Biological Motion & Division of Labor

What is Biological Motion, and what is the role of the pSTS?

A:

• Biological Motion: The unique, coordinated movement patterns of living beings across multiple joints and limbs (walking, gazing, smiling).

• pSTS Role: Contains specialized neural circuitry to process biological motion, gaze shifts, and changeable expressions (telling you what someone is doing).

Summarize the functional division of labor between the FFA, pSTS, and Amygdala.

• A:

  • FFA: Tells you who someone is via invariant facial identity and configuration.

  • pSTS: Tells you what someone is doing via biological motion, gaze, and expressions.

  • Amygdala: Tells you whether danger is nearby.

Why did David Premack's study with Sarah the chimpanzee spark debate regarding Theory of Mind?

A: Sarah chose a correct solution for a human unable to reach an apple, suggesting she understood human goals. However, philosopher Dan Dennett argued she was merely projecting her own desires rather than truly representing another's mental state.

Why are False-Belief Tasks (like the Sally-Anne Task) considered the gold standard for testing Theory of Mind?

A: They isolate the true ability to understand that another person holds a belief that contradicts objective reality (and your own mind), whereas true-belief tests risk confounding ToM with mere personal projection. At what age do humans typically pass this? Around age 4.

Contrast Theory of Mind with Mentalizing using grammatical terms.

A:

• Theory of Mind: The enduring capacity to recognize that others have independent minds. A noun (something you have).

• Mentalizing: The active, real-time process of combining general ToM, knowledge of a person, and situational cues to decode their current mental state. A verb (something you do).

What is Social Working Memory, and how does it differ from cognitive working memory in the brain?

A: Holding and manipulating social information (like ranking people or tracking relationships). While cognitive working memory engages lateral prefrontal regions, social working memory recruits the dmPFC, where neural activity increases as social load/effort increases.

What real-life behavioral outcomes are predicted by a greater dmPFC response during high social working memory demands? (Meyer et al., 2015)

A: Individuals who scale up their dmPFC activity more effectively as social load increases tend to have larger social networks, greater social well-being, and lower levels of depression, highlighting that managing social cognition is key to a thriving life.