# Investigating the neural mechanisms of theory of mind using human electrocorticography

> **NIH NIH R21** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $483,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
Our ability to understand other people in terms of the underlying mental states that drive their
actions, termed theory of mind (ToM), is essential to human social behavior. Neuroimaging
research has found that this sophisticated, abstract reasoning ability relies on a specific network
of regions across association cortex, with one region, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ),
showing a particularly selective response and ToM-relevant information content. However,
because the ToM response in TPJ has only been studied using noninvasive brain imaging
techniques with limited precision, our understanding of the detailed functional properties of this
region—what information is represented, how these representations evolve over time, what
computations are performed—remains very limited. Here we propose to study the role of TPJ in
mental state reasoning using intracranial electrocorticography in humans, providing a direct
measure of neural activity with combined spatial and temporal resolution. We will study TPJ
responses using narrative comprehension tasks, in which subjects listen to a story describing
the actions and interactions of human characters, and answer questions that require reasoning
about their mental states. In Aim 1, we will probe basic aspects of the time course of TPJ
response, leveraging the high temporal resolution of the electrocorticographic signal. We will
test the following hypotheses: 1) TPJ has rapid, transient increases in activity in response to
novel mental state information in a narrative. 2) TPJ responses to mental state content increase
over longer time scales in a paragraph-long narrative, as more contextual information is
available. In Aim 2, we will use high-density recordings to probe the precise spatial and
functional organization of responses to theory of mind, semantic comprehension, and episodic
recall. We will test two hypotheses about the functional specificity of ToM responses: 1)
responses to ToM content and to more generic semantic content will be spatially segregated
within TPJ. 2) Areas responsive to ToM will also be engaged during the episodic recall of richly
social events, but not during more generic recall processes without a social component. This
research will provide the first electrophysiological characterization of a region involved in
uniquely human social cognition, and lay the groundwork for a research program that will
characterize the neural basis of mental state reasoning with increasingly precise recording
devices.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9957948
- **Project number:** 1R21MH122829-01
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Adeen Flinker
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $483,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9957948

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9957948, Investigating the neural mechanisms of theory of mind using human electrocorticography (1R21MH122829-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9957948. Licensed CC0.

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