The DOI matches its Crossref record; 79 of the 79 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Functional imaging of ‘theory of mind’
Abstract
Our ability to explain and predict other people's behaviour by attributing to them independent mental states, such as beliefs and desires, is known as having a 'theory of mind'. Interest in this very human ability has engendered a growing body of evidence concerning its evolution and development and the biological basis of the mechanisms underpinning it. Functional imaging has played a key role in seeking to isolate brain regions specific to this ability. Three areas are consistently activated in association with theory of mind. These are the anterior paracingulate cortex, the superior temporal sulci and the temporal poles bilaterally. This review discusses the functional significance of each of these areas within a social cognitive network.
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“According to some authors, mentalizing is a high-level mental process that is subserved mainly by cortical midline structures, especially the mPFC [e.g., Amodio and Frith, 2006; Gallagher and Frith, 2003].”
From Social cognition and the brain: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as Gallagher and Frith, 2003
In the citing paper
“Emotional response is associated with the bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which plays a significant role in the process of belief attribution in moral judgments (Ruby and Decety, 2001; Vogeley et al., 2001; Gallagher and Frith, 2003; Schleim et al., 2010; Mai et al., 2016).”
From tDCS Over DLPFC Leads to Less Utilitarian Response in Moral-Personal Judgment (2018) · cites this paper as Gallagher and Frith, 2003
In the citing paper
“that has been proposed to encode the intentions of an agent's actions (42,43) and also to be associated more broadly with empathy, mentalizing, and theory of mind (44,45).”
From Emotions promote social interaction by synchronizing brain activity across individuals (2012) · cites this paper as [44]
In the citing paper
“and the anterior paracingulate cortex (area 32) has been shown to be selectively activated in tasks that use theory of mind (20, 21).”
From Evolution of increased glia–neuron ratios in the human frontal cortex (2006) · cites this paper as [20]
In the citing paper
“the obtained network is likely to be implicated in the recognition and processing of others’ mental states”
From Parsing the neural correlates of moral cognition: ALE meta-analysis on morality, theory of mind, and empathy (2012) · cites this paper as Gallagher and Frith 2003
In the citing paper
“The RTPJ appears to be strongly connected to other regions implicated in mental state attribution (4, 13, 28–30) and moral cognition (16, 19, 31–34), such as the left TPJ, precuneus, and medial prefrontal cortex.”
From Disruption of the right temporoparietal junction with transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgments (2010) · cites this paper as [4]
Citations
Cites
Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind” ?
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Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex
Bush, G., Luu, P., & Posner, M. I. (2000) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01483-2 · Cited by 6,259
Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: A meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI
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Pain Affect Encoded in Human Anterior Cingulate But Not Somatosensory Cortex
Rainville, P., Duncan, G. H., Price, D. D., Carrier, B., & Bushnell, M. C. (1997) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.277.5328.968 · Cited by 2,629
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Duncan, J., & Owen, A. M. (2000) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/s0166-2236(00)01633-7 · Cited by 2,498
Social perception from visual cues: Role of the STS region
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The reorienting system of the human brain: from environment to theory of mind
Corbetta, M., Patel, G., & Shulman, G. L. (2008) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.04.017 · Cited by 3,889
The functional architecture of human empathy
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004) · Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews · doi:10.1177/1534582304267187 · Cited by 3,407
What is AI Literacy? Competencies and Design Considerations
Long, D., & Magerko, B. (2020) · Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3313831.3376727 · Cited by 3,241
Self-referential processing in our brain—A meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self
Northoff, G., Heinzel, A., de Greck, M., Bermpohl, F., Dobrowolny, H., & Panksepp, J. (2006) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.12.002 · Cited by 2,792
Buckner, R. L., & Carroll, D. C. (2007) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.004 · Cited by 2,691
Metadata
- Authors
- Gallagher, H. L., & Frith, C. D.
- Affiliations
- Glasgow Caledonian University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gallagher, Helen L.
- ORCID
- Gallagher, Helen L.
- Venue
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-02
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 77-83
- ISSN
- 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2136162329
- Semantic Scholar
- e4361aa8829cf1bcaac53c54b1ebad4b95e6cf65
- Cited by
- 2,092
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 71 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 73 · 2018: 85 · 2017: 95 · 2016: 102 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 115 · 2013: 132 · 2012: 114
- FWCI
- 16.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- ResearchOnline (Glasgow Caledonian University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- theory of mind, mental state attribution, social cognition, superior temporal sulcus, temporal pole, brain regions, functional imaging
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