Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention
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 at...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Public Library of Science
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58551 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2377-1791 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819 |
| _version_ | 1811085322111418368 |
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| author | Triantafyllou, Christina Brown, Emery N. Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan Scholz, Jonathan Saxe, Rebecca R. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Triantafyllou, Christina Brown, Emery N. Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan Scholz, Jonathan Saxe, Rebecca R. |
| author_sort | Triantafyllou, Christina |
| collection | MIT |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:07:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/58551 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:07:07Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/585512022-10-01T13:10:13Z Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention Triantafyllou, Christina Brown, Emery N. Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan Scholz, Jonathan Saxe, Rebecca R. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Saxe, Rebecca R. Triantafyllou, Christina Saxe, Rebecca R. Brown, Emery N. Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan 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. Ellison Medical Foundation David and Lucile Packard Foundation Simons Foundation 2010-09-15T18:26:44Z 2010-09-15T18:26:44Z 2009-03 2008-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58551 Scholz, Jonathan et al. “Distinct Regions of Right Temporo-Parietal Junction Are Selective for Theory of Mind and Exogenous Attention.” PLoS ONE 4.3 (2009): e4869. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2377-1791 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004869 PLoS ONE Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ application/pdf Public Library of Science PLoS |
| spellingShingle | Triantafyllou, Christina Brown, Emery N. Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan Scholz, Jonathan Saxe, Rebecca R. Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title | Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title_full | Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title_fullStr | Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title_full_unstemmed | Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title_short | Distinct regions of right temporo-parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| title_sort | distinct regions of right temporo parietal junction are selective for theory of mind and exogenous attention |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58551 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2377-1791 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819 |
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