It's the Thought That Counts: Specific Brain Regions for One Component of Theory of Mind
Abstract
Evidence from developmental psychology suggests that representing the contents of other people's thoughts and beliefs depends on a component of reasoning about other minds (theory of mind) that is distinct from the earlier-developing mental-state concepts for goals, perceptions, and feelings. To provide converging evidence, the current study investigated the substrate of the late-developing process in adult brains. Three regions—the right and left temporo-parietal junction and the posterior cingulate—responded selectively when subjects read about a protagonist's thoughts, but not when they read about other subjective, internal states or other socially relevant information about a person. By contrast, the medial prefrontal cortex responded equivalently in all of these story conditions, a result consistent with a broader role for medial prefrontal cortex in general social cognition. These data support the hypothesis that the early- and late-developing components of theory of mind rely on separate psychological and neural mechanisms, and that these mechanisms remain distinct into adulthood.
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Even when the stimuli and the subjects' responses are all physically identical, just changing the task instructions from an abstract rule to answering a question about a person's thoughts is sufficient to elicit enhanced recruitment of the RTPJ.
“Finally, even when the stimuli and the subjects' responses are all physically identical, just changing the task instructions from an abstract rule to answering a question about a person's thoughts is sufficient to elicit enhanced recruitment of the RTPJ [6].”
From Distinct Regions of Right Temporo-Parietal Junction Are Selective for Theory of Mind and Exogenous Attention (2009) · cites this paper as [6]
The temporo-parietal regions observed from theory-of-mind, attentional reorienting tasks, and the neglect syndrome all tend to be heavily right-lateralized.
“First, the temporo-parietal regions observed from theory-of-mind, attentional reorienting tasks, and the neglect syndrome all tend to be heavily right-lateralized (although bilateral activations have also been observed across all 3 research domains; see Corbetta and Shulman 2002;Saxe and Powell 2006).”
From Activity in Right Temporo-Parietal Junction is Not Selective for Theory-of-Mind (2008) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell 2006
In the theory-of-mind task, the contrast beliefs > photographs identified RTPJ, MPFC, precuneus, and a region of superior frontal gyrus.
“This contrast identified 3 of the regions previously linked to the theory-of-mind task-RTPJ, MPFC, and precuneus (Saxe and Kanwisher 2003;Saxe and Wexler 2005;Saxe and Powell 2006)-as well as a region of superior frontal gyrus (Fig. 2 and Table 2).”
From Activity in Right Temporo-Parietal Junction is Not Selective for Theory-of-Mind (2008) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell 2006
The current study comprised the identical theory-of-mind task, was conducted at the same imaging center, used a sample from the same participant population, included the same preprocessing steps, and was analyzed using the same software (SPM99) as Saxe and colleagues.
“Accordingly, the choice of procedures ensured that the current study comprised the identical theory-of-mind task, was conducted at the same imaging center, used a sample from the same participant population (individuals in the Cambridge/Boston area), included the same preprocessing steps, and was analyzed using the same software (SPM99) as Saxe and colleagues (Saxe and Kanwisher 2003;Saxe and Wexl”
From Activity in Right Temporo-Parietal Junction is Not Selective for Theory-of-Mind (2008) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell 2006
The theory-of-mind localizer task isolates an RTPJ region that responds more robustly to stories requiring understanding a person's beliefs than to stories requiring understanding physical representation.
“In each of these studies, the researchers have used a ''theory-ofmind localizer'' task to isolate an RTPJ region that responds more robustly to stories that require understanding a person's beliefs than those that require understanding various modes of physical representation (such as photographs and maps).”
From Activity in Right Temporo-Parietal Junction is Not Selective for Theory-of-Mind (2008) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell 2006
A number of empirical observations distinguish the results obtained here from those reported in earlier studies using the theory-of-mind localizer.
“a number of empirical observations distinguish the results obtained here from those reported in earlier studies using the theory-of-mind localizer (Saxe and Kanwisher 2003;Saxe and Wexler 2005;Saxe and Powell 2006).”
From Activity in Right Temporo-Parietal Junction is Not Selective for Theory-of-Mind (2008) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell 2006
Right TPJ has been associated with ToM in a number of fMRI and PET studies, mostly based on false-belief tasks.
“Right TPJ has been associated with ToM in a number of fMRI and positron emission tomography (PET) studies, mostly based on false-belief tasks (Saxe and Powell, 2006)”
From The brain's conversation with itself: neural substrates of dialogic inner speech (2016) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell, 2006
Right TPJ has been implicated in representation of other people's beliefs and states of knowledge.
“It is also close to sections of right TPJ that have been implicated in representation of other people’s beliefs and states of knowledge (Saxe and Powell, 2006; Sebastian et al., 2012).”
From The brain's conversation with itself: neural substrates of dialogic inner speech (2016) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell, 2006
An increasing number of authors suggest that the TPJ has specific social functions of its own, in particular for identifying the goals or intentions behind behaviors, together with the aid of mirror neurons.
“On the other hand, an increasing number of authors suggest that the TPJ has specific social functions of its own, in particular for identifying the goals or intentions behind behaviors, together with the aid of ''mirror neurons'' [e.g., Gallese et al., 2004; Keysers and Gazzola, 2007; Saxe and Powell, 2006; Uddin et al., 2007].”
From Social cognition and the brain: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell, 2006
The mPFC is equally activated for inferred events versus true events.
“In contrast, the mPFC was equally activated in these two conditions.”
From Social cognition and the brain: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell, 2006
The TPJ is more strongly activated for inferred events (that could be false) versus true events.
“More importantly, Saxe and Powell (2006) found that the TPJ was more strongly activated in relation to beliefs for inferred events (that could be false, e.g., ''his dog broke loose so he guessed that the leash had come untied'') versus true events (e.g., ''he was sick, felt weak and had a high fever'').”
From Social cognition and the brain: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as Saxe and Powell, 2006
The RTPJ was targeted here because of prior neuroimaging evidence that activity in the RTPJ is relatively selective in processing mental states (e.g., beliefs) as opposed to other socially relevant information.
“The RTPJ was targeted here because of prior neuroimaging evidence that activity in the RTPJ is relatively selective in processing mental states (e.g., beliefs) as opposed to other socially relevant information (8).”
From Disruption of the right temporoparietal junction with transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgments (2010) · cites this paper as [8]
The right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) shows increased metabolic activity whenever participants read about a person's beliefs in nonmoral and moral contexts.
“In particular, the right TPJ (RTPJ) shows increased metabolic activity whenever participants read about a person's beliefs in nonmoral (5–8) and moral (9) contexts.”
From Disruption of the right temporoparietal junction with transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgments (2010) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Saxe, R., & Powell, L. J.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2006-08
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 692-699
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2116526527
- Cited by
- 815
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 77 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 64.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- theory of mind, narrative comprehension, temporoparietal junction, posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, social cognition, neural development, adult brain
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Cognition, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Psychological Theory, Thinking
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