title: Neural correlates of belief- and desire-reasoning in 7- and 8-year-old children: an event-related potential study.
abstract: Theory of mind requires belief- and desire-understanding. Event-related brain potential (ERP) research on belief- and desire-reasoning in adults found mid-frontal activations for both desires and beliefs, and selective right-posterior activations only for beliefs. Developmentally, children understand desires before beliefs; thus, a critical question concerns whether neural specialization for belief-reasoning exists in childhood or develops later. Neural activity was recorded as 7- and 8-year-olds (N = 18) performed the same diverse-desires, diverse-beliefs, and physical control tasks used in a previous adult ERP study. Like adults, mid-frontal scalp activations were found for belief- and desire-reasoning. Moreover, analyses using correct trials alone yielded selective right-posterior activations for belief-reasoning. Results suggest developmental links between increasingly accurate understanding of complex mental states and neural specialization supporting this understanding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, 1012 East Hall, 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA. lcbowman@umich.edu
authors.forename: Lindsay C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Meltzoff
authors.forename: Henry M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wellman
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D058256:Brain Waves; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D003210:Concept Formation; D003469:Culture; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011340:Problem Solving; D056345:Theory of Mind