Children's belief- and desire-reasoning in the temporoparietal junction: evidence for specialization from functional near-infrared spectroscopy
| Autor: | Lindsay Caroline Bowman, Ioulia eKovelman, Xiaosu eHu, Henry M. Wellman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
theory of mind (ToM)
Temporoparietal junction Developmental cognitive neuroscience temporoparietal junction fNIRS 050105 experimental psychology Developmental psychology lcsh:RC321-571 03 medical and health sciences Behavioral Neuroscience 0302 clinical medicine Neuroimaging Theory of mind Specialization (functional) medicine Psychology 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry Biological Psychiatry Original Research theory of mind child development desires Pediatric temporoparietal junction (TPJ) Mechanism (biology) 05 social sciences Neurosciences Experimental Psychology Child development developmental cognitive neuroscience Psychiatry and Mental health medicine.anatomical_structure Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology Belief Neurology Functional near-infrared spectroscopy beliefs Mental health Cognitive Sciences 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Cognitive psychology Neuroscience |
| Zdroj: | Frontiers in human neuroscience, vol 9, iss OCT Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol 9 (2015) |
| Popis: | Behaviorally, children’s explicit theory of mind (ToM) proceeds in a progression of mental-state understandings: developmentally, children demonstrate accurate explicit desire-reasoning before accurate explicit belief-reasoning. Given its robust and cross-cultural nature, we hypothesize this progression may be paced in part by maturation/specialization of the brain. Neuroimaging research demonstrates that the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) becomes increasingly selective for ToM reasoning as children age, and as their ToM improves. But this research has narrowly focused on beliefs or on undifferentiated mental-states. A recent ERP study in children included a critical contrast to desire-reasoning, and demonstrated that right posterior potentials differentiated belief-reasoning from desire-reasoning. Taken together, the literature suggests that children’s desire-belief progression may be paced by specialization of the right TPJ for belief-reasoning specifically, beyond desire-reasoning. In the present study, we tested this hypothesis directly by examining children’s belief- and desire-reasoning using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in conjunction with structural magnetic resonance imaging to pinpoint brain activation in the right TPJ. Results showed greatest activation in the right TPJ for belief-reasoning, beyond desire-reasoning, and beyond non-mental reasoning (control). Findings replicate and critically extend prior ERP results, and provide clear evidence for a specific neural mechanism underlying children’s progression from understanding desires to understanding beliefs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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