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Two systems for thinking about others' thoughts in the developing brain.

Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann1,2, Angela D Friederici3, Tania Singer4

  • 1Research Group Milestones of Early Cognitive Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; wiesmann@cbs.mpg.de.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|March 11, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Children possess distinct neural systems for verbal and nonverbal Theory of Mind (ToM). Verbal ToM relies on brain regions like the precuneus, while nonverbal ToM involves areas such as the supramarginal gyrus, suggesting earlier social-cognitive development.

Keywords:
Theory of Mindbrain developmentcortical thicknessfalse beliefgray matter

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Cognitive psychology
  • Social cognition

Background:

  • Human social interaction depends on Theory of Mind (ToM).
  • Traditional verbal ToM tasks suggest emergence around 4 years of age.
  • Recent nonverbal ToM tasks show abilities in younger children, challenging developmental timelines.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate the neural basis of early childhood ToM abilities.
  • Differentiate the neural networks supporting verbal versus nonverbal ToM.
  • Clarify the developmental trajectory of mature adult ToM.

Main Methods:

  • Examined cortical thickness and surface area in 3- and 4-year-old children.
  • Assessed performance on novel nonverbal and traditional verbal ToM tasks.
  • Correlated brain structure markers with ToM task performance.

Main Results:

  • Verbal ToM performance linked to the precuneus and temporoparietal junction's cortical structure.
  • Nonverbal ToM performance associated with the supramarginal gyrus's neural network.
  • Identified a neural dissociation between verbal and nonverbal ToM systems.

Conclusions:

  • Suggests two distinct systems for reasoning about others' minds.
  • Mature verbal ToM emerges around 4 years of age.
  • Nonverbal ToM relies on distinct, earlier-developing social-cognitive processes.