Investigation of the neural correlates of mentalizing through the Dynamic Inference Task, a new naturalistic task of social cognition
Audrey Henry,
Delphine Raucher-Chéné,
Alexandre Obert,
Pamela Gobin,
Ksenija Vucurovic,
Sarah Barrière,
Séverine Sacré,
Christophe Portefaix,
Fabien Gierski,
Stéphanie Caillies,
Arthur Kaladjian
Affiliations
Audrey Henry
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France; Corresponding author.
Delphine Raucher-Chéné
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 6875 Boulevard LaSalle, Montreal, Canada
Alexandre Obert
Cognition Sciences, Technology & Ergonomics Laboratory, Champollion National University Institute, University of Toulouse, Place de Verdun, Albi 81000, France
Pamela Gobin
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France
Ksenija Vucurovic
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Centre Rémois de Psychothérapie et Neuromodulation, 15 rue Baillia Rolland, Reims 51100, France
Sarah Barrière
Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France
Séverine Sacré
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France
Christophe Portefaix
Radiology Department, Maison Blanche Hospital, Reims University Hospital, 45 rue Cognacq-Jay, Reims 51092, France; Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire CReSTIC, Campus Moulin de la Housse, Chemin des Rouliers, Reims 51680, France
Fabien Gierski
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France; INSERM U1247 GRAP, Research Group on Alcohol and Drugs, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Avenue Laennec, Amiens 80054, France
Stéphanie Caillies
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France
Arthur Kaladjian
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, Laboratoire Cognition, Santé et Société, B.P. 30, 57 Rue Pierre Taittinger, Reims Cedex 51571, France; Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie, EPSM et CHU de Reims, 8 Rue Roger Aubry, Reims 51100, France; Faculty of Medicine, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 51 rue Cognacq-Jay, Reims 51100, France
Understanding others’ intentions requires both the identification of social cues (e.g., emotional facial expressions, gaze direction) and the attribution of a mental state to another. The neural substrates of these processes have often been studied separately, and results are heterogeneous, in part attributable to the variety of paradigms used. The aim of the present study was to explore the neural regions underlying these sociocognitive processes, using a novel naturalistic task in which participants engage with human protagonists featured in videos.A total of 51 right-handed volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing the Dynamic Inference Task (DIT), manipulating the degree of inference (high vs. low), the presence of emotion (emotional vs. nonemotional), and gaze direction (direct vs. averted).High nonemotional inference elicited neural activation in temporal regions encompassing the right posterior superior temporal sulcus. The presence (vs. absence) of emotion in the high-inference condition elicited a bilateral pattern of activation in internal temporal areas around the amygdala and orbitofrontal structures, as well as activation in the right dorsomedial part of the superior frontal gyrus and the left precuneus.On account of its dynamic, naturalistic approach, the DIT seems a suitable task for exploring social interactions and the way we interact with others, both in nonclinical and clinical populations.
