title: 'Theory of mind' in the brain. Evidence from a PET scan study of Asperger syndrome.
abstract: The ability to attribute mental states to others ('theory of mind') pervades normal social interaction and is impaired in autistic individuals. In a previous positron emission tomography scan study of normal volunteers, performing a 'theory of mind' task was associated with activity in left medial prefrontal cortex. We used the same paradigm in five patients with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism with normal intellectual functioning. No task-related activity was found in this region, but normal activity was observed in immediately adjacent areas. This result suggests that a highly circumscribed region of left medial prefrontal cortex is a crucial component of the brain system that underlies the normal understanding of other minds.
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognitive Development Unit, London, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Happé
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehlers
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Frith
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillberg
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frackowiak
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Frith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D012938:Social Perception; D013577:Syndrome; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed