Having a theory of mind allows us to understand and manipulate other people's behavior, allowing us to recognize differences in knowledge and beliefs, and manipulate our own behavior.

Theory of mind

Theory of Mind impairments are well-described for some mental disorders, but more research is needed to reach solid conclusions for others.

Assessment of Theory of Mind in Psychopathology: a Scoping Review

Different types of theory of mind tasks involve unique brain areas, with consistent activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral temporoparietal junction.

Understanding the minds of others: A neuroimaging meta-analysis

The theory of mind, which enables us to predict other people's behavior, involves activation of three brain regions: the anterior paracingulate cortex, the superior temporal sulci, and the temporal poles bilaterally.

Functional imaging of ‘theory of mind’

A two-stage approach, deconstructing the theory of mind into its basic components and reconstructing it, can provide a scientifically tractable concept for understanding human mental processes.

Deconstructing and reconstructing theory of mind

Three distinct approaches to thinking about theory of mind are implicit in research practice, and future work should clarify these approaches for a more comprehensive understanding of its nature and study methods.

What is “theory of mind”? Concepts, cognitive processes and individual differences

Impaired theory of mind (ToM) is found in schizophrenia, leading to disturbed ability to relate intentions to behavior and monitor others' intentions.

"Theory of mind" in schizophrenia: a review of the literature.

Chinese and North American children show parallel developmental trajectories of false-belief understanding, but timing varies significantly across communities, with some differences lasting up to 2 years.

Theory of mind development in Chinese children: a meta-analysis of false-belief understanding across cultures and languages.

Inverse reinforcement learning can be used to formalize Theory of Mind, enabling predictions of other people's actions by inferring their mental states from observed behavior.

Theory of mind as inverse reinforcement learning

Theory of mind evolved as an adaptive response to complex primatarian social interaction, but may be selectively impaired in various psychopathological conditions.

Theory of mind—evolution, ontogeny, brain mechanisms and psychopathology

The theory of mind mechanism (ToMM) is a modular-heuristic process of domain-specific learning that helps understand other people's thoughts and feelings, with impaired development leading to social learning issues like autistic spectrum disorders.

Core mechanisms in ‘theory of mind’

Neuroscience has the potential to address theories of theory-of-mind acquisition in adults and children, with future research focusing on microgenetic and training fMRI studies.

How and where: Theory-of-mind in the brain

The Theory of Mind approach has been critically scrutinized in this Special Issue, examining its historical sources, fundamental assumptions, and applications in child development, schizophrenia, and autism.

Theory of Mind

Theory of mind is the everyday understanding that people do things due to their mental states, such as intentions, beliefs, and desires, allowing us to explain and predict human behavior.

Bilateral orbito-frontal lesion patients show deficits in subtle social reasoning tasks, similar to individuals with Asperger's syndrome, while unilateral dorsolateral frontal lesion patients show no specific deficits.

Frontal Lobe Contributions to Theory of Mind

Theory-of-mind development varies across individuals and cultures, with individual differences and cultural differences influencing children's understanding of people's mental states.

This review identifies 220 theory of mind measures for children aged 0-5 years, highlighting methodological and psychometric challenges in developing appropriate tools.

Systematic Review and Inventory of Theory of Mind Measures for Young Children

Theory of mind (ToM) reasoning involves a wide-ranging neural system, with a core component in the amygdala and various functional components in other brain regions.

Neural systems involved in 'theory of mind'

Preschoolers' developing theory of mind shows a consistent developmental progression, with most passing later items when they successfully completed earlier ones.

Scaling of theory-of-mind tasks.

Preschoolers exhibit genuine conceptual change in understanding belief and mind, moving from below-chance performance to above-chance performance across various countries and task manipulations.

Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: the truth about false belief.

These studies suggest that theory of mind involves understanding and predicting others' behavior through specific brain regions, is crucial for social interaction, and can be impaired in certain mental disorders.