacting: Moving Towards a Second-Person Neuroscience of Social Cognition”.Abstract
For decades, social neuroscience has relied on first-order, spectator-based paradigms, in which single participants passively observe social stimuli in a scanner. This approach has mapped the neural systems for emotion processing, mentalizing and empathy. However, it leaves out the defining feature of social cognition: real-time, reciprocal interaction. Second-person neuroscience addresses this by studying minds in interaction rather than minds observing interaction.
In this talk, I will trace this shift through our own research. Within the first-order framework, I will present fMRI findings on emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder, which reveal alterations in fronto-limbic circuits. I will also show that exposure to hate speech leads to emotional numbing. In our studies, this appeared as reduced activity in regions that support mentalizing, the attribution of intentions, beliefs and emotions to others.
Moving to the second-person framework, I will introduce our hyperscanning studies, which record brain activity from two interacting people at the same time and track the neurocognitive mechanisms of communication as it unfolds. In one study, we tested whether brain activity recorded from both partners during a live conversation predicts its success and the development of a later relationship. I will close with our ongoing work on mother–child interaction, where reciprocity and mutual attunement are central to development.
Bio
Agnieszka Pluta, PhD (habil.), is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, and a researcher at the Bioimaging Research Center of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing. Her work bridges social neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. She uses fMRI and fNIRS to study the neural mechanisms that let us understand others’ emotions, intentions and beliefs, and why this is difficult for some people. She is a two-time Fulbright awardee: a Junior Research Grant in 2009/2010 at MIT and a Senior Award in 2022/2023 at UCLA. She has led projects funded by the National Science Centre (Poland) and the European Commission.
About OHubb:
OHubb is a joint seminar series organised by the Nencki Institute PAS and the Faculties of Psychology and Physics at the University of Warsaw, bringing together perspectives from experimental biology, psychology and physics. Established under the cooperation agreement, the series will provide a forum for sharing knowledge, discussing research methods and findings, and building collaborations across disciplines.
The signatories of the agreement have been invited to the inaugural meeting: Prof. Agnieszka Dobrzyń, Director of the Nencki Institute PAS; Prof. Kamil Imbir, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw; and Prof. Wojciech Satuła, Dean of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw.
Researchers, doctoral candidates, students and everyone interested in interdisciplinary scientific discussion are warmly welcome!
📅 27 October 2026, at 15:15
📍 Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, room 5.01
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Event venue
ul. S. Banacha 2D , 02-097 Warsaw, Poland, ulica Stefana Banacha 2, 02-097 Warszawa, Polska, Warsaw, Poland
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