Neurophysiolgical bases of children's theory of mind development

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Successful engagement of the social world requires a "theory-of-mind" - an understanding of how humans observable actions are motivated by internal mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions. Theory-of-mind reasoning is universal among humans, and it develops very early in childhood. A particularly important development occurs between the ages of about 3.5- to 4.5-years-old. During this period, preschoolers come to appreciate that mental states are subjective, idiosyncratic representations of the world that can differ from some true state of affairs (i.e., a person can believe something that is not true). This fundamental insight paves the way for future social-cognitive developments in diverse areas including communication and moral reasoning. The objective of our research program is to characterize the neurological developments that accompany this crucial transition in young preschoolers' theory-of-mind abilities. The technique that we will use is dense-array brain electrophysiological recordings (EEG/ERP). Preschool-aged children (between 3- and 5-years-old) will visit our laboratory, and we will record their brain electrical activity using a "net" that places 128 soft sponge electrodes around the entire scalp. In one set of studies, we will will measure how maturational changes in characteristics of children's resting EEG relate to preschoolers' theory-of-mind development. In a second set of studies, we will use event-related potentials (ERP) to characterize developmental changes in the neural circuitry that is recruited on-line to reason about theory-of-mind. Finally, we will conduct studies to examine how characteristics of these neuro-maturational changes are affected by experience, and by genetics. This research is important for anyone who wishes to better understand the cognitive and neurobiological bases of the fundamental cognitive skills that make rich social interaction among humans possible. This research is also of particular interest for those researchers who are striving to understand the biological bases of psychiatric disorders in which theory-of-mind reasoning is impaired (e.g., autism, schizophrenia, depression).