Speaker
Description
The cerebellum was known to have a role in motor coordination and planning; however, recent studies demonstrated that the posterior sectors of the cerebellum are also involved in cognition and social cognition. Several neuroimaging studies pointed specifically to the cerebellar hemispheres in supporting higher-order social processes. In the present study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed further light on the cerebellum's contribution to social cognition by targeting the right and left cerebellar hemispheres during a mentalizing task. Participants were asked to perform a classical mentalizing task (The Yoni task) and a control task while TMS was applied over the right cerebellar hemisphere, the left cerebellar hemisphere, and the vertex (control condition). Our results confirm the cerebellum's role in mentalizing, possibly suggesting a stronger contribution of the right (vs. left) cerebellar hemisphere. Our findings point to the right lateralization of the cerebellum in mentalizing processes and offer new insights into functional brain asymmetry.
Keywords: cerebellum; mentalizing; transcranial magnetic stimulation; social cognition
| If you're submitting a symposium talk, what's the symposium title? | Comprendere la mente degli altri: evidenze comportamentali, cliniche e neuroscientifiche |
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| If you're submitting a symposium, or a talk that is part of a symposium, is this a junior symposium? | Yes |
