Theory of Mind and Its Brain Distribution in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer
another’s mental state. With appropriate ToM, one can behave well in
social interactions. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that
patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may damage ToM by
affecting on regions of the underlying neural network of ToM.
However, the question of whether there is cerebral laterality for ToM
functions remains open. This study aimed to examine whether there is
cerebral lateralization for ToM abilities in TLE patients. Sixty-seven
adult TLE patients and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) were
recruited. Patients were classified into right (RTLE), left (LTLE), and
bilateral (BTLE) TLE groups on the basis of a consensus panel review
of their seizure semiology, EEG findings, and brain imaging results.
All participants completed an intellectual test and four tasks measuring
basic and advanced ToM. The results showed that, on all ToM tasks,
(1) each patient group performed worse than HC; (2) there were no
significant differences between LTLE and RTLE groups; and (3) the
BTLE group performed the worst. It appears that the neural network
responsible for ToM is distributed evenly between the cerebral
hemispheres.
[1] Lin JJ, Mula M, Hermann BP. Uncovering the neurobehavioural
comorbidities of epilepsy over the lifespan. Lancet 2012;380:1180–1192.
[2] Wang WH, Liou HH, Chen CC, et al. Neuropsychological performance
and seizure-related risk factors in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: A
retrospective cross-sectional study. Epilepsy Behav 2011;22:728–734.
[3] Giovagnoli AR. The importance of theory of mind in epilepsy. Epilepsy
Behav 2014;39:145–153.
[4] Li YH, Chiu MJ, Yeh ZT, Liou HH, Cheng TW, Hua MS. Theory of Mind
in patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. J Int Neuropsych Soc
2013;19:594–600
[5] Schurz M., Radua J., Aichhorn M., Richlan F., Perner J. Fractionating
theory of mind: A meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014;42:9–34
[6] Carrington SJ & Bailey AJ. Are there theory of mind regions in the brain?
A review of the neuroimaging literature. Hum Brain Mapp
2009;30:2313–2335.
[7] Adolphs R. The social brain: neural basis of social knowledge. Annu Rev
Psychol 2009;60:693–716.
[8] Mahy CE, Moses LJ, Pfeifer JH. How and where: Theory-of-mind in the
brain. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2014;9:68–81.
[9] Mar RA. The neural bases of social cognition and story comprehension.
Annu Rev Psychol 2011;62:103–134.
[10] Broicher SD, Kuchukhidze G, Grunwald T, Krämer G, Kurthen M, Jokeit
H. “Tell me how do I feel” - emotion recognition and theory of mind in
symptomatic mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Neuropsychologia
2012;50:118–128.
[11] Giovagnoli AR, Parente A, Villani F, Franceschetti S, Spreafico R.
Theory of mind and epilepsy: What clinical implications? Epilepsia
2013;54(9):1639–1646.
[12] Schacher M, Winkler R, Grunwald T, et al. Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
impairs advanced social cognition. Epilepsia 2006;47(12):2141–2146.
[13] Giovagnoli AR, Franceschetti S, Reati F, et al. Theory of mind in frontal
and temporal lobe epilepsy: cognitive and neural aspects. Epilepsia
2011;52:1995–2002.
[14] Shaw P, Lawrence E, Bramaham J, Brierley B, Radbourne C, David AS.
A prospective study of the effects of anterior temporal lobe on emotion
recognition and theory of mind. Neuropsychologia 2007;45:2783–2790. [15] Yeh ZT, Hua MS, Liu SI. Guess what I think? The reliability and validity
of chinese Theory of Mind tasks and performance in the elderly. Chin J
Psychol 2009;51:375–395.
[16] Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and
constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding
of deception. Cognition 1983;13(1):103–128.
[17] Baron-Cohen S, O’Riordan M, Stone V, et al. Recognition of faux pas by
normally developing children and children with Asperger syndrome or
high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 1999;29(5):407–418.
[18] Happé, FG. An advanced test of theory of mind: understanding of story
characters' thoughts and feelings by able autistic, mentally handicapped,
and normal children and adults. J Autism Dev Disord 1994;24(2):129–
154.
[19] Chen JH, Chen HY. Wechsler adult intelligence scale. 3rd ed. (Chinese)
(Manual). Chinese Behavioral Science Corp, Taipei; 2002.
[20] McDonald S. New frontiers in neuropsychological assessment: Assessing
social perception using a standardised instrument, The Awareness of
Social Inference Test. Australian Psychologist 2012;47:39–48.
[1] Lin JJ, Mula M, Hermann BP. Uncovering the neurobehavioural
comorbidities of epilepsy over the lifespan. Lancet 2012;380:1180–1192.
