Sabbagh Mark A, Bowman Lindsay C, Evraire Lyndsay E, Ito Jennie M B
Psychology Department, Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada.
Child Dev. 2009 Jul-Aug;80(4):1147-62. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01322.x.
Baseline electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected from twenty-nine 4-year-old children who also completed batteries of representational theory-of-mind (RTM) tasks and executive functioning (EF) tasks. Neural sources of children's EEG alpha (6-9 Hz) were estimated and analyzed to determine whether individual differences in regional EEG alpha activity predicted children's RTM performance, while statistically controlling for children's age and EF skills. Results showed that individual differences in EEG alpha activity localized to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and the right temporal-parietal juncture (rTPJ) were positively associated with children's RTM performance. These findings suggest that the maturation of dMPFC and rTPJ is a critical constituent of preschoolers' explicit theory-of-mind development.
从29名4岁儿童身上收集了基线脑电图（EEG）数据，这些儿童还完成了一系列表征性心理理论（RTM）任务和执行功能（EF）任务。对儿童脑电图α波（6-9赫兹）的神经来源进行了估计和分析，以确定区域脑电图α波活动的个体差异是否能预测儿童的RTM表现，同时对儿童的年龄和EF技能进行统计控制。结果显示，脑电图α波活动在背内侧前额叶皮层（dMPFC）和右侧颞顶联合处（rTPJ）的个体差异与儿童的RTM表现呈正相关。这些发现表明，dMPFC和rTPJ的成熟是学龄前儿童明确心理理论发展的关键组成部分。
