A speaker's intended meaning can be inferred from an utterance with or without reference to its context for particularized implicature (PI) and/or generalized implicature (GI). Although previous studies have separately revealed the neural correlates of PI and GI comprehension, it remains controversial whether they share theory-of-mind (ToM) related inferential processes. Here we address this issue using functional MRI (fMRI) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Participants listened to single-turn dialogues where the reply was indirect with either PI or GI or was direct for control conditions (i.e., PIC and GIC). Results showed that PI and GI comprehension shared the multivariate fMRI patterns of language processing; in contrast, the ToM-related pattern was only elicited by PI comprehension, either at the whole-brain level or within dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Moreover, stimulating right TPJ exclusively affected PI comprehension. These findings suggest that understanding PI, but not GI, requires ToM-related inferential processes.

中文翻译：

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理解特殊和广义的会话含义：心理理论是否必要？

说话者的预期含义可以从话语中推断出，无论是否参考其特定含义 (PI) 和/或广义含义 (GI) 的上下文。尽管之前的研究分别揭示了 PI 和 GI 理解的神经相关性，但它们是否共享与心理理论 (ToM) 相关的推理过程仍然存在争议。在这里，我们使用功能性 MRI (fMRI) 和经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 来解决这个问题。参与者听取了单轮对话，其中答复是与 PI 或 GI 间接的，或直接用于控制条件（即 PIC 和 GIC）。结果表明，PI和GI理解共享语言处理的多元fMRI模式；相比之下，与 ToM 相关的模式仅由 PI 理解引发，无论是在全脑水平还是在背内侧前额叶皮层 (dmPFC) 内。此外，刺激右侧 TPJ 仅影响 PI 理解。这些发现表明，理解 PI 而不是 GI，需要与 ToM 相关的推理过程。