Abstract
Theory of Mind (ToM) is a social-cognitive skill that allows the understanding of the intentions, beliefs, and desires of others. There is a distinction between affective and cognitive ToM, with evidence showing that these processes rely on partially distinct neural networks. The role of the cerebellum in social cognition has only been rarely explored. In this study, we tested whether the cerebellum is necessary for cognitive and affective ToM performance. We investigated adults with traumatic brain injury (n = 193) and healthy controls (n = 52) using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) and by measuring the impact on functional connectivity. First, we observed that damage to the cerebellum affected pure Cognitive ToM processing. Further, we found a lateralization effect for the role of the cerebellum in cognitive ToM with participants with left cerebellar injury performing worse than those with right cerebellar injury. Both VLSM and standard statistical analysis provided evidence that left cerebellar Crus I and lobule VI contributed to ToM processing. Lastly, we found that disconnection of the left thalamic projection and the left fronto-striatal fasciculus was associated with poor cognitive ToM performance. Our study is the first to reveal direct causal neuropsychological evidence for a role of the cerebellum in some but not all types of ToM, processing. It reinforces the idea that social cognition relies on a complex network functionally connected through white matter pathways that include the cerebellum. It supports evidence that the neural networks underpinning the different types of ToM can be differentiated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 4999 |
| Journal | Scientific reports |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Funding
The First Author (PAB) would like to gratefully thank the “Gueules Cassées” Foundation, the Servier Institute, the Philippe Foundation, the “Hospices Civils de Lyon”, the French Society of Neurosurgery and the French Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery for their support. The authors would like to thank all the Vietnam veterans who participated in this study. Without their long-term commitment to improving the health care of veterans, this study could not have been completed. We also thank J. Solomon as well as AM. Salazar, V. Raymont, S. Bonifant, B. Cheon, C. Ngo, A. Greathouse, K. Reding, and G. Tasick for testing and evaluating participants. We would also like to thank the National Naval Medical Center and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for providing support and facilities to conduct this study. This effort was supported in part by Johns Hopkins’ Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Fund (BG). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Note: Questions concerning the Vietnam Head Injury Study can be directed to Dr. Jordan Grafman. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. [email protected]. The First Author (PAB) would like to gratefully thank the “Gueules Cassées” Foundation, the Servier Institute, the Philippe Foundation, the “Hospices Civils de Lyon”, the French Society of Neurosurgery and the French Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery for their support. The authors would like to thank all the Vietnam veterans who participated in this study. Without their long-term commitment to improving the health care of veterans, this study could not have been completed. We also thank J. Solomon as well as AM. Salazar, V. Raymont, S. Bonifant, B. Cheon, C. Ngo, A. Greathouse, K. Reding, and G. Tasick for testing and evaluating participants. We would also like to thank the National Naval Medical Center and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for providing support and facilities to conduct this study. This effort was supported in part by Johns Hopkins’ Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Fund (BG). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Note: Questions concerning the Vietnam Head Injury Study can be directed to Dr. Jordan Grafman. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. [email protected]. This research was supported by the Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Fund (B. Gordon).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General