[2] Wang WH, Liou HH, Chen CC, et al. Neuropsychological performance
and seizure-related risk factors in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: A
retrospective cross-sectional study. Epilepsy Behav 2011;22:728–734.
[3] Giovagnoli AR. The importance of theory of mind in epilepsy. Epilepsy
Behav 2014;39:145–153.
[4] Li YH, Chiu MJ, Yeh ZT, Liou HH, Cheng TW, Hua MS. Theory of Mind
in patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. J Int Neuropsych Soc
2013;19:594–600
[5] Schurz M., Radua J., Aichhorn M., Richlan F., Perner J. Fractionating
theory of mind: A meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014;42:9–34
[6] Carrington SJ & Bailey AJ. Are there theory of mind regions in the brain?
A review of the neuroimaging literature. Hum Brain Mapp
2009;30:2313–2335.
[7] Adolphs R. The social brain: neural basis of social knowledge. Annu Rev
Psychol 2009;60:693–716.
[8] Mahy CE, Moses LJ, Pfeifer JH. How and where: Theory-of-mind in the
brain. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2014;9:68–81.
[9] Mar RA. The neural bases of social cognition and story comprehension.
Annu Rev Psychol 2011;62:103–134.
[10] Broicher SD, Kuchukhidze G, Grunwald T, Krämer G, Kurthen M, Jokeit
H. “Tell me how do I feel” - emotion recognition and theory of mind in
symptomatic mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Neuropsychologia
2012;50:118–128.
[11] Giovagnoli AR, Parente A, Villani F, Franceschetti S, Spreafico R.
Theory of mind and epilepsy: What clinical implications? Epilepsia
2013;54(9):1639–1646.
[12] Schacher M, Winkler R, Grunwald T, et al. Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
impairs advanced social cognition. Epilepsia 2006;47(12):2141–2146.
[13] Giovagnoli AR, Franceschetti S, Reati F, et al. Theory of mind in frontal
and temporal lobe epilepsy: cognitive and neural aspects. Epilepsia
2011;52:1995–2002.
[14] Shaw P, Lawrence E, Bramaham J, Brierley B, Radbourne C, David AS.
A prospective study of the effects of anterior temporal lobe on emotion
recognition and theory of mind. Neuropsychologia 2007;45:2783–2790. [15] Yeh ZT, Hua MS, Liu SI. Guess what I think? The reliability and validity
of chinese Theory of Mind tasks and performance in the elderly. Chin J
Psychol 2009;51:375–395.
[16] Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and
constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding
of deception. Cognition 1983;13(1):103–128.
[17] Baron-Cohen S, O’Riordan M, Stone V, et al. Recognition of faux pas by
normally developing children and children with Asperger syndrome or
high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 1999;29(5):407–418.
[18] Happé, FG. An advanced test of theory of mind: understanding of story
characters' thoughts and feelings by able autistic, mentally handicapped,
and normal children and adults. J Autism Dev Disord 1994;24(2):129–
154.
[19] Chen JH, Chen HY. Wechsler adult intelligence scale. 3rd ed. (Chinese)
(Manual). Chinese Behavioral Science Corp, Taipei; 2002.
[20] McDonald S. New frontiers in neuropsychological assessment: Assessing
social perception using a standardised instrument, The Awareness of
Social Inference Test. Australian Psychologist 2012;47:39–48.
@article{"International Journal of Medical, Medicine and Health Sciences:69911", author = "Wei-Han Wang and Hsiang-Yu Yu and Mau-Sun Hua", title = "Theory of Mind and Its Brain Distribution in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy", abstract = "Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer
another’s mental state. With appropriate ToM, one can behave well in
social interactions. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that
patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may damage ToM by
affecting on regions of the underlying neural network of ToM.
However, the question of whether there is cerebral laterality for ToM
functions remains open. This study aimed to examine whether there is
cerebral lateralization for ToM abilities in TLE patients. Sixty-seven
adult TLE patients and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) were
recruited. Patients were classified into right (RTLE), left (LTLE), and
bilateral (BTLE) TLE groups on the basis of a consensus panel review
of their seizure semiology, EEG findings, and brain imaging results.
All participants completed an intellectual test and four tasks measuring
basic and advanced ToM. The results showed that, on all ToM tasks,
(1) each patient group performed worse than HC; (2) there were no
significant differences between LTLE and RTLE groups; and (3) the
BTLE group performed the worst. It appears that the neural network
responsible for ToM is distributed evenly between the cerebral
hemispheres.", keywords = "Cerebral lateralization, social cognition, temporal
lobe epilepsy, theory of mind.", volume = "9", number = "5", pages = "408-4", }
