Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Experimental and Applied Psychology Laboratory, Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2024 Nov;205:112440. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112440. Epub 2024 Sep 13.
Microstates analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) has gained increasing attention among researchers and clinicians as a valid tool for investigating temporal dynamics of large-scale brain networks with a millisecond time resolution. Although microstates analysis has been widely applied to elucidate the neurophysiological basis of various cognitive functions in both clinical and non-clinical samples, its application in relation to socio-affective processing has been relatively under-researched. Therefore, the main aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between EEG microstates and mentalizing (i.e., the ability to understand the mental states of others). Eighty-two participants (thirty-six men; mean age: 24.28 ± 7.35 years; mean years of education: 15.82 ± 1.77) underwent a resting-state EEG recording and performed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The parameters of the microstates were then calculated using Cartool v. 4.09 software. Our results showed that the occurrence of microstate map C was independently and positively associated with the RMET total score and contributed to the prediction of mentalizing performance, even when controlling for potential confounding variables (i.e., age, sex, education level, tobacco and alcohol use). Since microstate C is involved in self-related processes, our findings may reflect the link between self-awareness of one's own thoughts/feelings and the enhanced ability to recognize the mental states of others at the neurophysiological level. This finding extends the functions traditionally attributed to microstate C, i.e. mind-wandering, self-related thoughts, prosociality, and emotional and interoceptive processing, to include mentalizing ability.
脑电微状态分析作为一种研究大尺度脑网络时间动态的有效工具，在研究人员和临床医生中受到越来越多的关注，其时间分辨率可达毫秒级。尽管脑电微状态分析已广泛应用于阐明临床和非临床样本中各种认知功能的神经生理基础，但它在社会情感处理方面的应用相对较少。因此，本研究的主要目的是探讨脑电微状态与心理理论（即理解他人心理状态的能力）之间的关系。82 名参与者（36 名男性；平均年龄：24.28±7.35 岁；平均受教育年限：15.82±1.77 年）接受了静息态脑电记录，并完成了“读心测试”（RMET）。然后使用 Cartool v. 4.09 软件计算微状态的参数。我们的研究结果表明，微状态图 C 的出现与 RMET 总分呈独立正相关，并有助于预测心理理论表现，即使在控制潜在混杂变量（即年龄、性别、教育水平、烟酒使用）后也是如此。由于微状态 C 涉及到自我相关的过程，我们的发现可能反映了自我意识与增强识别他人心理状态的能力之间的神经生理联系。这一发现扩展了传统上归因于微状态 C 的功能，即漫游、自我相关的思维、亲社会行为、情绪和内脏加工，包括心理理论能力。
