Publications
All accompanying preregistration, data, and supplemental materials under “Links”
Saxe, Rebecca; Kosakowski, Heather L.
Origins of Face Responses in the Human Cortex: fNIRS and fMRI Evidence From Infants Journal Article
In: Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 0, iss. OnlineFirst, pp. 0, 2025, ISSN: 0963-7214.
@article{nokey,
title = {Origins of Face Responses in the Human Cortex: fNIRS and fMRI Evidence From Infants},
author = {Rebecca Saxe and Heather L. Kosakowski},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09637214251327113, Publisher
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/saxe-kosakowski-2025-origins-of-face-responses-in-the-human-cortex-fnirs-and-fmri-evidence-from-infants.pdf, PDF},
doi = {10.1177/09637214251327113},
issn = {0963-7214},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-04-18},
journal = {Current Directions in Psychological Science},
volume = {0},
issue = {OnlineFirst},
pages = {0},
abstract = {In adults, cortical regions in the fusiform face area (FFA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) respond selectively to faces but underlie distinct perceptual and social processes. When do each of these regions, and their distinctive functions, develop? We reviewed recent studies of awake human infants’ cortical responses to faces using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and functional MRI (fMRI). The results converged and do not support a slow, sequential posterior-to-anterior development of face-selective responses. Instead, cortical face-selective responses arise very early and simultaneously in infancy and may reflect distinctively social processes from the start.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In adults, cortical regions in the fusiform face area (FFA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) respond selectively to faces but underlie distinct perceptual and social processes. When do each of these regions, and their distinctive functions, develop? We reviewed recent studies of awake human infants’ cortical responses to faces using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and functional MRI (fMRI). The results converged and do not support a slow, sequential posterior-to-anterior development of face-selective responses. Instead, cortical face-selective responses arise very early and simultaneously in infancy and may reflect distinctively social processes from the start.
Thomas, Ashley J.; Steele, Christina M.; Gopnik, Alison; Saxe, Rebecca R.
How Do Infants Experience Caregiving? Journal Article
In: Daedalus, vol. 154, iss. 1, pp. 14–35, 2025.
@article{nokey,
title = {How Do Infants Experience Caregiving?},
author = {Ashley J. Thomas and Christina M. Steele and Alison Gopnik and Rebecca R. Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/daed_a_02121.pdf, PDF
https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/154/1/14/127945, Publisher},
doi = {10.1162/daed_a_02121},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-02-01},
journal = {Daedalus},
volume = {154},
issue = {1},
pages = {14–35},
abstract = {Almost all of human infants’ experience and learning takes place in the context of caregiving relationships. This essay considers how infants understand the care they receive. We begin by outlining plausible features of an “intuitive theory” of care. In this intuitive theory, caregiving has both a distinctive foundational structure and distinctive features that differentiate it from other social relationships. We then review methods and findings from research on infants’ understanding of people and social relationships. We propose that even before infants can use language, they may understand caregiving as an abstract intuitive theory with some features in common with how adults think about caregiving. In particular, infants understand care relationships as intimate, altruistic, and asymmetric. We review work that starts to shed light on this proposal, including the findings that infants distinguish between intimate relationships and merely positive ones and that they have asymmetric expectations of responses to distress in intimate relationships between large and small individuals. The proposal that infants can make these inferences has societal and political implications for how we structure caregiving in early life.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Almost all of human infants’ experience and learning takes place in the context of caregiving relationships. This essay considers how infants understand the care they receive. We begin by outlining plausible features of an “intuitive theory” of care. In this intuitive theory, caregiving has both a distinctive foundational structure and distinctive features that differentiate it from other social relationships. We then review methods and findings from research on infants’ understanding of people and social relationships. We propose that even before infants can use language, they may understand caregiving as an abstract intuitive theory with some features in common with how adults think about caregiving. In particular, infants understand care relationships as intimate, altruistic, and asymmetric. We review work that starts to shed light on this proposal, including the findings that infants distinguish between intimate relationships and merely positive ones and that they have asymmetric expectations of responses to distress in intimate relationships between large and small individuals. The proposal that infants can make these inferences has societal and political implications for how we structure caregiving in early life.
Kamps, Frederik S.; Chen, Emily; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca R.
Representation of navigational affordances and ego-motion in the occipital place area Journal Article
In: Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 3, pp. imag_a_00424, 2025.
@article{,
title = {Representation of navigational affordances and ego-motion in the occipital place area},
author = {Frederik S. Kamps and Emily Chen and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca R. Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/imag_a_00424.pdf, PDF
https://direct.mit.edu/imag/article/doi/10.1162/imag_a_00424/125630, Publisher
https://osf.io/6yehp/?view_only=53ba7725d61343a29a2e3e6da5d75f28, OSF
https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds005783/versions/1.0.1, Dataset
},
doi = {10.1162/imag_a_00424},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-10},
urldate = {2025-01-10},
journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},
volume = {3},
pages = {imag_a_00424},
abstract = {Humans effortlessly use vision to plan and guide navigation through the local environment, or “scene.” A network of three cortical regions responds selectively to visual scene information, including the occipital (OPA), parahippocampal (PPA), and medial place areas (MPA)—but how this network supports visually guided navigation is unclear. Recent evidence suggests that one region, in particular, the OPA, supports visual representations for navigation, while PPA and MPA support other aspects of scene processing. However, most previous studies tested only static scene images, which lack the dynamic experience of navigating through scenes. We used dynamic movie stimuli to test whether OPA, PPA, and MPA represent two critical kinds of navigationally relevant information: navigational affordances (e.g., can I walk to the left, right, or both?) and ego-motion (e.g., am I walking forward or backward? turning left or right?). We found that OPA is sensitive to both affordances and ego-motion, as well as the conflict between these cues—for example, turning toward vs. away from an open doorway. These effects were significantly weaker or absent in PPA and MPA. Responses in OPA were also dissociable from those in early visual cortex, consistent with the idea that OPA responses are not merely explained by lower-level visual features. OPA responses to affordances and ego-motion were stronger in the contralateral than in ipsilateral visual field, suggesting that OPA encodes navigationally relevant information within an egocentric reference frame. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that OPA contains visual representations that are useful for planning and guiding navigation through scenes.},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Humans effortlessly use vision to plan and guide navigation through the local environment, or “scene.” A network of three cortical regions responds selectively to visual scene information, including the occipital (OPA), parahippocampal (PPA), and medial place areas (MPA)—but how this network supports visually guided navigation is unclear. Recent evidence suggests that one region, in particular, the OPA, supports visual representations for navigation, while PPA and MPA support other aspects of scene processing. However, most previous studies tested only static scene images, which lack the dynamic experience of navigating through scenes. We used dynamic movie stimuli to test whether OPA, PPA, and MPA represent two critical kinds of navigationally relevant information: navigational affordances (e.g., can I walk to the left, right, or both?) and ego-motion (e.g., am I walking forward or backward? turning left or right?). We found that OPA is sensitive to both affordances and ego-motion, as well as the conflict between these cues—for example, turning toward vs. away from an open doorway. These effects were significantly weaker or absent in PPA and MPA. Responses in OPA were also dissociable from those in early visual cortex, consistent with the idea that OPA responses are not merely explained by lower-level visual features. OPA responses to affordances and ego-motion were stronger in the contralateral than in ipsilateral visual field, suggesting that OPA encodes navigationally relevant information within an egocentric reference frame. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that OPA contains visual representations that are useful for planning and guiding navigation through scenes.
Pérez-Edgar, Koraly; Dozier, Mary; Saxe, Rebecca; MacDuffie, Katherine E.
How will developmental neuroimaging contribute to the prediction of neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders? Challenges and opportunities Journal Article
In: Elsevier Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 71, pp. 101490, 2025.
@article{nokey,
title = {How will developmental neuroimaging contribute to the prediction of neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders? Challenges and opportunities},
author = {Koraly Pérez-Edgar and Mary Dozier and Rebecca Saxe and Katherine E. MacDuffie},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DCN-2025.pdf, PDF
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929324001518, Publisher},
doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101490},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-04},
journal = {Elsevier Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience},
volume = {71},
pages = {101490},
abstract = {Successful developmental neuroimaging efforts require interdisciplinary expertise to ground scientific questions in knowledge of human development, modify and create technologies and data processing pipelines suited to the young brain, and ensure research procedures meet the needs and protect the interests of young children and their caregivers. This paper brings together four interdisciplinary perspectives to tackle a set of questions that are central for the field to address as we imagine a future role for developmental neuroimaging in the prediction of neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders: 1) How do we generate a strong evidence base for causality and clinical relevance? 2) How do we ensure the integrity of the data and support fair and wide access? 3) How can these technologies be implemented in the clinic? 4) What are the ethical obligations for neuroimaging researchers working with infants and young children?},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Successful developmental neuroimaging efforts require interdisciplinary expertise to ground scientific questions in knowledge of human development, modify and create technologies and data processing pipelines suited to the young brain, and ensure research procedures meet the needs and protect the interests of young children and their caregivers. This paper brings together four interdisciplinary perspectives to tackle a set of questions that are central for the field to address as we imagine a future role for developmental neuroimaging in the prediction of neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders: 1) How do we generate a strong evidence base for causality and clinical relevance? 2) How do we ensure the integrity of the data and support fair and wide access? 3) How can these technologies be implemented in the clinic? 4) What are the ethical obligations for neuroimaging researchers working with infants and young children?
Radkani, Setayesh; Landau-Wells, Marika; Saxe, Rebecca
How rational inference about authority debunking can curtail, sustain, or spread belief polarization Journal Article
In: PNAS Nexus, vol. 3, iss. 10, pp. 393, 2024.
