Distinct recruitment of temporo-parietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex in behavior understanding and trait identification

Abstract

It has been suggested that the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is involved in inferring immediate goals and intentions from behaviors, whereas the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) integrates social information, such as traits, at a more abstract level. To explore the differential role of the TPJ and mPFC, participants read several verbal descriptions about an agent. Embedded in a factorial design, in one-half of the trials (behavior condition), the agent was engaged in a simple goal-directed behavior, whereas in the other half this description was absent. In another half of the trials (trait condition), the participants had to answer a question about a trait of the agent, whereas in the other half the question was about the agent's physical appearance. The results revealed that the dorsal mPFC was recruited when participants inferred the agent's trait, irrespective of a behavioral description. In contrast, the TPJ, posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), anterior intraparietal sulcus, and premotor cortex were activated when goal-directed behavioral information was presented, irrespective of a trait question. These findings confirm that in a social context, the TPJ (and pSTS) is activated for understanding goal-directed behaviors, whereas the mPFC is involved in processing traits.

Functional connectivity between the cerebrum and cerebellum in social cognition: A multi-study analysis

“…In the experimental condition, the last sentence was inconsistent with the prior sentences, while in the contrast condition the last sentence was consistent. • Study 2 (Ma et al, 2012b): Trait (Nno trait) inferences on the basis of brief trait-implying behavioral sentences (n = 13). In the experimental condition, the participants read 20 behavioral sentences that implied a social trait of a person (similar as in Study 1); while in the contrast condition they read 20 no-trait sentences describing intransitive behaviors which did not involve any interaction with other objects or persons (e.g., "Tolvan moves her right hand").…”

“…These studies were selected because they showed activity in the mentalizing network in both the cerebrum and cerebellum, and involved higher-level complex social inferences involving a person's traits, a person's past, and group stereotypes Ma et al, 2012aMa et al, , 2012bVan der Cruyssen et al, 2015;Van Hoeck et al, 2013). The selected studies also used the same experimental and scanning procedures and software program (SPM).…”

Examining overlap in behavioral and neural representations of morals, facts, and preferences.

“…Within this network, some regions of interest (ROIs) are more active during tasks that involve general forms of social cognition, such as trait inference, or assessing the similarity of others to the self (dorsal/ventral-medial prefrontal cortex; DMPFC, VMPFC; Amodio & Frith, 2006;Decety & Cacioppo, 2012;Harris, Todorov, & Fiske, 2005; Jenkins & Mitchell, 2010;Ma, Vandekerckhove, Van Hoeck, & Van Overwalle, 2012;Mitchell, Banaji, & Macrae, 2005;Ochsner et al, 2005;Schurz et al, 2014; Van Overwalle, 2009;Young & Saxe, 2009). Other ROIs are more active during tasks where participants represent mental states, such as beliefs or intentions (precuneus, and right/left temporoparietal junction; PC, RTPJ, LTPJ; Ciaramidaro et al, 2007;Dodell-Feder, Koster-Hale, Bedny, & Saxe, 2011; Fletcher et al, 1995; Gallagher et al, 2000; Gobbini, Koralek, Bryan, Montgomery, & 1 In the present study, "evaluate" refers to participants rating their agreement with a given claim.…”

Character and theory of mind: an integrative approach

“…All of these regions are implicated in impression formation and updating, both under intentional and spontaneous conditions (Cloutier et al 2011;Ferrari et al 2016;Harris et al 2005;Hassabis et al 2013;Kestemont et al 2013;Ma et al 2011). The dorsal region of the mPFC (dmPFC) in particular seems to be centrally implicated in the representation of stable personality traits (Ferrari et al 2016;Ma et al 2012). When subjects are explicitly prompted to reason about traits, this region is highly active; in contrast, when subjects are prompted to reason about "situational" factors, this region is less active, while regions associated with goal and belief attribution, such as the TPJ and the pSTS, are more so (Kestemont et al 2013).…”