The basal forebrain serves social information processing

Empirical evidence suggests a critical, but little-understood, contribution of the basal forebrain (BF) to motivational aspects of social cognition. Therefore, we review the current literature on reward and punishment processing in the BF, including social information, in both animals and more recently human imaging studies. This also includes interactions with other subcortical structures, especially the ventral striatum and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area, which are part of the mesolimbic system. Importantly, the BF typically degenerates during healthy aging and shows abnormalities in autistic spectrum disorders, which may help to further understand its role in social information processing. Finally, we suggest a model of cortical and subcortical social information processing bringing together BF contributions in concert with the dopaminergic midbrain, medial temporal lobe, and prefrontal cortex to promote social cognition.