Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 Jan;7(1):53-63. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsr023. Epub 2011 Apr 4.
Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute thoughts, intentions and beliefs to others. This involves component processes, including cognitive perspective taking (cognitive ToM) and understanding emotions (affective ToM). This study assessed the distinction and overlap of neural processes involved in these respective components, and also investigated their development between adolescence and adulthood. While data suggest that ToM develops between adolescence and adulthood, these populations have not been compared on cognitive and affective ToM domains. Using fMRI with 15 adolescent (aged 11-16 years) and 15 adult (aged 24-40 years) males, we assessed neural responses during cartoon vignettes requiring cognitive ToM, affective ToM or physical causality comprehension (control). An additional aim was to explore relationships between fMRI data and self-reported empathy. Both cognitive and affective ToM conditions were associated with neural responses in the classic ToM network across both groups, although only affective ToM recruited medial/ventromedial PFC (mPFC/vmPFC). Adolescents additionally activated vmPFC more than did adults during affective ToM. The specificity of the mPFC/vmPFC response during affective ToM supports evidence from lesion studies suggesting that vmPFC may integrate affective information during ToM. Furthermore, the differential neural response in vmPFC between adult and adolescent groups indicates developmental changes in affective ToM processing.
心理理论（Theory of Mind，ToM）是指将他人的思想、意图和信念归因于他人的能力。这涉及到认知视角（cognitive ToM）和理解情绪（affective ToM）等组成过程。本研究评估了涉及这些不同组成部分的神经过程的区别和重叠，并研究了它们在青少年和成年期之间的发展。虽然数据表明 ToM 在青少年和成年期之间发展，但这两个群体在认知和情感 ToM 领域尚未进行比较。使用 fMRI 对 15 名青少年（年龄 11-16 岁）和 15 名成年男性（年龄 24-40 岁）进行研究，我们评估了在需要认知 ToM、情感 ToM 或物理因果理解（控制）的卡通小片中的神经反应。另一个目的是探索 fMRI 数据与自我报告的同理心之间的关系。在这两个群体中，认知和情感 ToM 条件都与经典 ToM 网络中的神经反应有关，尽管只有情感 ToM 招募了内侧/腹侧前额叶皮层（mPFC/vmPFC）。青少年在情感 ToM 期间比成年更激活 vmPFC。情感 ToM 期间 mPFC/vmPFC 反应的特异性支持了来自病变研究的证据，即 vmPFC 可能在 ToM 过程中整合情感信息。此外，vmPFC 在成年和青少年组之间的神经反应差异表明情感 ToM 处理的发展变化。
