Theory of Mind network activity is associated with metaethical judgment: An item analysis

Description: .nii files are unthresholded statistical maps. Excerpt from paper describing analysis: 3.2.5. Whole brain analysis: bilateral TPJ activity is negatively associated with fact-like (objectivity) ratings. A whole brain random effects analysis of moral statements provided context for our analysis of ToMN ROIs, showing that by-stimulus BOLD activity was negatively related to fact-like ratings, and positively related to preference-like ratings in overlapping regions of bilateral TPJ (Figure 4). We performed three whole brain correlation analyses, testing the relationship between average by-stimulus PSC (modeled in Study 2) and by-stimulus behavioral estimates of fact-like, moral-like, and preference-like ratings (modeled in Study 1). Preference-like ratings were positively correlated with activity in bilateral TPJ (peak MNI coordinates: right [54, -60, 34]; left [-36, -70, 48]), and fact-like ratings were negatively correlated in overlapping regions of bilateral RTPJ (peak MNI coordinates: right [44, -68, 46]; left [-44, -62, 48]). Peak activation for associations with fact-like ratings were slightly dorsal to the functionally defined ROI positions [peak RTPJlocalizer; [52, -60, 24]; peak LTPJlocalizer [-56, -56, 28]; see Table S3 in the online supplemental materials); however, their overlap was particularly noticeable in RTPJ (Figure 4). Surprisingly, fact-like ratings were negatively correlated with activity in the superior and bilateral middle frontal gyri, and positively correlated with activity in the parietooccipital sulcus. No voxels showed negative associations with preference-like ratings, and no voxels correlated (positively or negatively) with moral-like ratings. Thus, fact-like ratings are negatively correlated with activity in several regions, but correlations between BOLD activity and both fact-like and preference-like ratings converged in bilateral TPJ.

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