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- Title
Theory of Mind Performance in Children Correlates With Functional Specialization of a Brain Region for Thinking About Thoughts.
- Authors
Gweon, Hyowon; Dodell‐Feder, David; Bedny, Marina; Saxe, Rebecca
- Abstract
Thinking about other people's thoughts recruits a specific group of brain regions, including the temporo-parietal junctions (TPJ), precuneus (PC), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). The same brain regions were recruited when children ( N = 20, 5-11 years) and adults ( N = 8) listened to descriptions of characters' mental states, compared to descriptions of physical events. Between ages 5 and 11 years, responses in the bilateral TPJ became increasingly specific to stories describing mental states as opposed to people's appearance and social relationships. Functional activity in the right TPJ was related to children's performance on a high level theory of mind task. These findings provide insights into the origin of neural mechanisms of theory of mind, and how behavioral and neural changes can be related in development.
- Subjects
PHILOSOPHY of mind in children; COGNITION in children; BRAIN anatomy; BEHAVIOR modification; MAGNETIC resonance imaging; BEHAVIORAL research; PSYCHOLOGY
- Publication
Child Development, 2012, Vol 83, Issue 6, p1853
- ISSN
0009-3920
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01829.x