Humans are inherently social creatures. Social behav- iours emerge in the early stages of infancy 1 and remain critical throughout the lifespan 2,3 . Much of our everyday behaviour is motivated by social and emotional goals; indeed, the disproportionately large size of the human brain might be the result of evolutionary pressures to negotiate complex social systems 4 . For this reason, social cognition — the means by which we perceive, process and interpret social information — is a fundamental neurocognitive capacity. A critical role for social cog- nition in functional disability is now well established: social cognitive impairment has been linked to poor quality of life, mental health problems, unemployment and loneliness 5–7 . Nearly all neurological disorders that affect the brain have the potential to disrupt social cognitive function. Social cognitive impairment can be a prom- inent clinical symptom after acute brain damage, such as traumatic brain injury or stroke, and can be a core feature of the early stages of some chronic neurological disorders, such as behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) 8 . However, in the early stages of many neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer disease (AD), Parkinson disease and multiple sclerosis, social cognitive disturbances might be relatively subtle and harder to detect informally. Structured social cogni- tive assessment is, therefore, useful in a wide range of neurological conditions. In patients with acute brain trauma, or if a patient’s history or diagnosis could indi- cate social cognitive dysfunction, social cognitive assess- ment should be part of the initial standard neurological examination. Even if no impairment is identified, such assessment should be included in routine follow-up in neurological disorders that are associated with social cognitive impairment. Failures of social cognition most often present clin- ically in one or more of four ways: impaired theory of mind (ToM), reduced emotional empathy, poor social perception, and abnormal social behaviour. ToM refers to our ability to understand the mental states of others, and to appreciate that these mental states might differ from our own. Affective ToM requires an understand- ing of others’ emotions, affective states or feelings (and overlaps with the construct of cognitive empathy), 1 School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia. 2 School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive & Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia. 3 Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales 2031, Australia. Correspondence to J.D.H. julie.henry@uq.edu.au doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2015.229 Published online 16 Dec 2015 Clinical assessment of social cognitive function in neurological disorders Julie D. Henry 1 , William von Hippel 1 , Pascal Molenberghs 2 , Teresa Lee 3 and Perminder S. Sachdev 3 Abstract | Social cognition broadly refers to the processing of social information in the brain that underlies abilities such as the detection of others’ emotions and responding appropriately to these emotions. Social cognitive skills are critical for successful communication and, consequently, mental health and wellbeing. Disturbances of social cognition are early and salient features of many neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, and often occur after acute brain injury. Its assessment in the clinic is, therefore, of paramount importance. Indeed, the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM‑5) introduced social cognition as one of six core components of neurocognitive function, alongside memory and executive control. Failures of social cognition most often present as poor theory of mind, reduced affective empathy, impaired social perception or abnormal social behaviour. Standard neuropsychological assessments lack the precision and sensitivity needed to adequately inform treatment of these failures. In this Review, we present appropriate methods of assessment for each of the four domains, using an example disorder to illustrate the value of these approaches. We discuss the clinical applications of testing for social cognitive function, and finally suggest a five‑step algorithm for the evaluation and treatment of impairments, providing quantitative evidence to guide the selection of social cognitive measures in clinical practice. NATURE REVIEWS | NEUROLOGY ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION | 1 REVIEWS © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved