title: The Neural Correlates Underlying Belief Reasoning for Self and for Others: Evidence from ERPs.
abstract: Belief reasoning is typical mental state reasoning in theory of mind (ToM). Although previous studies have explored the neural bases of belief reasoning, the neural correlates of belief reasoning for self and for others are rarely addressed. The decoupling mechanism of distinguishing the mental state of others from one's own is essential for ToM processing. To address the electrophysiological bases underlying the decoupling mechanism, the present event-related potential study compared the time course of neural activities associated with belief reasoning for self and for others when the belief belonging to self was consistent or inconsistent with others. Results showed that during a 450-600 ms period, belief reasoning for self elicited a larger late positive component (LPC) than for others when beliefs were inconsistent with each other. The LPC divergence is assumed to reflect the categorization of agencies in ToM processes.
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Guangxi University, NanningChina; Institute of Education Sciences, Chengdu University, ChengduChina.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Education Sciences, Chengdu University, ChengduChina; College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, ShenzhenChina.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: belief reasoning; decoupling; late positive component; others; self; theory of mind