Neural correlates of theory-of-mind reasoning: An event-related potential study

Everyday understanding of human behavior rests on having a theory of mind-t he ability to relate people's actions to underlying mental states such as b eliefs and desires. It has been suggested that an impaired theory of mind m ay lie at the heart of psychological disorders that are characterized by de ficits in social understanding, such as autism. In this study, we employed the event-related potential methodology to index the activity of neural sys tems that are engaged during theory-of-mind reasoning in adults. Specifical ly, neural activity elicited by tasks that required thinking about mental a s compared with nonmental representations (i.e., beliefs vs. photographs) w as characterized by a focally enhanced positivity over left frontal areas, which was diminished over left parietal areas. These findings provide an im portant perspective on both children's theory-of-mind development and the n eurobiology of disorders in which theory of mind seems to be impaired.