Joe Scherer





Our ability to predict other people’s behavior
by attributing them independent mental states
such as beliefs and desires
Gives us the ability to deceive
Allows us to cooperate and empathize
Read others body language
Anticipate other’s behavior


Uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI to
measure blood flow in the brain due to neural
activity
Has implicated three primary areas
experiencing an increase in blood flow when
theory of mind activities are in progress






Anterior Paracingulate
Cortex
Superior Temporal Sulci
(STS)
Temporal Poles
Amygdala
Orbitofrontal Cortex
Only 1 fMRI study
supports the Amygdala
and Orbitofrontal
Cortex’s involvement


Abnormalities in understanding another
person’s mind is one of the core properties of
Autism
Multiple Theory of Mind tasks have been
formed in order to distinguish autism in
children





Seeing is believing
Mental/Physical Distinction
Appearance Reality Distinction
Friend or Foe
False Belief Task

Anterior Paracingulate Cortex, Superior
Temporal Sulcus and the Temporal Lobes
consistently show an increase in blood flow
when Theory of Mind tasks are being
performed





The Decoupling Mechanism
The studies of Gallagher and McCabe provide
evidence to support this idea
These 2 studies are important for two reasons
1. The only difference in the conditions was the
stance adopted by the participants
2. They used on-line mentalizing instead of offline


Online is conducted in real time
Offline is where an experimenter asks
participants to imagine a scenario in their past
and retrospectively explain the behavior of the
person involved





Currently felt Emotions
Autobiographical Memory
Perception of Pain
It is active during the “rest” period in many
studies of cognitive processes
Mentalizing about our own mental states





Associated with
understanding the
meanings of stories and
cartoons involving
people
Causality and
Intentions
Facial Emotion
Taking the Self
Perspective
Along with the
Temporal Poles may
relate to abilities that
aid in mentalizing





Activated during Recollection of Familiar Faces
and Scenes
Recognition of Voices
Emotional Memory Retrieval
Autobiographical Memory Retrieval
These results suggest the Temporal Poles to be
involved in Semantic Memory, which useful in
Scripts


Activated in response
to untrustworthy
faces
Socially Salient
Stimuli



fMRI shows an increase of blood flow during
intentional and unintentional embarrassing
acts
Leads researchers to believe it is involved in a
system that recognizes the negative reactions of
others
Unlikely to be directly responsible for Theory
of Mind