@article{nokey,
title = {How rational inference about authority debunking can curtail, sustain, or spread belief polarization},
author = {Setayesh Radkani and Marika Landau-Wells and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/3/10/pgae393/7821174, Publisher
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/radkani-2024.pdf, PDF
},
doi = {10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae393},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-10-15},
urldate = {2025-10-15},
journal = {PNAS Nexus},
volume = {3},
issue = {10},
pages = {393},
abstract = {In polarized societies, divided subgroups of people have different perspectives on a range of topics. Aiming to reduce polarization, authorities may use debunking to lend support to one perspective over another. Debunking by authorities gives all observers shared information, which could reduce disagreement. In practice, however, debunking may have no effect or could even contribute to further polarization of beliefs. We developed a cognitively inspired model of observers’ rational inferences from an authority’s debunking. After observing each debunking attempt, simulated observers simultaneously update their beliefs about the perspective underlying the debunked claims and about the authority’s motives, using an intuitive causal model of the authority’s decision-making process. We varied the observers’ prior beliefs and uncertainty systematically. Simulations generated a range of outcomes, from belief convergence (less common) to persistent divergence (more common). In many simulations, observers who initially held shared beliefs about the authority later acquired polarized beliefs about the authority’s biases and commitment to truth. These polarized beliefs constrained the authority’s influence on new topics, making it possible for belief polarization to spread. We discuss the implications of the model with respect to beliefs about elections.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In polarized societies, divided subgroups of people have different perspectives on a range of topics. Aiming to reduce polarization, authorities may use debunking to lend support to one perspective over another. Debunking by authorities gives all observers shared information, which could reduce disagreement. In practice, however, debunking may have no effect or could even contribute to further polarization of beliefs. We developed a cognitively inspired model of observers’ rational inferences from an authority’s debunking. After observing each debunking attempt, simulated observers simultaneously update their beliefs about the perspective underlying the debunked claims and about the authority’s motives, using an intuitive causal model of the authority’s decision-making process. We varied the observers’ prior beliefs and uncertainty systematically. Simulations generated a range of outcomes, from belief convergence (less common) to persistent divergence (more common). In many simulations, observers who initially held shared beliefs about the authority later acquired polarized beliefs about the authority’s biases and commitment to truth. These polarized beliefs constrained the authority’s influence on new topics, making it possible for belief polarization to spread. We discuss the implications of the model with respect to beliefs about elections.
Kunin, Linette; Piccolo, Sabrina H.; Saxe, Rebecca; Liu, Shari
Perceptual and conceptual novelty independently guide infant looking behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis Journal Article
In: Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 8, pp. 2342–2356, 2024.
@article{nokey,
title = {Perceptual and conceptual novelty independently guide infant looking behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis},
author = {Linette Kunin and Sabrina H. Piccolo and Rebecca Saxe and Shari Liu },
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/s41562-024-01965-x.pdf, PDF
https://osf.io/jghc3, OSF
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01965-x, Publisher},
doi = {10.1038/s41562-024-01965-x},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-10-15},
urldate = {2024-10-15},
journal = {Nature Human Behaviour},
volume = {8},
pages = {2342–2356},
abstract = {Human infants are born with their eyes open and an otherwise limited motor repertoire; thus, studies measuring infant looking are commonly used to investigate the developmental origins of perception and cognition. However, scholars have long expressed concerns about the reliability and interpretation of looking behaviours. We evaluated these concerns using a pre-registered (https://osf.io/jghc3), systematic meta-analysis of 76 published and unpublished studies of infants’ early physical and psychological reasoning (total n = 1,899; 3- to 12-month-old infants; database search and call for unpublished studies conducted July to August 2022). We studied two effects in the same datasets: looking towards expected versus unexpected events (violation of expectation (VOE)) and looking towards visually familiar versus visually novel events (perceptual novelty (PN)). Most studies implemented methods to minimize the risk of bias (for example, ensuring that experimenters were naive to the conditions and reporting inter-rater reliability). There was mixed evidence about publication bias for the VOE effect. Most centrally to our research aims, we found that these two effects varied systematically—with roughly equal effect sizes (VOE, standardized mean difference 0.290 and 95% confidence interval (0.208, 0.372); PN, standardized mean difference 0.239 and 95% confidence interval (0.109, 0.369))—but independently, based on different predictors. Age predicted infants’ looking responses to unexpected events, but not visually novel events. Habituation predicted infants’ looking responses to visually novel events, but not unexpected events. From these findings, we suggest that conceptual and perceptual novelty independently influence infants’ looking behaviour.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Human infants are born with their eyes open and an otherwise limited motor repertoire; thus, studies measuring infant looking are commonly used to investigate the developmental origins of perception and cognition. However, scholars have long expressed concerns about the reliability and interpretation of looking behaviours. We evaluated these concerns using a pre-registered (https://osf.io/jghc3), systematic meta-analysis of 76 published and unpublished studies of infants’ early physical and psychological reasoning (total n = 1,899; 3- to 12-month-old infants; database search and call for unpublished studies conducted July to August 2022). We studied two effects in the same datasets: looking towards expected versus unexpected events (violation of expectation (VOE)) and looking towards visually familiar versus visually novel events (perceptual novelty (PN)). Most studies implemented methods to minimize the risk of bias (for example, ensuring that experimenters were naive to the conditions and reporting inter-rater reliability). There was mixed evidence about publication bias for the VOE effect. Most centrally to our research aims, we found that these two effects varied systematically—with roughly equal effect sizes (VOE, standardized mean difference 0.290 and 95% confidence interval (0.208, 0.372); PN, standardized mean difference 0.239 and 95% confidence interval (0.109, 0.369))—but independently, based on different predictors. Age predicted infants’ looking responses to unexpected events, but not visually novel events. Habituation predicted infants’ looking responses to visually novel events, but not unexpected events. From these findings, we suggest that conceptual and perceptual novelty independently influence infants’ looking behaviour.
Chen*, Tony; Houlihan*, Sean Dae; Chandra, Kartik; Tenenbaum, Joshua; Saxe, Rebecca
Intervening on Emotions by Planning Over a Theory of Mind Journal Article
In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, vol. 46, 2024.
@article{chenInterveningEmotionsPlanning2024a,
title = {Intervening on Emotions by Planning Over a Theory of Mind},
author = {Tony Chen* and Sean Dae Houlihan* and Kartik Chandra and Joshua Tenenbaum and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4gz7c85c, Publisher
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/chen-houlihan-2024.pdf, PDF},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-07-25},
journal = {Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
volume = {46},
abstract = {Much of social cognition involves reasoning about others' minds: predicting their reactions, inferring their feelings, and explaining their behavior. By representing mental contents like beliefs, desires, and emotions, Bayesian theory of mind models have made progress in capturing how humans manage these cognitive feats. But social life is not merely observation: humans must also plan to intervene on these same mental contents. The present work models how people choose interventions to influence others' emotions. Building on a prior model of people's intuitive theory of emotions, we model how people use their intuitive theory to evaluate and simulate the effects of different interventions. We apply our model to data from behavioral experiments requiring counterfactual and joint interventions, and show a close alignment with human choices. Our results provide a step towards a potentially unifying explanation for emotion prediction and intervention, suggesting that they could arise from the same underlying generative model.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Much of social cognition involves reasoning about others' minds: predicting their reactions, inferring their feelings, and explaining their behavior. By representing mental contents like beliefs, desires, and emotions, Bayesian theory of mind models have made progress in capturing how humans manage these cognitive feats. But social life is not merely observation: humans must also plan to intervene on these same mental contents. The present work models how people choose interventions to influence others' emotions. Building on a prior model of people's intuitive theory of emotions, we model how people use their intuitive theory to evaluate and simulate the effects of different interventions. We apply our model to data from behavioral experiments requiring counterfactual and joint interventions, and show a close alignment with human choices. Our results provide a step towards a potentially unifying explanation for emotion prediction and intervention, suggesting that they could arise from the same underlying generative model.
Kosakowski, Heather; Cohen, Michael; Herrera, Lynee; Nichoson, Isabel; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca R.
Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy Journal Article
In: eNeuro, vol. 11, iss. 7, 2024, ISSN: 2373-2822.
@article{kosakowskiCorticalFaceSelectiveResponses2024,
title = {Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy},
author = {Heather Kosakowski and Michael Cohen and Lynee Herrera and Isabel Nichoson and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca R. Saxe},
url = {https://www.eneuro.org/content/11/7/ENEURO.0117-24.2024.abstract, Publisher
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:5bg8sr1QxYwC, Google Scholar
https://osf.io/h7rbv/, OSF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/kosakowski_eneuro_2024.pdf, PDF
},
doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0117-24.2024},
issn = {2373-2822},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-07-01},
urldate = {2024-07-01},
journal = {eNeuro},
volume = {11},
issue = {7},
abstract = {In human adults, multiple cortical regions respond robustly to faces, including the occipital face area (OFA) and fusiform face area (FFA), implicated in face perception, and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), implicated in higher-level social functions. When in development, does face selectivity arise in each of these regions? Here, we combined two awake infant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets to create a sample size twice the size of previous reports (n = 65 infants; 2.6–9.6 months). Infants watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes, while fMRI data were collected. Despite variable amounts of data from each infant, individual subject whole-brain activation maps revealed responses to faces compared to nonface visual categories in the approximate location of OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC. To determine the strength and nature of face selectivity in these regions, we used cross-validated functional region of interest analyses. Across this larger sample size, face responses in OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC were significantly greater than responses to bodies, objects, and scenes. Even the youngest infants (2–5 months) showed significantly face-selective responses in FFA, STS, and MPFC, but not OFA. These results demonstrate that face selectivity is present in multiple cortical regions within months of birth, providing powerful constraints on theories of cortical development.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In human adults, multiple cortical regions respond robustly to faces, including the occipital face area (OFA) and fusiform face area (FFA), implicated in face perception, and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), implicated in higher-level social functions. When in development, does face selectivity arise in each of these regions? Here, we combined two awake infant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets to create a sample size twice the size of previous reports (n = 65 infants; 2.6–9.6 months). Infants watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes, while fMRI data were collected. Despite variable amounts of data from each infant, individual subject whole-brain activation maps revealed responses to faces compared to nonface visual categories in the approximate location of OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC. To determine the strength and nature of face selectivity in these regions, we used cross-validated functional region of interest analyses. Across this larger sample size, face responses in OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC were significantly greater than responses to bodies, objects, and scenes. Even the youngest infants (2–5 months) showed significantly face-selective responses in FFA, STS, and MPFC, but not OFA. These results demonstrate that face selectivity is present in multiple cortical regions within months of birth, providing powerful constraints on theories of cortical development.
Raz, Gal; Piccolo, Sabrina; Medrano, Janine; Liu, Shari; Lydic, Kirsten; Mei, Catherine; Nguyen, Victoria; Shu, Tianmin; Saxe, Rebecca R.
An asynchronous, hands-off workflow for looking time experiments with infants. Journal Article
In: Development Psychology, 2024, ISSN: 1939-0599.
