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Spatiotemporal Profile of the Temporoparietal Junction in Theory of Mind: Insights from Intracranial EEG

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Shweta Soni¹ (), Paolo Federico¹, Walter Hader¹, Julia W.Y. Kam¹, Fady Girgis¹; ¹University of Calgary

Theory of Mind (TOM), the ability to attribute thoughts, beliefs and intentions to oneself and others, is central to human social cognition. While functional neuroimaging has consistently implicated the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) in TOM, its fine-grained neurophysiological profile, particularly regarding the differing orders of TOM, remains underexplored. Here, we leveraged high-resolution intracranial EEG in 14 drug-resistant epileptic patients to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of high-frequency broadband activity (HFB, 70–180 Hz) during a story-based TOM task involving first- and second-order mental state attributions. The TPJ exhibited significantly greater HFB responses to TOM than control questions, closely aligned with task performance—a pattern not observed in a non-TPJ region (posterior insula)—confirming its functional and spatial selectivity for TOM. Within the TPJ, the temporal part contained a higher proportion of TOM-selective channels than its parietal counterpart, providing direct electrophysiological evidence for functional heterogeneity within the TPJ. Furthermore, the temporal dynamics of TPJ activity was modulated by first- versus second-order TOM, highlighting its dynamic engagement in response to additional demands of mental state attribution. Collectively, these novel findings reveal the TPJ’s fine-grained functional architecture and temporal sensitivity to higher-order TOM and hold clinical relevance for disorders marked by TOM deficits.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Other