Mapping the mentalizing brain: An ALE meta-analysis to differentiate the representation of social scenes and ages on theory of mind

Abstract

Theory of mind (ToM) involves understanding others' mental states and relies on brain regions like the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This meta-analytic review categorizes ToM studies into six sub-components across three pairs: (1) Theory of collective mind (ToCM) and individualized theory of mind (iToM), (2) Social intention ToM and private intention ToM, and (3) ToM in adults and ToM in children. We conducted coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analyses and meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) for each sub-component. We found that the ToM components utilized in social or group situations were associated with both the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) and right superior temporal sulcus (STS), whereas the ToM components focused on personal concentration were associated with both the lateral PFC and the left STS. The coactivation patterns for the group and age sub-component pairs showed significant spatial overlap with the language networks. These findings indicate that ToM is a multidimensional construct that is related to distinct functional networks for processing each of the ToM sub-components.