Distinct Regions of Right Temporo-Parietal Junction Are Selective for Theory of Mind and Exogenous Attention

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 4; no. 3; p. e4869
• Main Authors: Scholz, Jonathan, Triantafyllou, Christina, Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan, Brown, Emery N., Saxe, Rebecca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 17.03.2009; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Attention; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cortex; Experiments; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neuroscience/Cognitive Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Experimental Psychology; Parietal Lobe - physiology; Population (statistical); Radiology and Medical Imaging/Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Regions; Social interaction; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Studies; Temporal Lobe - physiology; Theories; Theory; United States > US; Massachusetts
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004869
• ISSN: 1932-6203

In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, a cortical region in the right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ) is recruited when participants read stories about people's thoughts ('Theory of Mind'). Both fMRI and lesion studies suggest that a region near the RTPJ is associated with attentional reorienting in response to an unexpected stimulus. Do Theory of Mind and attentional reorienting recruit a single population of neurons, or are there two neighboring but distinct neural populations in the RTPJ? One recent study compared these activations, and found evidence consistent with a single common region. However, the apparent overlap may have been due to the low resolution of the previous technique. We tested this hypothesis using a high-resolution protocol, within-subjects analyses, and more powerful statistical methods. Strict conjunction analyses revealed that the area of overlap was small and on the periphery of each activation. In addition, a bootstrap analysis identified a reliable 6-10 mm spatial displacement between the peak activations of the two tasks; the same magnitude and direction of displacement was observed in within-subjects comparisons. In all, these results suggest that there are neighboring but distinct regions within the RTPJ implicated in Theory of Mind and orienting attention.