Distinct neural correlates underlying pretense and false belief reasoning: Evidence from ERPs
Distinct neural correlates underlying pretense and false belief reasoning: Evidence from ERPs
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.07.019
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发表时间：
2012-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Sodian, Beate
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Meinhardt, Joerg;Kuehn-Popp, Nina;Sodian, Beate
心智理论 (ToM) 发展的两个重要里程碑： 假装游戏 (PT) 的出现，其中 18 个月大的婴儿将现实世界与虚构或想象的世界分开。对错误信念 (FB) 的明确理解大约在 4 岁左右形成，需要区分心理状态和现实。尽管关于 PT 游戏是否涉及元表征理解存在着激烈的争论，但迄今为止，FB 和 FT 推理的神经相关性尚未在一种范式中得到研究。本研究调查了 PT 和 FB 与 ERP 范式中的现实理解 (RE) 的比较，向 24 名健康成年人展示卡通故事。结果揭示了一系列区分不同条件的 ERP 组件。与 FB 和 RE 相比，PT 与顶枕部位较高的 P2 振幅以及左额叶和左后位置的晚慢波发散 (270-600 ms) 相关。这些成分可能表明对主角的知识和行为之间不一致的处理以及对假装行为的意图特征的识别。根据之前关于 FB 推理的 ERP 研究，我们发现 FB 推理的晚期前激活（600-900 ms），可能表明元表征中涉及的解耦机制。这些时间和地形差异表明 FB 和 PT 处理的不同潜在神经基质，并且不支持 PT 的元表征解释。 (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. 保留所有权利。
Two important milestones characterize the development of a Theory of Mind (ToM): The emergence of pretend play (PT) in which infants as young as 18 months separate the real world from fictional or imagined worlds. And the explicit understanding of false beliefs (FB) which develops around the age of about 4 years and demands a differentiation between mental states and reality. Although there is an outstanding debate about whether or not PT play involves metarepresentation understanding, to date, the neural correlates of FB and FT reasoning have not been investigated within one paradigm. The present study investigated PT and FB in comparison to reality understanding (RE) in an ERP paradigm presenting cartoon stories to 24 healthy adults. Results revealed a sequence of ERP components that distinguished between the conditions. PT compared to FB and RE was associated with a higher P2-amplitude at parieto-occipital sites and a late slow wave divergence (270-600 ms) at left frontal and left posterior positions. These components may indicate the processing of incongruity between the protagonist's knowledge and behavior and the identifying of the intentional character of the pretended action. In accordance with previous ERP studies on FB reasoning, we found late anterior activation (600-900 ms) for FB reasoning, probably indicating the decoupling mechanism involved in metarepresentation. These temporal and topographic differences indicate distinct underlying neural substrates for FB and PT processing, and do not support metarepresentational interpretations of PT. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.