title: Transcultural differences in brain activation patterns during theory of mind (ToM) task performance in Japanese and Caucasian participants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Theory of mind (ToM) functioning develops during certain phases of childhood. Factors such as language development and educational style seem to influence its development. Some studies that have focused on transcultural aspects of ToM development have found differences between Asian and Western cultures. To date, however, little is known about transcultural differences in neural activation patterns as they relate to ToM functioning.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of our study was to observe ToM functioning and differences in brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study included a sample of 18 healthy Japanese and 15 healthy Caucasian subjects living in Japan. We presented a ToM task depicting geometrical shapes moving in social patterns. We also administered questionnaires to examine empathy abilities and cultural background factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Behavioral data showed no significant group differences in the subjects' post-scan descriptions of the movies. The imaging results displayed stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in the Caucasian sample during the presentation of ToM videos. Furthermore, the task-associated activation of the MPFC was positively correlated with autistic and alexithymic features in the Japanese sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, our results showed evidence of culturally dependent sociobehavioral trait patterns, which suggests that they have an impact on brain activation patterns during information processing involving ToM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. katja.koelkebeck@ukmuenster.de
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koelkebeck
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirao
authors.forename: Ryousaku
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawada
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miyata
authors.forename: Teruyasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saze
authors.forename: Shiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ubukata
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itakura
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanakogi
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ohrmann
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Anya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Nobukatsu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sawamoto
authors.forename: Hidenao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuyama
authors.forename: Hidehiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*; D044465:White People