Brain network for Theory of Mind develops by age three

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Children as young as 3 have brain network devoted to interpreting thoughts of other people

Summary: An new study finds the brain network that controls theory of mind has already formed in children as young as 3. The study is the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of children that young as they perform a task requiring the ability to make inferences about someone else's state of mind.

Humans use an ability known as theory of mind every time they make inferences about someone else's mental state -- what the other person believes, what they want, or why they are feeling happy, angry, or scared.

Behavioral studies have suggested that children begin succeeding at a key measure of this ability, known as the false-belief task, around age 4. However, a new study from MIT has found that the brain network that controls theory of mind has already formed in children as young as 3.

The MIT study is the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of children as young as age 3 as they perform a task requiring theory of mind -- in this case, watching a short animated movie involving social interactions between two characters....

Now that the researchers have data on the typical trajectory of theory of mind development, they hope to scan the brains of autistic children to see whether there are any differences in how their theory-of-mind networks develop. Saxe's lab is also studying children whose first exposure to language was delayed, to test the effects of early language on the development of theory of mind.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 085109.htm

It is why there is a whole push to diagnose younger and younger. The idea I strongly suspect is to give them ABA very early with the intent to intercept the natural Autistic networking.