@article{razAsynchronousHandsoffWorkflow2024,
title = {An asynchronous, hands-off workflow for looking time experiments with infants.},
author = {Gal Raz and Sabrina Piccolo and Janine Medrano and Shari Liu and Kirsten Lydic and Catherine Mei and Victoria Nguyen and Tianmin Shu and Rebecca R. Saxe},
url = {https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2024-97072-001.html, Publisher
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:EPG8bYD4jVwC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/raz_devpsych_2024.pdf, PDF
https://osf.io/ndkt6/, OSF
},
doi = {10.1037/dev0001791},
issn = {1939-0599},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-06-24},
journal = {Development Psychology},
abstract = {Infant looking time experiments have provided critical insights into early cognition, but traditionally very time-consuming and expensive. We run a classical violation-of-expectation experiment through a workflow in which data collection and analysis are automated and compare the results to the same study run in the lab and on Zoom. The automated workflow shows a small reduction in effect size and power, while allowing for significantly larger sample sizes, thereby enabling a more robust developmental science.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Infant looking time experiments have provided critical insights into early cognition, but traditionally very time-consuming and expensive. We run a classical violation-of-expectation experiment through a workflow in which data collection and analysis are automated and compare the results to the same study run in the lab and on Zoom. The automated workflow shows a small reduction in effect size and power, while allowing for significantly larger sample sizes, thereby enabling a more robust developmental science.
Liu, Shari; Lydic, Kirsten; Mei, Lingjie; Saxe, Rebecca R.
Violations of physical and psychological expectations in the human adult brain Journal Article
In: Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 2, pp. 1-24, 2024.
@article{liuViolationsPhysicalPsychological2024,
title = {Violations of physical and psychological expectations in the human adult brain},
author = {Shari Liu and Kirsten Lydic and Lingjie Mei and Rebecca R. Saxe},
url = {https://direct.mit.edu/imag/article/doi/10.1162/imag_a_00068/118940, Publisher
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:jU7OWUQzBzMC, Google Scholar
https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds004934, Openneuro
https://osf.io/sa7jy/, OSF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/liu_imagingneuroscience_2024.pdf, PDF},
doi = {10.1162/imag_a_00068},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-02-01},
urldate = {2024-02-01},
journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},
volume = {2},
pages = {1-24},
abstract = {After seeing one solid object apparently passing through another, or a person taking the long route to a destination when a shortcut was available, human adults classify those events as surprising. When tested on these events in violation-of-expectation (VOE) experiments, infants look longer at the same outcomes, relative to similar but expected outcomes. What cognitive processes underlie these judgments from adults, and perhaps infants’ sustained attention to these events? As one approach to test this question, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of human adults (total N = 49, 22 female, mean age of 26 years) while they viewed stimuli that were originally designed to test for physical and psychological expectations in infants. We examined non-mutually exclusive candidates for the processes underlying the VOE effect, including domain-general processes, like visual prediction error and curiosity, and domain-specific processes, like prediction error with respect to distinctively physical and psychological expectations (objects are solid; agents behave rationally). Early visual regions did not distinguish between expected and unexpected events from either domain. By contrast, multiple demand regions, involved in goal-directed attention, responded more to unexpected events in both domains, providing evidence for domain-general goal-directed attention as a mechanism for VOE. Left supramarginal gyrus (LSMG) was engaged during physical prediction and responded preferentially to unexpected events from the physical domain, providing evidence for domain-specific physical prediction error. Thus, in adult brains, violations of physical and psychological expectations involve domain-specific, and domain-general, though not purely visual, computations.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
After seeing one solid object apparently passing through another, or a person taking the long route to a destination when a shortcut was available, human adults classify those events as surprising. When tested on these events in violation-of-expectation (VOE) experiments, infants look longer at the same outcomes, relative to similar but expected outcomes. What cognitive processes underlie these judgments from adults, and perhaps infants’ sustained attention to these events? As one approach to test this question, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of human adults (total N = 49, 22 female, mean age of 26 years) while they viewed stimuli that were originally designed to test for physical and psychological expectations in infants. We examined non-mutually exclusive candidates for the processes underlying the VOE effect, including domain-general processes, like visual prediction error and curiosity, and domain-specific processes, like prediction error with respect to distinctively physical and psychological expectations (objects are solid; agents behave rationally). Early visual regions did not distinguish between expected and unexpected events from either domain. By contrast, multiple demand regions, involved in goal-directed attention, responded more to unexpected events in both domains, providing evidence for domain-general goal-directed attention as a mechanism for VOE. Left supramarginal gyrus (LSMG) was engaged during physical prediction and responded preferentially to unexpected events from the physical domain, providing evidence for domain-specific physical prediction error. Thus, in adult brains, violations of physical and psychological expectations involve domain-specific, and domain-general, though not purely visual, computations.
Sotomayor-Enriquez, Koraima; Gweon, Hyowon; Saxe, Rebecca; Richardson, Hilary
Open dataset of theory of mind reasoning in early to middle childhood Journal Article
In: Data in Brief, vol. 52, pp. 109905, 2024, ISSN: 2352-3409.
@article{sotomayor-enriquezOpenDatasetTheory2024,
title = {Open dataset of theory of mind reasoning in early to middle childhood},
author = {Koraima Sotomayor-Enriquez and Hyowon Gweon and Rebecca Saxe and Hilary Richardson},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340923009484, Publisher
https://osf.io/g5zpv/, OSF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/sotomayor-enriquezOpenDatasetTheory2024.pdf, PDF},
doi = {10.1016/j.dib.2023.109905},
issn = {2352-3409},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-02-01},
journal = {Data in Brief},
volume = {52},
pages = {109905},
abstract = {Theory of mind (ToM) reasoning refers to the process by which we reason about the mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions) of others. Here, we describe an open dataset of responses from children who completed a story booklet task for assessing ToM reasoning (n = 321 3–12-year-old children, including 64 (neurotypical) children assessed longitudinally and 68 autistic children). Children completed one of two versions of the story booklet task (Booklet 1 or 2). Both versions include two-alternative forced choice and free response questions that tap ToM concepts ranging in difficulty from reasoning about desires and beliefs to reasoning about moral blameworthiness and mistaken referents. Booklet 2 additionally includes items that assess understanding of sarcasm, lies, and second-order belief-desire reasoning. Compared to other ToM tasks, the booklet task provides relatively dense sampling of ToM reasoning within each child (Booklet 1: 41 items; Booklet 2: 65 items). Experimental sessions were video recorded and data were coded offline; the open dataset consists of children's accuracy (binary) on each item and, for many children (n = 171), transcriptions of free responses. The dataset also includes children's scores on standardized tests of receptive language and non-verbal IQ, as well as other demographic information. As such, this dataset is a valuable resource for investigating the development of ToM reasoning in early and middle childhood.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Theory of mind (ToM) reasoning refers to the process by which we reason about the mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions) of others. Here, we describe an open dataset of responses from children who completed a story booklet task for assessing ToM reasoning (n = 321 3–12-year-old children, including 64 (neurotypical) children assessed longitudinally and 68 autistic children). Children completed one of two versions of the story booklet task (Booklet 1 or 2). Both versions include two-alternative forced choice and free response questions that tap ToM concepts ranging in difficulty from reasoning about desires and beliefs to reasoning about moral blameworthiness and mistaken referents. Booklet 2 additionally includes items that assess understanding of sarcasm, lies, and second-order belief-desire reasoning. Compared to other ToM tasks, the booklet task provides relatively dense sampling of ToM reasoning within each child (Booklet 1: 41 items; Booklet 2: 65 items). Experimental sessions were video recorded and data were coded offline; the open dataset consists of children's accuracy (binary) on each item and, for many children (n = 171), transcriptions of free responses. The dataset also includes children's scores on standardized tests of receptive language and non-verbal IQ, as well as other demographic information. As such, this dataset is a valuable resource for investigating the development of ToM reasoning in early and middle childhood.
Olson, Halie; Chen, Emily; Lydic, Kirsten; Saxe, Rebecca
Left-hemisphere cortical language regions respond equally to observed dialogue and monologue Journal Article
In: Neurobiology of Language, vol. 4, iss. 4, pp. 575-610, 2023, ISSN: 2641-4368.
@article{olsonLeftHemisphereCorticalLanguage2023,
title = {Left-hemisphere cortical language regions respond equally to observed dialogue and monologue},
author = {Halie Olson and Emily Chen and Kirsten Lydic and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://direct.mit.edu/nol/article/4/4/575/117766/Left-Hemisphere-Cortical-Language-Regions-Respond, Publisher
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:7BrZ7Jt4UNcC, Google Scholar
https://osf.io/whsb7/, OSF
https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds004467/versions/1.0.0, OpenNeuro
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/olson_nol_2023.pdf, PDF
},
doi = {10.1162/nol_a_00123},
issn = {2641-4368},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-12-14},
urldate = {2023-12-14},
journal = {Neurobiology of Language},
volume = {4},
issue = {4},
pages = {575-610},
abstract = {Much of the language we encounter in our everyday lives comes in the form of conversation, yet the majority of research on the neural basis of language comprehension has used input from only one speaker at a time. Twenty adults were scanned while passively observing audiovisual conversations using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In a block-design task, participants watched 20 s videos of puppets speaking either to another puppet (the dialogue condition) or directly to the viewer (the monologue condition), while the audio was either comprehensible (played forward) or incomprehensible (played backward). Individually functionally localized left-hemisphere language regions responded more to comprehensible than incomprehensible speech but did not respond differently to dialogue than monologue. In a second task, participants watched videos (1–3 min each) of two puppets conversing with each other, in which one puppet was comprehensible while the other’s speech was reversed. All participants saw the same visual input but were randomly assigned which character’s speech was comprehensible. In left-hemisphere cortical language regions, the time course of activity was correlated only among participants who heard the same character speaking comprehensibly, despite identical visual input across all participants. For comparison, some individually localized theory of mind regions and right-hemisphere homologues of language regions responded more to dialogue than monologue in the first task, and in the second task, activity in some regions was correlated across all participants regardless of which character was speaking comprehensibly. Together, these results suggest that canonical left-hemisphere cortical language regions are not sensitive to differences between observed dialogue and monologue.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Much of the language we encounter in our everyday lives comes in the form of conversation, yet the majority of research on the neural basis of language comprehension has used input from only one speaker at a time. Twenty adults were scanned while passively observing audiovisual conversations using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In a block-design task, participants watched 20 s videos of puppets speaking either to another puppet (the dialogue condition) or directly to the viewer (the monologue condition), while the audio was either comprehensible (played forward) or incomprehensible (played backward). Individually functionally localized left-hemisphere language regions responded more to comprehensible than incomprehensible speech but did not respond differently to dialogue than monologue. In a second task, participants watched videos (1–3 min each) of two puppets conversing with each other, in which one puppet was comprehensible while the other’s speech was reversed. All participants saw the same visual input but were randomly assigned which character’s speech was comprehensible. In left-hemisphere cortical language regions, the time course of activity was correlated only among participants who heard the same character speaking comprehensibly, despite identical visual input across all participants. For comparison, some individually localized theory of mind regions and right-hemisphere homologues of language regions responded more to dialogue than monologue in the first task, and in the second task, activity in some regions was correlated across all participants regardless of which character was speaking comprehensibly. Together, these results suggest that canonical left-hemisphere cortical language regions are not sensitive to differences between observed dialogue and monologue.
Richardson, Hilary; Saxe, Rebecca; Bedny, Marina
Neural correlates of theory of mind reasoning in congenitally blind children Journal Article
In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 63, pp. 101285, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Neural correlates of theory of mind reasoning in congenitally blind children},
author = {Hilary Richardson and Rebecca Saxe and Marina Bedny},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:prdVHNxh-e8C, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/richardson2023.pdf, pdf
https://osf.io/pavdg/, data
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Supp-Richardson-2023.pdf, supplemental materials},
doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101285},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
urldate = {2023-10-01},
journal = {Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience},
volume = {63},
pages = {101285},
abstract = {Vision is an important source of information about other minds for sighted children, especially prior to the onset of language. Visually observed actions, eye gaze, and facial expressions of others provide information about mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and emotions. Does such experience contribute causally to the development of cortical networks supporting social cognition? To address this question we compared functional development of brain regions supporting theory of mind (ToM), as well as behavioral ToM reasoning, across congenitally blind (n=17) and sighted (n=114) children and adolescents (4–17 years old). We find that blind children in this age range show slightly lower ToM behavioral performance relative to sighted children. Likewise, the functional profile of ToM brain regions is qualitatively similar, but quantitatively weaker in blind relative to sighted children. Alongside prior research, these data suggest that vision facilitates, but is not necessary for, ToM development.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Vision is an important source of information about other minds for sighted children, especially prior to the onset of language. Visually observed actions, eye gaze, and facial expressions of others provide information about mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and emotions. Does such experience contribute causally to the development of cortical networks supporting social cognition? To address this question we compared functional development of brain regions supporting theory of mind (ToM), as well as behavioral ToM reasoning, across congenitally blind (n=17) and sighted (n=114) children and adolescents (4–17 years old). We find that blind children in this age range show slightly lower ToM behavioral performance relative to sighted children. Likewise, the functional profile of ToM brain regions is qualitatively similar, but quantitatively weaker in blind relative to sighted children. Alongside prior research, these data suggest that vision facilitates, but is not necessary for, ToM development.
Houlihan, Sean Dae; Kleiman-Weiner, Max; Hewitt, Luke B; Tenenbaum, Joshua B; Saxe, Rebecca
Emotion prediction as computation over a generative theory of mind Journal Article
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, vol. 381, iss. 2251, pp. 20220047, 2023, ISSN: 1364-503X, 1471-2962.
@article{houlihan2023computedappraisals,
title = {Emotion prediction as computation over a generative theory of mind},
author = {Sean Dae Houlihan and Max Kleiman-Weiner and Luke B Hewitt and Joshua B Tenenbaum and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:kw52XkFRtyQC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/houlihan2023computedappraisals.pdf, pdf
https://github.com/daeh/computed-appraisals, GitHub
},
doi = {10.1098/rsta.2022.0047},
issn = {1364-503X, 1471-2962},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-07-24},
urldate = {2023-07-24},
journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A},
volume = {381},
issue = {2251},
pages = {20220047},
abstract = {From sparse descriptions of events, observers can make systematic and nuanced predictions of what emotions the people involved will experience. We propose a formal model of emotion prediction in the context of a public high-stakes social dilemma. This model uses inverse planning to infer a person's beliefs and preferences, including social preferences for equity and for maintaining a good reputation. The model then combines these inferred mental contents with the event to compute 'appraisals': whether the situation conformed to the expectations and fulfilled the preferences. We learn functions mapping computed appraisals to emotion labels, allowing the model to match human observers' quantitative predictions of 20 emotions, including joy, relief, guilt and envy. Model comparison indicates that inferred monetary preferences are not sufficient to explain observers' emotion predictions; inferred social preferences are factored into predictions for nearly every emotion. Human observers and the model both use minimal individualizing information to adjust predictions of how different people will respond to the same event. Thus, our framework integrates inverse planning, event appraisals and emotion concepts in a single computational model to reverse-engineer people's intuitive theory of emotions.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
From sparse descriptions of events, observers can make systematic and nuanced predictions of what emotions the people involved will experience. We propose a formal model of emotion prediction in the context of a public high-stakes social dilemma. This model uses inverse planning to infer a person's beliefs and preferences, including social preferences for equity and for maintaining a good reputation. The model then combines these inferred mental contents with the event to compute 'appraisals': whether the situation conformed to the expectations and fulfilled the preferences. We learn functions mapping computed appraisals to emotion labels, allowing the model to match human observers' quantitative predictions of 20 emotions, including joy, relief, guilt and envy. Model comparison indicates that inferred monetary preferences are not sufficient to explain observers' emotion predictions; inferred social preferences are factored into predictions for nearly every emotion. Human observers and the model both use minimal individualizing information to adjust predictions of how different people will respond to the same event. Thus, our framework integrates inverse planning, event appraisals and emotion concepts in a single computational model to reverse-engineer people's intuitive theory of emotions.
Radkani, Setayesh; Holton, Eleanor; de Courson, Benoît; Saxe, Rebecca; Nettle, Daniel
Desperation and inequality increase crime: evidence from experimental micro-societies Journal Article
In: R. Soc. Open Sci., iss. 10, pp. 221385, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Desperation and inequality increase crime: evidence from experimental micro-societies},
author = {Setayesh Radkani and Eleanor Holton and Benoît de Courson and Rebecca Saxe and Daniel Nettle},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:XUvXOeBm_78C, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/radkani2022.pdf, pdf
https://osf.io/kf87e/, data},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221385},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-07-19},
urldate = {2023-07-19},
journal = {R. Soc. Open Sci.},
issue = {10},
pages = {221385},
abstract = {People facing material deprivation are more likely to turn to acquisitive crime. It is not clear why it makes sense for them to do so, given that apprehension and punishment may make their situation even worse. Recent theory suggests that people should be more willing to steal if they are on the wrong side of a ‘desperation threshold’; that is, a level of resources critical to wellbeing. Below such a threshold, people should pursue any risky behaviour that offers the possibility of a short route back above, and should be insensitive to the severity of possible punishments, since they have little left to lose. We developed a multi-round, multi-player economic game with a desperation threshold and the possibility of theft as well as cooperation. Across four experiments with 1000 UK and US adults, we showed that falling short of a desperation threshold increased stealing from other players, even when the payoff from stealing was negative on average. Within the microsocieties created in the game, the presence of more players with below-threshold resources produced low trust, driven by the experience of being stolen from. Contrary to predictions, our participants appeared to be somewhat sensitive to the severity of punishment for being caught trying to steal. Our results show, in an experimental microcosm, that some members of society falling short of a threshold of material desperation can have powerful social consequences.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
People facing material deprivation are more likely to turn to acquisitive crime. It is not clear why it makes sense for them to do so, given that apprehension and punishment may make their situation even worse. Recent theory suggests that people should be more willing to steal if they are on the wrong side of a ‘desperation threshold’; that is, a level of resources critical to wellbeing. Below such a threshold, people should pursue any risky behaviour that offers the possibility of a short route back above, and should be insensitive to the severity of possible punishments, since they have little left to lose. We developed a multi-round, multi-player economic game with a desperation threshold and the possibility of theft as well as cooperation. Across four experiments with 1000 UK and US adults, we showed that falling short of a desperation threshold increased stealing from other players, even when the payoff from stealing was negative on average. Within the microsocieties created in the game, the presence of more players with below-threshold resources produced low trust, driven by the experience of being stolen from. Contrary to predictions, our participants appeared to be somewhat sensitive to the severity of punishment for being caught trying to steal. Our results show, in an experimental microcosm, that some members of society falling short of a threshold of material desperation can have powerful social consequences.
Radkani, Setayesh; Saxe, Rebecca
What people learn from punishment: joint inference of wrongness and punisher’s motivations from observation of punitive choices Journal Article
In: PsyArXiv, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {What people learn from punishment: joint inference of wrongness and punisher’s motivations from observation of punitive choices},
author = {Setayesh Radkani and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/legitimacy_wrongness_punishment_cogsci2023.pdf, pdf
https://osf.io/6x2we/, data},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-02},
urldate = {2023-06-02},
journal = {PsyArXiv},
abstract = {Punishment is a cost imposed on a target, in response to an undesirable action. Yet choosing to punish also reveals information about the authority’s own motives and values. We propose that observers jointly infer the wrongness of the action and the authority’s motivations. Using hypothetical scenarios in unfamiliar societies, we experimentally manipulated observers’ prior beliefs and measured human observers’ inferences after observing punishment. These inferences were recapitulated in a formal model that inverts an intuitive causal model of authorities who make rational choices about punishment by weighing its costs and benefits (ie utilities). An essential component of this model, driving these inferences, is that legitimate authorities consider the utility of a proportional response to harmful actions, which depends on the balance between the wrongness of the act and the severity of the punishment.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Punishment is a cost imposed on a target, in response to an undesirable action. Yet choosing to punish also reveals information about the authority’s own motives and values. We propose that observers jointly infer the wrongness of the action and the authority’s motivations. Using hypothetical scenarios in unfamiliar societies, we experimentally manipulated observers’ prior beliefs and measured human observers’ inferences after observing punishment. These inferences were recapitulated in a formal model that inverts an intuitive causal model of authorities who make rational choices about punishment by weighing its costs and benefits (ie utilities). An essential component of this model, driving these inferences, is that legitimate authorities consider the utility of a proportional response to harmful actions, which depends on the balance between the wrongness of the act and the severity of the punishment.
Cao, Anjie; Raz, Gal; Saxe, Rebecca; Frank, Michael C
Habituation reflects optimal exploration over noisy perceptual samples Journal Article
In: Topics in Cognitive Science, vol. 15, iss. 2, pp. 290-302, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Habituation reflects optimal exploration over noisy perceptual samples},
author = {Anjie Cao and Gal Raz and Rebecca Saxe and Michael C Frank },
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:AHdEip9mkN0C, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cao_gal_topics2023.pdf, pdf},
doi = {10.1111/tops.12631},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-04-01},
journal = {Topics in Cognitive Science},
volume = {15},
issue = {2},
pages = {290-302},
abstract = {From birth, humans constantly make decisions about what to look at and for how long. Yet, the
mechanism behind such decision-making remains poorly understood. Here, we present the rational
action, noisy choice for habituation (RANCH) model. RANCH is a rational learning model that takes
noisy perceptual samples from stimuli and makes sampling decisions based on expected information
gain (EIG). The model captures key patterns of looking time documented in developmental research:
habituation and dishabituation. We evaluated the model with adult looking time collected from a
paradigm analogous to the infant habituation paradigm. We compared RANCH with baseline models (no learning model, no perceptual noise model) and models with alternative linking hypotheses
(Surprisal, KL divergence). We showed that (1) learning and perceptual noise are critical assumptions
of the model, and (2) Surprisal and KL are good proxies for EIG under the current learning context.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
From birth, humans constantly make decisions about what to look at and for how long. Yet, the
mechanism behind such decision-making remains poorly understood. Here, we present the rational
action, noisy choice for habituation (RANCH) model. RANCH is a rational learning model that takes
noisy perceptual samples from stimuli and makes sampling decisions based on expected information
gain (EIG). The model captures key patterns of looking time documented in developmental research:
habituation and dishabituation. We evaluated the model with adult looking time collected from a
paradigm analogous to the infant habituation paradigm. We compared RANCH with baseline models (no learning model, no perceptual noise model) and models with alternative linking hypotheses
(Surprisal, KL divergence). We showed that (1) learning and perceptual noise are critical assumptions
of the model, and (2) Surprisal and KL are good proxies for EIG under the current learning context.
mechanism behind such decision-making remains poorly understood. Here, we present the rational
action, noisy choice for habituation (RANCH) model. RANCH is a rational learning model that takes
noisy perceptual samples from stimuli and makes sampling decisions based on expected information
gain (EIG). The model captures key patterns of looking time documented in developmental research:
habituation and dishabituation. We evaluated the model with adult looking time collected from a
paradigm analogous to the infant habituation paradigm. We compared RANCH with baseline models (no learning model, no perceptual noise model) and models with alternative linking hypotheses
(Surprisal, KL divergence). We showed that (1) learning and perceptual noise are critical assumptions
of the model, and (2) Surprisal and KL are good proxies for EIG under the current learning context.
Kosakowski, Heather L; Norman-Haignere, Samnuel; Mynick, Anna; Takahashi, Atsushi; Saxe, Rebecca; Kanwisher, Nancy
Preliminary evidence for selective cortical responses to music in one‐month‐old infants Journal Article
In: Developmental Science, pp. e13387, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Preliminary evidence for selective cortical responses to music in one‐month‐old infants},
author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Samnuel Norman-Haignere and Anna Mynick and Atsushi Takahashi and Rebecca Saxe and Nancy Kanwisher},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:FiytvqdAVhgC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Developmental-Science-2023-Kosakowski.pdf, pdf},
doi = {10.1111/desc.13387},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-03-23},
journal = {Developmental Science},
pages = {e13387},
abstract = {Prior studies have observed selective neural responses in the adult human auditory cortex to music and speech that cannot be explained by the differing lower-level acoustic properties of these stimuli. Does infant cortex exhibit similarly selective responses to music and speech shortly after birth? To answer this question, we attempted to collect functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 45 sleeping infants (2.0- to 11.9-weeks-old) while they listened to monophonic instrumental lullabies and infant-directed speech produced by a mother. To match acoustic variation between music and speech sounds we (1) recorded music from instruments that had a similar spectral range as female infant-directed speech, (2) used a novel excitation-matching algorithm to match the cochleagrams of music and speech stimuli, and (3) synthesized “model-matched” stimuli that were matched in spectrotemporal modulation statistics to (yet perceptually distinct from) music or speech. Of the 36 infants we collected usable data from, 19 had significant activations to sounds overall compared to scanner noise. From these infants, we observed a set of voxels in non-primary auditory cortex (NPAC) but not in Heschl's Gyrus that responded significantly more to music than to each of the other three stimulus types (but not significantly more strongly than to the background scanner noise). In contrast, our planned analyses did not reveal voxels in NPAC that responded more to speech than to model-matched speech, although other unplanned analyses did. These preliminary findings suggest that music selectivity arises within the first month of life. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/c8IGFvzxudk.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Prior studies have observed selective neural responses in the adult human auditory cortex to music and speech that cannot be explained by the differing lower-level acoustic properties of these stimuli. Does infant cortex exhibit similarly selective responses to music and speech shortly after birth? To answer this question, we attempted to collect functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 45 sleeping infants (2.0- to 11.9-weeks-old) while they listened to monophonic instrumental lullabies and infant-directed speech produced by a mother. To match acoustic variation between music and speech sounds we (1) recorded music from instruments that had a similar spectral range as female infant-directed speech, (2) used a novel excitation-matching algorithm to match the cochleagrams of music and speech stimuli, and (3) synthesized “model-matched” stimuli that were matched in spectrotemporal modulation statistics to (yet perceptually distinct from) music or speech. Of the 36 infants we collected usable data from, 19 had significant activations to sounds overall compared to scanner noise. From these infants, we observed a set of voxels in non-primary auditory cortex (NPAC) but not in Heschl's Gyrus that responded significantly more to music than to each of the other three stimulus types (but not significantly more strongly than to the background scanner noise). In contrast, our planned analyses did not reveal voxels in NPAC that responded more to speech than to model-matched speech, although other unplanned analyses did. These preliminary findings suggest that music selectivity arises within the first month of life. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/c8IGFvzxudk.
Schwartz, Emily; O'Nell, Kathryn; Saxe, Rebecca; Anzellotti, Stefano
Challenging the classical view: recognition of identity and expression as integrated processes Journal Article
In: Brain Sciences, vol. 13, iss. 2, pp. 296, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Challenging the classical view: recognition of identity and expression as integrated processes},
author = {Emily Schwartz and Kathryn O'Nell and Rebecca Saxe and Stefano Anzellotti},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:j7_hQOaDUrUC, Google Scholar},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-02-10},
urldate = {2023-02-10},
journal = {Brain Sciences},
volume = {13},
issue = {2},
pages = {296},
abstract = {Recent neuroimaging evidence challenges the classical view that face identity and facial expression are processed by segregated neural pathways, showing that information about identity and expression are encoded within common brain regions. This article tests the hypothesis that integrated representations of identity and expression arise spontaneously within deep neural networks. A subset of the CelebA dataset is used to train a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to label face identity (chance = 0.06%, accuracy = 26.5%), and the FER2013 dataset is used to train a DCNN to label facial expression (chance = 14.2%, accuracy = 63.5%). The identity-trained and expression-trained networks each successfully transfer to labeling both face identity and facial expression on the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces dataset. This study demonstrates that DCNNs trained to recognize face identity and DCNNs trained to recognize facial expression spontaneously develop representations of facial expression and face identity, respectively. Furthermore, a congruence coefficient analysis reveals that features distinguishing between identities and features distinguishing between expressions become increasingly orthogonal from layer to layer, suggesting that deep neural networks disentangle representational subspaces corresponding to different sources.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Recent neuroimaging evidence challenges the classical view that face identity and facial expression are processed by segregated neural pathways, showing that information about identity and expression are encoded within common brain regions. This article tests the hypothesis that integrated representations of identity and expression arise spontaneously within deep neural networks. A subset of the CelebA dataset is used to train a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to label face identity (chance = 0.06%, accuracy = 26.5%), and the FER2013 dataset is used to train a DCNN to label facial expression (chance = 14.2%, accuracy = 63.5%). The identity-trained and expression-trained networks each successfully transfer to labeling both face identity and facial expression on the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces dataset. This study demonstrates that DCNNs trained to recognize face identity and DCNNs trained to recognize facial expression spontaneously develop representations of facial expression and face identity, respectively. Furthermore, a congruence coefficient analysis reveals that features distinguishing between identities and features distinguishing between expressions become increasingly orthogonal from layer to layer, suggesting that deep neural networks disentangle representational subspaces corresponding to different sources.
Liu, Shari; Raz, Gal; Kamps, Frederik S.; Grossmann, Tobias; Saxe, Rebecca
No evidence for discontinuity between infants and adults (Response Paper) Journal Article
In: PsyArXiv, vol. 14, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {No evidence for discontinuity between infants and adults (Response Paper)},
author = {Shari Liu and Gal Raz and Frederik S. Kamps and Tobias Grossmann and Rebecca Saxe },
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Liu_etal_2023_BAResponse_R1.pdf, pdf},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-02-01},
journal = {PsyArXiv},
volume = {14},
abstract = {Based on studies of infant gaze, developmental psychologists have ascribed abstract cognitive functions to young infants. In their thought-provoking article, Blumberg and Adolph (B+ A)[1] consider the implications of developmental neurobiology for these claims. Abstract cognitive functions in adults depend on cortical circuits; however, B+ A hypothesize that the developing cortex is too immature to drive gaze in the youngest infants. If this is true, then subcortical regions must be driving all observed gaze behavior in young infants.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Based on studies of infant gaze, developmental psychologists have ascribed abstract cognitive functions to young infants. In their thought-provoking article, Blumberg and Adolph (B+ A)[1] consider the implications of developmental neurobiology for these claims. Abstract cognitive functions in adults depend on cortical circuits; however, B+ A hypothesize that the developing cortex is too immature to drive gaze in the youngest infants. If this is true, then subcortical regions must be driving all observed gaze behavior in young infants.
Liu, Shari; Lydic, Kirsten; Mei, Lingjie; Saxe, Rebecca
Violations of physical and psychological expectations in the human adult brain Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2023.
@inproceedings{nokey,
title = {Violations of physical and psychological expectations in the human adult brain},
author = {Shari Liu and Kirsten Lydic and Lingjie Mei and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:jU7OWUQzBzMC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/voe_proceedings2023.pdf, pdf},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
urldate = {2023-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
volume = {45},
issue = {45},
abstract = {When adults see one solid object pass through another, or see a person take the long route to a destination when a shortcut was available, we classify those events as surprising. Infants look infants look longer at the same unexpected outcomes, compared with visually similar but expected outcomes, in violation-of-expectation (VOE) experiments. What domain-specific and domain-general cognitive processes support these judgments? In a pre-registered experiment, we scanned 32 adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they watched videos designed for infant research. One region implicated in physical reasoning responded selectively to unexpected physical events, providing evidence for domain-specific physical prediction error. Multiple demand regions responded more to unexpected events regardless of domain, providing evidence for domain-general goal-directed attention. Early visual regions responded equally to unexpected and expected events, providing evidence against stimulus-driven prediction error. Thus, in adults, VOE involves domain-specific, and high-level, domain-general computations.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
When adults see one solid object pass through another, or see a person take the long route to a destination when a shortcut was available, we classify those events as surprising. Infants look infants look longer at the same unexpected outcomes, compared with visually similar but expected outcomes, in violation-of-expectation (VOE) experiments. What domain-specific and domain-general cognitive processes support these judgments? In a pre-registered experiment, we scanned 32 adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they watched videos designed for infant research. One region implicated in physical reasoning responded selectively to unexpected physical events, providing evidence for domain-specific physical prediction error. Multiple demand regions responded more to unexpected events regardless of domain, providing evidence for domain-general goal-directed attention. Early visual regions responded equally to unexpected and expected events, providing evidence against stimulus-driven prediction error. Thus, in adults, VOE involves domain-specific, and high-level, domain-general computations.
Raz, Gal; Cao, Anjie; Bui, Minh Khong; Frank, Michael C.; Saxe, Rebecca
No evidence for familiarity preferences after limited exposure to visual concepts in preschoolers and infants Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2023.
@inproceedings{nokey,
title = {No evidence for familiarity preferences after limited exposure to visual concepts in preschoolers and infants},
author = {Gal Raz and Anjie Cao and Minh Khong Bui and Michael C. Frank and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:L1USKYWJimsC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cao_raz_proceedings2022.pdf, pdf},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
urldate = {2023-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
journal = {Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
volume = {45},
issue = {45},
abstract = {From birth, humans make decisions about what to look at and for how long. A classic framework proposes encoding as a key driver of looking behavior in development - in early stages of encoding, infants and young children prefer to engage with familiar stimuli, while at later stages of encoding they prefer novel stimuli. Though this framework is often invoked when interpreting looking time studies, it is rarely validated empirically. Here, we test these predictions by explicitly manipulating exposure durations within-subjects. While we found robust evidence for habituation and novelty preferences, limiting exposure to visual concepts did not result in familiarity preferences in any age group. Our findings suggest that limited exposure does not generically lead to familiarity preferences, and that interpretations of observed familiarity preferences should be made with care. We argue for the development of formal frameworks which link the learning problem faced by participants to their attentional preferences.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
From birth, humans make decisions about what to look at and for how long. A classic framework proposes encoding as a key driver of looking behavior in development - in early stages of encoding, infants and young children prefer to engage with familiar stimuli, while at later stages of encoding they prefer novel stimuli. Though this framework is often invoked when interpreting looking time studies, it is rarely validated empirically. Here, we test these predictions by explicitly manipulating exposure durations within-subjects. While we found robust evidence for habituation and novelty preferences, limiting exposure to visual concepts did not result in familiarity preferences in any age group. Our findings suggest that limited exposure does not generically lead to familiarity preferences, and that interpretations of observed familiarity preferences should be made with care. We argue for the development of formal frameworks which link the learning problem faced by participants to their attentional preferences.
Ho, Mark K; Saxe, Rebecca; Cushman, Fiery
Planning with theory of mind Journal Article
In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 26, iss. 11, pp. 959-971, 2022.
@article{nokey,
title = {Planning with theory of mind},
author = {Mark K Ho and Rebecca Saxe and Fiery Cushman},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:LdasjJ6CEcoC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/planning_tom2022.pdf, pdf},
doi = {10.1016/j.tics.2022.08.003},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-11-01},
journal = {Trends in Cognitive Sciences},
volume = {26},
issue = {11},
pages = {959-971},
abstract = {Understanding Theory of Mind should begin with an analysis of the problems it solves. The traditional answer is that Theory of Mind is used for predicting others' thoughts and actions. However, the same Theory of Mind is also used for planning to change others' thoughts and actions. Planning requires that Theory of Mind consists of abstract structured causal representations and supports efficient search and selection from innumerable possible actions. Theory of Mind contrasts with less cognitively demanding alternatives: statistical predictive models of other people's actions, or model-free reinforcement of actions by their effects on other people. Theory of Mind is likely used to plan novel interventions and predict their effects, for example, in pedagogy, emotion regulation, and impression management.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Understanding Theory of Mind should begin with an analysis of the problems it solves. The traditional answer is that Theory of Mind is used for predicting others' thoughts and actions. However, the same Theory of Mind is also used for planning to change others' thoughts and actions. Planning requires that Theory of Mind consists of abstract structured causal representations and supports efficient search and selection from innumerable possible actions. Theory of Mind contrasts with less cognitively demanding alternatives: statistical predictive models of other people's actions, or model-free reinforcement of actions by their effects on other people. Theory of Mind is likely used to plan novel interventions and predict their effects, for example, in pedagogy, emotion regulation, and impression management.
Saxe, Rebecca
Perceiving and pursuing legitimate power Journal Article
In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2022.
@article{333,
title = {Perceiving and pursuing legitimate power},
author = {Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Saxe2022.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Planning%2Bwith%2BTheory%2Bof%2BMind%22&as_sauthors=Ho&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-09-22},
journal = {Trends in Cognitive Sciences},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Saxe, Rebecca
Perceiving and pursuing legitimate power Journal Article
In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 26, no. 12, 2022.
@article{nokey,
title = {Perceiving and pursuing legitimate power},
author = {Rebecca Saxe },
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:7Hz3ACDFbsoC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/saxe_trends2022.pdf, pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.08.008},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-09-20},
urldate = {2022-09-20},
journal = {Trends in Cognitive Sciences},
volume = {26},
number = {12},
abstract = {How do people perceive and pursue legitimate power? For the social sciences, this question is venerable. Yet, for cognitive science, it offers fresh and generative opportunities to explore how adults evaluate legitimacy, how children learn to do so, and what difference legitimate power makes for people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
How do people perceive and pursue legitimate power? For the social sciences, this question is venerable. Yet, for cognitive science, it offers fresh and generative opportunities to explore how adults evaluate legitimacy, how children learn to do so, and what difference legitimate power makes for people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Ho, Mark K.; Saxe, Rebecca; Cushman, Fiery
Planning with Theory of Mind Journal Article
In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2022.
@article{331,
title = {Planning with Theory of Mind},
author = {Mark K. Ho and Rebecca Saxe and Fiery Cushman},
url = {http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Planning%2Bwith%2BTheory%2Bof%2BMind%22&as_sauthors=Ho&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/HoSaxeCushman2022.pdf, PDF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/331.rtf, RTF
},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-09-08},
journal = {Trends in Cognitive Sciences},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Thomas, Ashley J.; Saxe, Rebecca; Spelke, Elizabeth S.
Infants infer potential social partners by observing the interactions of their parent with unknown others Journal Article
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119, iss. 32, pp. e2121390119, 2022.
@article{nokey,
title = { Infants infer potential social partners by observing the interactions of their parent with unknown others},
author = {Ashley J. Thomas and Rebecca Saxe and Elizabeth S. Spelke},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&cstart=20&pagesize=80&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:kVjdVfd2voEC, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ajt2022.pdf, pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121390119},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-05-24},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
volume = {119},
issue = {32},
pages = {e2121390119},
abstract = {Infants are born into networks of individuals who are socially connected. How do infants begin learning which individuals are their own potential social partners? Using digitally edited videos, we showed 12-mo-old infants’ social interactions between unknown individuals and their own parents. In studies 1 to 4, after their parent showed affiliation toward one puppet, infants expected that puppet to engage with them. In study 5, infants made the reverse inference; after a puppet engaged with them, the infants expected that puppet to respond to their parent. In each study, infants’ inferences were specific to social interactions that involved their own parent as opposed to another infant’s parent. Thus, infants combine observation of social interactions with knowledge of their preexisting relationship with their parent to discover which newly encountered individuals are potential social partners for themselves and their families.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Infants are born into networks of individuals who are socially connected. How do infants begin learning which individuals are their own potential social partners? Using digitally edited videos, we showed 12-mo-old infants’ social interactions between unknown individuals and their own parents. In studies 1 to 4, after their parent showed affiliation toward one puppet, infants expected that puppet to engage with them. In study 5, infants made the reverse inference; after a puppet engaged with them, the infants expected that puppet to respond to their parent. In each study, infants’ inferences were specific to social interactions that involved their own parent as opposed to another infant’s parent. Thus, infants combine observation of social interactions with knowledge of their preexisting relationship with their parent to discover which newly encountered individuals are potential social partners for themselves and their families.
Kamps, Frederik S.; Richardson, Hilary; Murty, N. Apurva Ratan; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca
Using child‐friendly movie stimuli to study the development of face, place, and object regions from age 3 to 12 years Journal Article
In: Human Brain Mapping, vol. 43, iss. 9, pp. 2782-2800, 2022.
@article{nokey,
title = {Using child‐friendly movie stimuli to study the development of face, place, and object regions from age 3 to 12 years},
author = {Frederik S. Kamps and Hilary Richardson and N. Apurva Ratan Murty and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Tv-zquoAAAAJ&cstart=20&pagesize=80&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=Tv-zquoAAAAJ:lvd772isFD0C, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Human-Brain-Mapping-2022-Kamps.pdf, pdf
},
doi = {10.1002/hbm.25815},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-11},
urldate = {2022-03-11},
journal = {Human Brain Mapping},
volume = {43},
issue = {9},
pages = {2782-2800},
abstract = {Scanning young children while they watch short, engaging, commercially-produced movies has emerged as a promising approach for increasing data retention and quality. Movie stimuli also evoke a richer variety of cognitive processes than traditional experiments, allowing the study of multiple aspects of brain development simultaneously. However, because these stimuli are uncontrolled, it is unclear how effectively distinct profiles of brain activity can be distinguished from the resulting data. Here we develop an approach for identifying multiple distinct subject-specific Regions of Interest (ssROIs) using fMRI data collected during movie-viewing. We focused on the test case of higher-level visual regions selective for faces, scenes, and objects. Adults (N = 13) were scanned while viewing a 5.6-min child-friendly movie, as well as a traditional localizer experiment with blocks of faces, scenes, and objects. We found that just 2.7 min of movie data could identify subject-specific face, scene, and object regions. While successful, movie-defined ssROIS still showed weaker domain selectivity than traditional ssROIs. Having validated our approach in adults, we then used the same methods on movie data collected from 3 to 12-year-old children (N = 122). Movie response timecourses in 3-year-old children's face, scene, and object regions were already significantly and specifically predicted by timecourses from the corresponding regions in adults. We also found evidence of continued developmental change, particularly in the face-selective posterior superior temporal sulcus. Taken together, our results reveal both early maturity and functional change in face, scene, and object regions, and more broadly highlight the promise of short, child-friendly movies for developmental cognitive neuroscience.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Scanning young children while they watch short, engaging, commercially-produced movies has emerged as a promising approach for increasing data retention and quality. Movie stimuli also evoke a richer variety of cognitive processes than traditional experiments, allowing the study of multiple aspects of brain development simultaneously. However, because these stimuli are uncontrolled, it is unclear how effectively distinct profiles of brain activity can be distinguished from the resulting data. Here we develop an approach for identifying multiple distinct subject-specific Regions of Interest (ssROIs) using fMRI data collected during movie-viewing. We focused on the test case of higher-level visual regions selective for faces, scenes, and objects. Adults (N = 13) were scanned while viewing a 5.6-min child-friendly movie, as well as a traditional localizer experiment with blocks of faces, scenes, and objects. We found that just 2.7 min of movie data could identify subject-specific face, scene, and object regions. While successful, movie-defined ssROIS still showed weaker domain selectivity than traditional ssROIs. Having validated our approach in adults, we then used the same methods on movie data collected from 3 to 12-year-old children (N = 122). Movie response timecourses in 3-year-old children's face, scene, and object regions were already significantly and specifically predicted by timecourses from the corresponding regions in adults. We also found evidence of continued developmental change, particularly in the face-selective posterior superior temporal sulcus. Taken together, our results reveal both early maturity and functional change in face, scene, and object regions, and more broadly highlight the promise of short, child-friendly movies for developmental cognitive neuroscience.
Kosakowski, Heather L.; Cohen, Michael A.; Takahashi, Atsushi; Keil, Boris; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca
Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants Journal Article
In: Current Biology, iss. 32, pp. 265–274, 2022.
@article{nokey,
title = {Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants},
author = {Heather L. Kosakowski and Michael A. Cohen and Atsushi Takahashi and Boris Keil and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Selective%2Bresponses%2Bto%2Bfaces%2C%2Bscenes%2C%2Band%2Bbodies%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bventral%2Bvisual%2Bpathway%2Bof%2Binfants%22&as_sauthors=Kosakowski&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Kosakowski-et-al-CB2022.pdf, PDF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/320.rtf, RTF
},
doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.064},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-24},
urldate = {2022-01-24},
journal = {Current Biology},
issue = {32},
pages = {265–274},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Thomas, Ashley J.; Woo, Brandon; Nettle, Daniel; Spelke, Elizabeth; Saxe, Rebecca
Early concepts of intimacy: Young humans use saliva sharing to infer close relationships Journal Article
In: Science, vol. 375, pp. 311-315, 2022.
@article{321,
title = {Early concepts of intimacy: Young humans use saliva sharing to infer close relationships},
author = {Ashley J. Thomas and Brandon Woo and Daniel Nettle and Elizabeth Spelke and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.abh1054
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/science.abh1054.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Early%2Bconcepts%2Bof%2Bintimacy%3A%2BYoung%2Bhumans%2Buse%2Bsaliva%2Bsharing%2Bto%2Binfer%2Bclose%2Brelationships%22&as_sauthors=Thomas&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/321.rtf, RTF},
doi = {10.1126/science.abh1054},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
urldate = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Science},
volume = {375},
pages = {311-315},
abstract = {Across human societies, people form “thick” relationships characterized by strong attachments, obligations, and mutual responsiveness. People in thick relationships share food utensils, kiss, or engage in other distinctive interactions that involve sharing saliva. We found that children, toddlers, and infants infer that dyads who share saliva (as opposed to other positive social interactions) have a distinct relationship. Children expect saliva sharing to happen in nuclear families. Toddlers and infants expect that people who share saliva will respond to one another in distress. Parents confirm that saliva sharing is a valid cue of relationship thickness in their children’s social environments. The ability to use distinctive interactions to infer categories of relationships thus emerges early in life, without explicit teaching; this enables young humans to rapidly identify close relationships, both within and beyond families. Young humans are remarkably helpless, relying entirely on the adult humans around them for survival. However, not all adults are as invested in the care of a particular child, and there is benefit in being able to determine from a very young age which relationships are close. Thomas et al. tested young children and infants to determine whether they were able to identify close, or “thick, ” relationships based on whether individuals participated in activities that involve sharing saliva, such as eating, kissing, or sharing utensils (see the Perspective by Fawcett). The children expected relationships like these to be closer than other relationships, indicating that they can distinguish closeness very early in life. Children, toddlers, and infants infer that people who share saliva, for example, by kissing or sharing food utensils, are in distinctive, close social relationships.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Across human societies, people form “thick” relationships characterized by strong attachments, obligations, and mutual responsiveness. People in thick relationships share food utensils, kiss, or engage in other distinctive interactions that involve sharing saliva. We found that children, toddlers, and infants infer that dyads who share saliva (as opposed to other positive social interactions) have a distinct relationship. Children expect saliva sharing to happen in nuclear families. Toddlers and infants expect that people who share saliva will respond to one another in distress. Parents confirm that saliva sharing is a valid cue of relationship thickness in their children’s social environments. The ability to use distinctive interactions to infer categories of relationships thus emerges early in life, without explicit teaching; this enables young humans to rapidly identify close relationships, both within and beyond families. Young humans are remarkably helpless, relying entirely on the adult humans around them for survival. However, not all adults are as invested in the care of a particular child, and there is benefit in being able to determine from a very young age which relationships are close. Thomas et al. tested young children and infants to determine whether they were able to identify close, or “thick, ” relationships based on whether individuals participated in activities that involve sharing saliva, such as eating, kissing, or sharing utensils (see the Perspective by Fawcett). The children expected relationships like these to be closer than other relationships, indicating that they can distinguish closeness very early in life. Children, toddlers, and infants infer that people who share saliva, for example, by kissing or sharing food utensils, are in distinctive, close social relationships.
Thomas, Ashley J.; Saxe, Rebecca; Spelke, Elizabeth S.
Infants infer potential social partners by observing the interactions of their parent with unknown others Journal Article
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119, pp. e2121390119, 2022.
@article{328,
title = {Infants infer potential social partners by observing the interactions of their parent with unknown others},
author = {Ashley J. Thomas and Rebecca Saxe and Elizabeth S. Spelke},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pnas.2121390119.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Infants%2Binfer%2Bpotential%2Bsocial%2Bpartners%2Bby%2Bobserving%2Bthe%2Binteractions%2Bof%2Btheir%2Bparent%2Bwith%2Bunknown%2Bothers%22&as_sauthors=Thomas&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/328.rtf, RTF},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
urldate = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
volume = {119},
pages = {e2121390119},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Kamps, Frederik S.; Richardson, Hilary; Murty, N. Apurva Ratan; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca
Using child-friendly movie stimuli to study the development of face, place, and object regions from age 3 to 12 years Journal Article
In: Human Brain Mapping, vol. 43, pp. 2782-2800, 2022.
@article{329,
title = {Using child-friendly movie stimuli to study the development of face, place, and object regions from age 3 to 12 years},
author = {Frederik S. Kamps and Hilary Richardson and N. Apurva Ratan Murty and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Human-Brain-Mapping-2022-Kamps-Using-child‐friendly-movie-stimuli-to-study-the-development-of-face-place-and-object.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Using%2Bchild-friendly%2Bmovie%2Bstimuli%2Bto%2Bstudy%2Bthe%2Bdevelopment%2Bof%2Bface%2C%2Bplace%2C%2Band%2Bobject%2Bregions%2Bfrom%2Bage%2B3%2Bto%2B12%2Byears%22&as_sauthors=Kamps&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/329.rtf, RTF},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
urldate = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Human Brain Mapping},
volume = {43},
pages = {2782-2800},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Radkani, Setayesh; Thomas, Ashley J; Saxe, Rebecca
Advantages and limitations of representing groups in terms of recursive utilities Journal Article
In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 45, pp. 44-45, 2022.
@article{332,
title = {Advantages and limitations of representing groups in terms of recursive utilities},
author = {Setayesh Radkani and Ashley J Thomas and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/toward-a-computational-theory-of-social-groups-a-finite-set-of-cognitive-primitives-for-representing-any-and-all-social-groups-in-the-context-of-conflict.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Advantages%2Band%2Blimitations%2Bof%2Brepresenting%2Bgroups%2Bin%2Bterms%2Bof%2Brecursive%2Butilities%22&as_sauthors=Radkani&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/332.rtf, RTF
},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
urldate = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Behavioral and Brain Sciences},
volume = {45},
pages = {44-45},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Houlihan, Sean Dae; Ong, Desmond C.; Cusimano, Maddie; Saxe, Rebecca
Reasoning about the antecedents of emotions: Bayesian causal inference over an intuitive theory of mind Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, pp. 854-861, 2022.
@inproceedings{houlihan2022emotionreasoning,
title = {Reasoning about the antecedents of emotions: Bayesian causal inference over an intuitive theory of mind},
author = {Sean Dae Houlihan and Desmond C. Ong and Maddie Cusimano and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sn3w3n2, eScholarship
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/houlihan2022emotionreasoning.pdf, pdf},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society},
journal = {Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
volume = {44},
pages = {854-861},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Barrett, H. Clark; Saxe, Rebecca
Are some cultures more mind-minded in their moral judgements than others? Journal Article
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, vol. 376, 2021.
@article{314,
title = {Are some cultures more mind-minded in their moral judgements than others?},
author = {H. Clark Barrett and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Barrett-and-Saxe-2021.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Are%2Bsome%2Bcultures%2Bmore%2Bmind-minded%2Bin%2Btheir%2Bmoral%2Bjudgements%2Bthan%2Bothers%3F%22&as_sauthors=Barrett&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/314.rtf, RTF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0288},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-11-01},
urldate = {2021-11-01},
journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B},
volume = {376},
chapter = {20200288},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Tomova, Livia; Tye, Kay; Saxe, Rebecca
The neuroscience of unmet social needs Journal Article
In: Social Neuroscience, vol. 16, pp. 221-231, 2021, ISSN: 1747-0919.
