The ability to attribute thoughts to others, also called theory of mind (TOM), has been extensively studied in humans; however, its evolutionary origins have been challenged. Computationally, the basis of TOM has been interpreted within the predictive coding framework and associated with activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Here, we revealed, using a nonlinguistic task and functional magnetic resonance imaging, that activity in a region of the macaque middle superior temporal cortex was specifically modulated by the predictability of social situations. As in human TPJ, this region could be distinguished from other temporal regions involved in face processing. Our result suggests the existence of a precursor for the TOM ability in the last common ancestor of human and Old World monkeys.

中文翻译：

---

社会预测调节猕猴颞上皮层的活动

将思想归因于他人的能力，也称为心理理论 (TOM)，已在人类中得到广泛研究；然而，它的进化起源受到了挑战。在计算上，TOM 的基础已在预测编码框架内进行解释，并与颞顶交界处 (TPJ) 的活动相关联。在这里，我们使用非语言任务和功能性磁共振成像揭示了猕猴中颞上皮层区域的活动受到社会情况的可预测性的特别调节。与人类 TPJ 一样，该区域可以与面部处理中涉及的其他时间区域区分开来。我们的结果表明，在人类和旧世界猴子的最后一个共同祖先中存在 TOM 能力的前体。