A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig (Germany) has identified the maturation of a critical fiber connection in the brain, the brain region that allows us to ‘put ourselves in the other’s shoes’ and understand what it’s what you think or how you feel. Researchers have discovered that it is at 4 years of age when we begin to understand this part of the world that we become aware of the differences between our beliefs and those of others.
For example, if we tell a 3-year-old child to understand why another child is surprised to see that his chocolate is not where he left it (since the mother has taken it and put it in the cupboard), we will see that this small does not understand the situation. However, by age 4 you will have a correct understanding of what happened. Therefore, there is a fundamental advance in brain development between the ages of 3 and 4 : this is when we begin to attribute the thoughts and beliefs of others and to understand that their beliefs may be different. Before that age, thoughts do not exist independently of what we see and know about the world. That is, it is when we develop a “theory of mind.”
This team of German scientists has specifically discovered that this is associated with the advancement of development. The maturation of the fibers of a brain structure called the arcuate fasciculus (key to language development) between the ages of 3 and 4 establishes a link , a connection of two critical regions of the brain : an area at the back of the temporal lobe that helps us to think / reflect on others and their thoughts and a region in the frontal lobe that is involved in keeping thoughts at different levels of abstraction. Therefore, it helps us understand what the real world is and what the thoughts of others are like.
Only when these two brain regions are connected through an arc shape can children begin to understand what others are thinking. This is what allows us to predict situations. Interestingly, this new connection in the brain supports the ability of other cognitive abilities , such as intelligence, impulse control or language skills.
“The arched fasciculus could be the reason why humans are particularly good at understanding what other people think and predicting their action. Despite the apes’ ability to understand other people, they do so to a much lesser degree. This could be the result of a weaker fiber connection “, clarifies Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann, leader of the work.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Image credit: MPI f. Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
