The neural network for the mirror system and mentalizing in normally developed children: an fMRI study.
We performed fMRI measurements in normal children to clarify which cortical areas are commonly involved in the mirror system (MS) and mentalizing, which areas are specific for mentalizing, and whether children have the same neural networks for MS and mentalizing as adults. Normal children had the same neural networks for the MS and mentalizing as adults. Common activations were found in the superior temporal sulcus and the fusiform gyri, whereas mentalizing specific activation was found in the medial prefrontal, temporal pole and the inferior parietal cortices. We suggest that mentalizing might evolve from a capacity to detect the motion of agents and to infer intentions. Further, mentalizing might require self-perspectives.
Ohnishi
Takashi
T
Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital of Mental, Nervous and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan. tohnishi@hotmail.com
Moriguchi
Yoshiya
Y
Matsuda
Hiroshi
H
Mori
Takeyuki
T
Hirakata
Makiko
M
Imabayashi
Etsuko
E
Hirao
Kentaro
K
Nemoto
Kiyotaka
K
Kaga
Makiko
M
Inagaki
Masumi
M
Yamada
Minoru
M
Uno
Akira
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior