Journal
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
Volume 30, Issue 8, Pages 2313-2335Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20671
Keywords
social cognition; mental states; fMRI; neural network; medial prefrontal cortex
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There have been many functional imaging Studies of the brain basis of theory of mind (ToM) skills, but the findings are heterogeneous and implicate anatomical regions as far apart as orbitofrontal cortex and the inferior parietal lobe. The functional imaging Studies are reviewed to determine whether the diverse findings are due to methodological factors. The Studies are considered according to the paradigm employed (e.g., stories vs. cartoons and explicit vs. implicit TOM instructions), the mental state(s) investigated, and the language demands of the tasks. Methodological variability does not seem to account for the variation in findings, although this conclusion may partly reflect the relatively small number of Studies. Alternatively, several distinct brain regions may be activated during ToM reasoning, forming in integrated functional network. The imaging findings suggest that there are several core regions in the network-including parts of the prefrontal cortex and superior temporal sulcus-while several more peripheral regions may contribute to TOM reasoning in a manner contingent oil relatively minor aspects of the TOM task. Hum Brain Mapp 30:2313-2335, 2009. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss. Inc.
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