title: Hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind: is there an association?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In autism and schizophrenia attenuated/atypical functional hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind impairments have been reported, suggesting common underlying neuroscientific correlates. We here investigated whether impaired theory of mind performance is associated with attenuated/atypical hemispheric asymmetry. An association may explain the co-occurrence of both dysfunctions in psychiatric populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy participants (n=129) performed a left hemisphere (lateralised lexical decision task) and right hemisphere (lateralised face decision task) dominant task as well as a visual cartoon task to assess theory of mind performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Linear regression analyses revealed inconsistent associations between theory of mind performance and functional hemisphere asymmetry: enhanced theory of mind performance was only associated with (1) faster right hemisphere language processing, and (2) reduced right hemisphere dominance for face processing (men only).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of non-significant findings suggest that theory of mind and functional hemispheric asymmetry are unrelated. Instead of "overinterpreting" the two significant results, discrepancies in the previous literature relating to the problem of the theory of mind concept, the variety of tasks, and the lack of normative data are discussed. We also suggest how future studies could explore a possible link between hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. daniela.herzig@unil.ch
authors.forename: Daniela A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Herzig
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Rhiannon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mohr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D016014:Linear Models; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic; D055815:Young Adult