Abu-Akel Ahmad
Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2003 Sep;43(1):29-40. doi: 10.1016/s0165-0173(03)00190-5.
This paper attempts, based on a review of a wide range of clinical, biobehavioral and neuroanatomical studies, to account for the various theory of mind impairments observed in psychiatric and developmental disorders in a single neurobiological model. The proposed model is composed of a representational component subserved by posterior brain regions (temporal and parietal) and an application/execution component subserved by prefrontal regions. Information processed in posterior regions is relayed through a limbic-paralimbic system, which is essential for the implementation of theory of mind processes. In addition to its clinical implications, the proposed model accounts for (1) the ability to mentalize about both the self and others, (2) the nature of the anatomic connections of the various brain regions and their functional correlates, and (3) theories pertaining to the inferencing mechanisms used during mental representation/attribution.
本文基于对一系列临床、生物行为学和神经解剖学研究的综述，试图在单一神经生物学模型中解释在精神疾病和发育障碍中观察到的各种心理理论损伤。所提出的模型由后脑部区域（颞叶和顶叶）支持的表征成分和前额叶区域支持的应用/执行成分组成。在后脑区域处理的信息通过边缘-边缘旁系统传递，这对于心理理论过程的实现至关重要。除了其临床意义外，所提出的模型还解释了：（1）对自我和他人进行心理化的能力；（2）各个脑区的解剖连接性质及其功能相关性；（3）与心理表征/归因过程中使用的推理机制相关的理论。
