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. 2009;4(2):135-52.
doi: 10.1080/17470910802198510. Epub 2008 Jul 3.

Atypical frontal-posterior synchronization of Theory of Mind regions in autism during mental state attribution

Rajesh K Kana  1 , Timothy A Keller, Vladimir L Cherkassky, Nancy J Minshew, Marcel Adam Just
Affiliations

Atypical frontal-posterior synchronization of Theory of Mind regions in autism during mental state attribution

Rajesh K Kana et al. Soc Neurosci. 2009.

Abstract

This study used fMRI to investigate the functioning of the Theory of Mind (ToM) cortical network in autism during the viewing of animations that in some conditions entailed the attribution of a mental state to animated geometric figures. At the cortical level, mentalizing (attribution of metal states) is underpinned by the coordination and integration of the components of the ToM network, which include the medial frontal gyrus, the anterior paracingulate, and the right temporoparietal junction. The pivotal new finding was a functional underconnectivity (a lower degree of synchronization) in autism, especially in the connections between frontal and posterior areas during the attribution of mental states. In addition, the frontal ToM regions activated less in participants with autism relative to control participants. In the autism group, an independent psychometric assessment of ToM ability and the activation in the right temporoparietal junction were reliably correlated. The results together provide new evidence for the biological basis of atypical processing of ToM in autism, implicating the underconnectivity between frontal regions and more posterior areas.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Activation in right superior temporal (yellow ovals) and superior medial frontal (blue ovals) areas in autism and control groups for the contrast of Theory of Mind processing with Random animation processing. The t-maps are thresholded at p < .005 and an extent threshold of 6 voxels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Participants with autism showed reduced levels of activation relative to control participants (p < .005, uncorrected) in four regions in the frontal Theory of Mind network: 1) left superior medial frontal gyrus, 2) left anterior paracingulate cortex, 3) bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, and 4) left inferior orbitofrontal cortex. The graphic was created using Slicer software: <http://slicer.org>.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean functional connectivity (z′) in the frontal-posterior Theory of Mind network for each group and each condition. Participants with autism showed significantly reduced functional connectivity relative to control participants in the Theory of Mind condition and the Random condition, but not in the Goal-directed condition.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Participants with autism showed a significant positive correlation between Theory of Mind score and the activation in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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