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Pragmatics partially segregated from Theory of Mind: evidence from resting-state functional connectivity
Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Linguistics.ORCID iD: 0009-0003-0452-0230
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6653-2662
Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Linguistics. Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychobiology and epidemiology.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6672-1298
2025 (English)In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences, ISSN 0962-8436, E-ISSN 1471-2970, Vol. 380, no 1932, article id 20230498Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Pragmatics and Theory of Mind (ToM) are at play during conversational interaction, but the relationship between the two is a matter of debate. Using resting-state fMRI data, we investigate a potential segregation of the two domains by considering functional connectivity within and between the ToM and language networks, and their relation to pragmatic behavioural measures. We also study the connectivity of two cortical clusters, one in the left intraparietal sulcus and one in the bilateral dorsal precuneus. These clusters are located outside both the ToM and language networks and were previously found to covary with individual pragmatic variability. The results show that these two clusters are functionally connected at rest and that their degree of connectivity is related to pragmatic behaviour. On the other hand, there was no relation between pragmatic behaviour and degrees of connectivity involving the ToM and language networks. Furthermore, the two clusters were not connected to either the ToM or language networks. In conclusion, we suggest that the domain of pragmatics is partially segregated from ToM, and provide further support that the two clusters outside the ToM and language networks are pragmatically relevant.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. Vol. 380, no 1932, article id 20230498
Keywords [en]
pragmatics, Theory of Mind, functional connectivity, resting-state, fMRI
National Category
Neurosciences Comparative Language Studies and Linguistics
Research subject
Linguistics; Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-245881DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0498ISI: 001550984900010PubMedID: 40808454Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105013303150OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-245881DiVA, id: diva2:1991275
Note

This article is part of the theme issue ‘At the heart of humancommunication: new views on the complex relationship betweenpragmatics and Theory of Mind’.

Available from: 2025-08-22 Created: 2025-08-22 Last updated: 2026-01-12Bibliographically approved

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Forbes Schieche, ChristofferUddén, Julia

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