Neural correlates of social cognition in naturalistic settings: a model-free analysis approach

Neuroimaging studies have consistently identified a network of brain regions subserving inferences of other humans' mental states. This network consists of the superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, medial prefrontal cortex, temporal poles, and precuneus. Little is known, however, about the neural substrate underlying Theory of Mind processes in close to real-life conditions. To investigate those processes in more naturalistic settings, we used an fMRI adaptation of the video-based Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC; Dziobek et al., 2006), which considers separate analysis of implicit mental state reasoning during rapidly changing perceptual cues as demanded in naturalistic settings and explicit mental state reasoning. We analyzed fMRI data by means of both a standard general linear model (GLM) approach and a tensor probabilistic independent component analysis (T-PICA), which is a novel model-free approach that allows decomposition of activation into independent spatio-temporally coherent functional networks. The model-based GLM approach revealed the typical explicit mental state reasoning network. Complementary to the GLM approach, the model-free T-PICA approach showed that those regions are also recruited during implicit mental state reasoning and that they are represented in three independent, functionally connected networks. The first component, mediating face processing and recognition, comprises the occipito-parietotemporal cortices, while the second component, involved in language comprehension, comprises the temporal lobes, lateral prefrontal cortex, and precuneus. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus comprise the third component, which is likely responsible for self-referential mental activity. These results show that the mental state reasoning network can be decomposed into circumscribed functional networks mediating differential aspects of Theory of Mind.