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Theory-of-mind (ToM) has been extensively studied using neuroimaging, with the goal of finding a neural basis for ToM and its associate emotional and cognitive processes. In neuroimaging, a functional localizer is used when a region of interest needs to be identified in a way that is statistically independent of the main experiment. The original To...
Citations
... To identify what features of interaction facilitated the covertlevel convergence and the stabilization of individual psychophysical functions afterward, we conducted an fMRI experiment and manipulated the paired interaction patterns. To reduce the risk of reverse inference 62 , we defined the regions of interest (ROIs) in the mentalizing network a priori for each participant using a functional localizer for perspective taking 59,63,64 , separately from the main task (see Methods section for details). ...
... At the neural level, the mentalizing network (defined a priori using a functional localizer based on a theory of mind task 59,63,64 ) contributed to the dynamic formation and stabilization of perceptual norms. First, consistent with the behavioral results (Fig. 2d), RTPJ activity tracked temporal changes in estimation similarity during interaction, when paired with the reciprocating Sherif-type but not with the one-sided Asch-type partner (Fig. 3b). ...
... To identify individual ROIs in the RTPJ and the DMPFC a priori, we conducted a localizer task for cognitive perspective taking based on theory of mind (ToM) 59,63,64 , separately from the main task. The localizer task consisted of seven ToM items and seven non-ToM items. ...
In the digital era, new socially shared realities and norms emerge rapidly, whether they are beneficial or harmful to our societies. Although these are emerging properties from dynamic interaction, most research has centered on static situations where isolated individuals face extant norms. We investigated how perceptual norms emerge endogenously as shared realities through interaction, using behavioral and fMRI experiments coupled with computational modeling. Social interactions fostered convergence of perceptual responses among people, not only overtly but also at the covert psychophysical level that generates overt responses. Reciprocity played a critical role in increasing the stability (reliability) of the psychophysical function within each individual, modulated by neural activity in the mentalizing network during interaction. These results imply that bilateral influence promotes mutual cognitive anchoring of individual views, producing shared generative models at the collective level that enable endogenous agreement on totally new targets–one of the key functions of social norms.
... ; https://doi.org/10. 1101/2022 For the ToM task, we used a modified version of standard ToM localizer (Dodell-Feder et al., 2011) for Japanese participants (Ogawa et al., 2017). The participants were presented with stories describing false beliefs in the ToM task or false pictures or maps in the control task. ...
... Although previous studies indicated a dominance of the right hemisphere in ToM tasks (Sommer et al., 2007;Scholz et al., 2009;Young et al., 2010a), a bilateral involvement was also reported (Saxe and Kanwisher, 2003;Kobayashi et al., 2007), which is consistent with our result. The large area of activity in both hemispheres also agrees with previous neuroimaging studies on the ToM (Aichhorn et al., 2009;Lee and McCarthy, 2016;Ogawa et al., 2017), which showed activities in the mPFC, the precuneus, and the anterior part of the temporal cortex, in addition to the TPJ, constituting a core network for ToM performance (Frith and Frith, 1999;Amodio and Frith, 2006;Heyes and Frith, 2014;Schurz et al., 2014). ...
Visual perspective taking (VPT), particularly level 2 VPT (VPT2), which allows an individual to understand that the same object can be seen differently by others, is related to the theory of mind (ToM), because both functions require a decoupled representation from oneself. Although previous neuroimaging studies have shown that VPT and ToM activate the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), it is unclear whether common neural substrates are involved in VPT and ToM. To clarify this point, the present study directly compared the TPJ activation patterns of individual participants performing VPT2 and ToM tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging and within-subjects design. VPT2-induced activations were compared with activations observed during a mental rotation task as a control task, whereas ToM-related activities were identified with a standard ToM localizer using false-belief stories. A whole-brain analysis revealed that VPT2 and ToM activated overlapping areas in the posterior part of the TPJ. By comparing the activations induced by VPT2 and ToM in individual participants, we found that the peak voxels induced by ToM were located significantly more anteriorly and dorsally within the bilateral TPJ than those measured during the VPT2 task. We further confirmed that these activity areas were spatially distinct from the nearby extrastriate body area (EBA), visual motion area (MT+), and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) using independent localizer scans. Our findings revealed that VPT2 and ToM have distinct representations, albeit partially overlapping, indicating the functional heterogeneity of social cognition within the TPJ.
Significance Statement
The temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is consistently activated by social cognitive tasks such as visual perspective taking (VPT) and theory of mind (ToM) tasks. The present study investigated whether VPT and ToM have the same neural substrates within the TPJ using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a within-subjects design. While VPT and ToM tasks activated overlapping areas in the posterior part of the TPJ, the individual peak voxels induced by ToM were located significantly more anteriorly and dorsally compared with those observed during the VPT task. Moreover, they were spatially distinct from the nearby functional modules, such as the extrastriate body area, visual motion area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Our findings reveal the heterogeneity of social cognition representation within the TPJ.
Visual perspective taking (VPT), particularly level 2 VPT (VPT2), which allows an individual to understand that the same object can be seen differently by others, is related to the theory of mind (ToM), because both functions require a decoupled representation from oneself. Although previous neuroimaging studies have shown that VPT and ToM activate the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), it is unclear whether common neural substrates are involved in VPT and ToM. To clarify this point, we directly compared the TPJ activation patterns of individual participants performing VPT2 and ToM tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging and within-subjects design. A whole-brain analysis revealed that VPT2 and ToM activated overlapping areas in the posterior part of the TPJ. In addition, we found that both the peak coordinates and activated regions for ToM were located significantly more anteriorly and dorsally within the bilateral TPJ than those measured during the VPT2 task. We further confirmed that these activity areas were spatially distinct from the nearby extrastriate body area (EBA), visual motion area (MT+), and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) using independent localizer scans. Our findings revealed that VPT2 and ToM have gradient representations, indicating the functional heterogeneity of social cognition within the TPJ.
We address a concern about the external validity of an experiment conducted with university students related to the representativeness of the sampled population in particular. We do so by conducting large-scale (partly) incentivized online surveys of students at a Japanese university and of a sample of Japanese adults to measure individual characteristics such as cognitive ability, mentalizing skills, preferences for risk and distribution, and personality traits. While significant differences between these two samples are observed in many of these characteristics, the correlational structures among these characteristics are very similar in the two samples.
This paper reviews the role of empathy in autism spectrum disorders and psychopathy. Empathy can be subdivided into two categories: cognitive empathy (i.e., the ability to identify the emotions of others) and affective empathy (i.e., the ability to share or match the emotions of the self with those of others). Individuals with autism spectrum disorders lack cognitive empathy, whereas individuals with psychopathy lack emotional empathy. The similarity hypothesis states that people empathize with other people who are similar to themselves in personality and in conditions such as developmental disorders or typical development. The similarity hypothesis predicts that individuals with autism spectrum disorders would emotionally empathize with other people with autism spectrum disorders, and individuals with psychopathy would cognitively empathize with other people with psychopathy. Finally, we attempted to interpret autism spectrum disorders and psychopathy as resulting from the neurodiversity of empathy.
