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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Individual differences in the theory of mind and superior temporal sulcus
Yuki Otsuka1, Naoyuki Osaka, Takashi Ikeda
1Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. yotsuka@bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
We investigated the brain area with regard to individual differences in the theory of mind. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the brain area in which signal intensity was apparently related to performance of a theory-of-mind task on multiple regression analysis. A significant relation was observed between performance of theory-of-mind task and activation in the left anterior superior temporal sulcus. We could not find such an activation in the superior temporal sulcus and the temporo-parietal junction area. The present findings provide new evidence that the anterior superior temporal sulcus might dictate individual differences in theory of mind.
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