Deficit of theory of mind after temporal lobe cerebral infarction

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated that the temporal lobe is involved in theory of mind (ToM). However, little attention has been paid to ToM in patients with cerebral infarction. In this study, we investigated the ability of ToM in patients with temporal lobe cerebral infarction (TLCI) using a variety of tests. METHODS: In the study, 19 patients with TLCI and 20 healthy controls (HC) were examined using the Recognition of faux pas and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) tasks, to assess their ability of ToM. RESULTS: The results of the study indicated that the TLCI group performed significantly worse compared with the HC group as revealed in the total faux pas-related score and in emotion recognition (Mind Reading). CONCLUSIONS: Our results implied that patients with TLCI had difficulty in ToM. Our data provided new evidence that the temporal lobe may be involved in processing ToM inferences.