Abstract
Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to represent and attribute mental states to oneself and others. So far, research regarding ToM processing across adolescence is scarce. Existing studies either yield inconsistent results or did not or not thoroughly investigate aspects like higher order ToM and associated neuropsychological variables which the current study tried to address. 643 typically developing early, middle, and late adolescents (age groups 13–14; 15–16; 17–18) performed cognitive and affective ToM tasks as well as neuropsychological tasks tapping the cognitive or affective domain. Regarding both ToM types, 15- to 16-year-olds and 17- to 18-year-olds outperformed 13- to 14-year-olds, whereas females were superior regarding cognitive ToM. Across adolescence, cognitive and affective ToM correlated with attention and affective intelligence, whereas working memory, language comprehension, and figural intelligence additionally correlated with cognitive ToM. In early adolescence, attention correlated with both ToM types, whereas cognitive ToM further correlated with language comprehension and affective ToM with verbal intelligence, verbal fluency, and verbal flexibility. In middle and late adolescence, affective intelligence correlated with both ToM types, whereas cognitive ToM additionally correlated with working memory, language comprehension, and figural intelligence. The current study shows a developmental step regarding cognitive and affective ToM in middle adolescence as well as gender differences in cognitive ToM processing. Associations between neuropsychological variables and ToM processing were shown across adolescence and within age groups. Results give new insights into social cognition in adolescence and are well supported by neuroscientific and neurobiological studies regarding ToM and the integration of cognitive and affective processes.Graphic abstract
Highlights
Theory of Mind (ToM): definition, components, and its neurobiological bases “Theory of Mind” (ToM), first introduced by Premack and Woodruff (1978), is the ability to represent and attribute mental states such as knowledge, beliefs, expectations, intentions, and emotions to oneself and others, and can be used to understand and predict one’s own and other’s behavior (e.g., Schlaffke et al, 2015)
Cognitive mental states are enabled by the dorsal regions of the temporal pole, anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex whereas affective mental states are enabled by the ventral striatum, amygdala, ventral temporal pole, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the ventral medial prefrontal cortex, and inferolateral frontal cortex
Increases in cognitive and affective ToM were associated with age and the neuropsychological variables attention and affective intelligence
Summary
Theory of Mind (ToM): definition, components, and its neurobiological bases “Theory of Mind” (ToM), first introduced by Premack and Woodruff (1978), is the ability to represent and attribute mental states such as knowledge, beliefs, expectations, intentions, and emotions to oneself and others, and can be used to understand and predict one’s own and other’s behavior (e.g., Schlaffke et al, 2015). A specific neuronal ToM network was identified involving, inter alia, prefrontal, cingulate, temporal, parietal, limbic, and other subcortical regions (see e.g., Abu-Akel & Shamay-Tsoory, 2011) In this context, Abu-Akel and Shamay-Tsoory (2011) postulated a novel neurobiological model of ToM that indicates different processing steps in different ToM-specific brain regions and how they are influenced by attention and neurochemical systems. Whereas ToM performance is based on a network of distinct brain regions, the activation of this network seems to be significantly influenced by dorsal and ventral attention and selection systems as well as dopaminergic and serotonergic systems Whereas this neurobiological model refers to mentalizing brain circuits in the brain of adults, according to the authors it further seems to provide a “suitable framework for examining the development of ToM” (Abu-Akel & Shamay-Tsoory, 2011, page 2981)
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