title: From social-signal detection to higher social cognition: an fMRI approach.
abstract: Implicit or automatic detection of social signals, which discriminate animate, intentional objects in the environment, is essential for higher social cognition and its development. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we identified the neural substrate of detecting simple visual social signals and examined its functional link with the mechanism of inferring another's mental state. Healthy participants were presented with the eye-gaze shift (EG) and self-propelling motion (SP) under both implicit and explicit task conditions. They also performed a social role-playing game in which mental inference (MI) was implicitly prompted during the presentation of faces (implicit MI). Implicit detection of EG and SP activated the posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) bilaterally, whereas the right posterior superior temporal sulcus was activated during the explicit conditions. We revealed that the individual variation in neural response in the right pMTG during implicit eye-gaze detection explains the individual tendency to recruit the regions implicated in mental-state inference (medial prefrontal cortex, temporal pole and striatum) during the implicit MI task. Our results suggest that the implicit detection of visual social signals involves the pMTG and underlies the development of higher social cognition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan motoaki@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Motoaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yomogida
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mano
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sassa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshimune
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kambara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0882, and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011930:Reaction Time; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: animacy; fMRI; intention; mentalizing; theory of mind