@article{312,
title = {The neuroscience of unmet social needs},
author = {Livia Tomova and Kay Tye and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2019.1694580
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Tomova-et-al-2021.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22The%2Bneuroscience%2Bof%2Bunmet%2Bsocial%2Bneeds%22&as_sauthors=Tomova&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/312.rtf, RTF},
doi = {10.1080/17470919.2019.1694580},
issn = {1747-0919},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-05-01},
urldate = {2021-05-01},
journal = {Social Neuroscience},
volume = {16},
pages = {221-231},
chapter = {221},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Houlihan, Sean Dae; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.; Saxe, Rebecca
Linking Models of Theory of Mind and Measures of Human Brain Activity Book Chapter
In: Gilead, Michael; Ochsner, Kevin N. (Ed.): The Neural Basis of Mentalizing, pp. 209-235, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-51890-5.
@inbook{houlihan2021linking,
title = {Linking Models of Theory of Mind and Measures of Human Brain Activity},
author = {Sean Dae Houlihan and Joshua B. Tenenbaum and Rebecca Saxe},
editor = {Michael Gilead and Kevin N. Ochsner},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-51890-5_11, Publisher
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/318.rtf, RTF
},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-51890-5_11},
isbn = {978-3-030-51890-5},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
booktitle = {The Neural Basis of Mentalizing},
pages = {209-235},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
address = {Cham},
organization = {Springer},
abstract = {Humans employ a richly structured intuitive theory of psychology to reason about others’ unobserved mental states, a faculty called “Theory of Mind”. Advances in behavioral modeling have begun to capture aspects of the flexible and nuanced reasoning people exhibit when inferring the contents of others’ minds. In parallel, advances in neuroimaging have begun to illuminate the structure of neural responses evoked when representing others’ minds. Bringing these lines of work together will require precise and testable linking hypotheses about how computations over a causal generative model are implemented by the brain, and how these models are acquired during development. We consider how computational modeling and neuroimaging of Theory of Mind can mutually constrain the space of linking hypotheses.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
Humans employ a richly structured intuitive theory of psychology to reason about others’ unobserved mental states, a faculty called “Theory of Mind”. Advances in behavioral modeling have begun to capture aspects of the flexible and nuanced reasoning people exhibit when inferring the contents of others’ minds. In parallel, advances in neuroimaging have begun to illuminate the structure of neural responses evoked when representing others’ minds. Bringing these lines of work together will require precise and testable linking hypotheses about how computations over a causal generative model are implemented by the brain, and how these models are acquired during development. We consider how computational modeling and neuroimaging of Theory of Mind can mutually constrain the space of linking hypotheses.
Nettle, Daniel; Johnson, Elliott; Johnson, Matthew; Saxe, Rebecca
Why has the COVID-19 pandemic increased support for Universal Basic Income? Journal Article
In: Humanities and Social Science Communications, vol. 8, pp. 1-12, 2021.
@article{296,
title = {Why has the COVID-19 pandemic increased support for Universal Basic Income?},
author = {Daniel Nettle and Elliott Johnson and Matthew Johnson and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00760-7.pdf, PDF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Nature_UBI.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Why%2Bhas%2Bthe%2BCOVID-19%2Bpandemic%2Bincreased%2Bsupport%2Bfor%2BUniversal%2BBasic%2BIncome%3F%22&as_sauthors=Nettle&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/296.rtf, RTF
},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00760-7},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Humanities and Social Science Communications},
volume = {8},
pages = {1-12},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Ghotra, Anpreeet; Kosakowski, Heather L.; Takahashi, Atsushi; Etzel, Robin; May, Markus W.; Scholz, Alina; Jansen, Andreas; Wald, Lawrence L.; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca; Keil, Boris
A size-adaptive 32-channel array coil for awake infant neuroimaging at 3 Tesla MRI Journal Article
In: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 86, pp. 1773-1785, 2021.
@article{315,
title = {A size-adaptive 32-channel array coil for awake infant neuroimaging at 3 Tesla MRI},
author = {Anpreeet Ghotra and Heather L. Kosakowski and Atsushi Takahashi and Robin Etzel and Markus W. May and Alina Scholz and Andreas Jansen and Lawrence L. Wald and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca Saxe and Boris Keil},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Ghotra-et-al-2021_0.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22A%2Bsize-adaptive%2B32-channel%2Barray%2Bcoil%2Bfor%2Bawake%2Binfant%2Bneuroimaging%2Bat%2B3%2BTesla%2BMRI%22&as_sauthors=Ghotra&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/315.rtf, RTF},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Magnetic Resonance in Medicine},
volume = {86},
pages = {1773-1785},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Jamali, Mohsen; Grannan, Benjamin L.; Fedorenko, Evelina; Saxe, Rebecca; Báez-Mendoza, Raymundo; Williams, Ziv M.
Single-neuronal predictions of others’ beliefs in humans Journal Article
In: Nature, vol. 591, pp. 610-614, 2021.
@article{316,
title = {Single-neuronal predictions of others’ beliefs in humans},
author = {Mohsen Jamali and Benjamin L. Grannan and Evelina Fedorenko and Rebecca Saxe and Raymundo Báez-Mendoza and Ziv M. Williams},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Jamali-et-al-2021.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Single-neuronal%2Bpredictions%2Bof%2Bothers%E2%80%99%2Bbeliefs%2Bin%2Bhumans%22&as_sauthors=Jamali&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/316.rtf, RTF
},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03184-0},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Nature},
volume = {591},
pages = {610-614},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Anzellotti, Stefano; Houlihan, Sean Dae; Liburd-Jr., Samuel; Saxe, Rebecca
Leveraging facial expressions and contextual information to investigate opaque representations of emotions Journal Article
In: Emotion, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 96-107, 2021, ISSN: 1528-3542.
@article{219,
title = {Leveraging facial expressions and contextual information to investigate opaque representations of emotions},
author = {Stefano Anzellotti and Sean Dae Houlihan and Samuel Liburd-Jr. and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-58384-001, Publisher
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/opaque_representations_emotions.pdf, PDF},
doi = {10.1037/emo0000685},
issn = {1528-3542},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Emotion},
volume = {21},
number = {1},
pages = {96-107},
abstract = {Observers attribute emotions to others relying on multiple cues, including facial expressions and information about the situation. Recent research has used Bayesian models to study how these cues are integrated. Existing studies have used a variety of tasks to probe emotion inferences, but limited attention has been devoted to the possibility that different decision processes might be involved depending on the task. If this is the case, understanding emotion representations might require understanding the decision processes through which they give rise to judgments. This article 1) shows that the different tasks that have been used in the literature yield very different results, 2) proposes an account of the decision processes involved that explain the differences, and 3) tests novel predictions of this account. The results offer new insights into how emotions are represented, and more broadly demonstrate the importance of taking decision processes into account in Bayesian models of cognition.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Observers attribute emotions to others relying on multiple cues, including facial expressions and information about the situation. Recent research has used Bayesian models to study how these cues are integrated. Existing studies have used a variety of tasks to probe emotion inferences, but limited attention has been devoted to the possibility that different decision processes might be involved depending on the task. If this is the case, understanding emotion representations might require understanding the decision processes through which they give rise to judgments. This article 1) shows that the different tasks that have been used in the literature yield very different results, 2) proposes an account of the decision processes involved that explain the differences, and 3) tests novel predictions of this account. The results offer new insights into how emotions are represented, and more broadly demonstrate the importance of taking decision processes into account in Bayesian models of cognition.
Deen, B; Saxe, R; Kanwisher, N
Processing communicative facial and vocal cues in the superior temporal sulcus Journal Article
In: NeuroImage, vol. 221, pp. 117191, 2020.
@article{244,
title = {Processing communicative facial and vocal cues in the superior temporal sulcus},
author = {B Deen and R Saxe and N Kanwisher},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811920306777
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-s2.0-S1053811920306777-main.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Processing%2Bcommunicative%2Bfacial%2Band%2Bvocal%2Bcues%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bsuperior%2Btemporal%2Bsulcus%22&as_sauthors=Deen&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/244.rtf, RTF
},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117191},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-11-01},
urldate = {2020-11-01},
journal = {NeuroImage},
volume = {221},
pages = {117191},
abstract = {Facial and vocal cues provide critical social information about other humans, including their emotional and attentional states and the content of their speech. Recent work has shown that the face-responsive region of posterior superior temporal sulcus (textquotedblleftfSTStextquotedblright) also responds strongly to vocal sounds. Here, we investigate the functional role of this region and the broader STS by measuring responses to a range of face movements, vocal sounds, and hand movements using fMRI. We find that the fSTS responds broadly to different types of audio and visual face action, including both richly social communicative actions, as well as minimally social noncommunicative actions, ruling out hypotheses of specialization for processing speech signals, or communicative signals more generally. Strikingly, however, responses to hand movements were very low, whether communicative or not, indicating a specific role in the analysis of face actions (facial and vocal), not a general role in the perception of any human action. Furthermore, spatial patterns of response in this region were able to decode communicative from noncommunicative face actions, both within and across modality (facial/vocal cues), indicating sensitivity to an abstract social dimension. These functional properties of the fSTS contrast with a region of middle STS that has a selective, largely unimodal auditory response to speech sounds over both communicative and noncommunicative vocal nonspeech sounds, and nonvocal sounds. Region of interest analyses were corroborated by a data-driven independent component analysis, identifying face-voice and auditory speech responses as dominant sources of voxelwise variance across the STS. These results suggest that the STS contains separate processing streams for the audiovisual analysis of face actions and auditory speech processing.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Facial and vocal cues provide critical social information about other humans, including their emotional and attentional states and the content of their speech. Recent work has shown that the face-responsive region of posterior superior temporal sulcus (textquotedblleftfSTStextquotedblright) also responds strongly to vocal sounds. Here, we investigate the functional role of this region and the broader STS by measuring responses to a range of face movements, vocal sounds, and hand movements using fMRI. We find that the fSTS responds broadly to different types of audio and visual face action, including both richly social communicative actions, as well as minimally social noncommunicative actions, ruling out hypotheses of specialization for processing speech signals, or communicative signals more generally. Strikingly, however, responses to hand movements were very low, whether communicative or not, indicating a specific role in the analysis of face actions (facial and vocal), not a general role in the perception of any human action. Furthermore, spatial patterns of response in this region were able to decode communicative from noncommunicative face actions, both within and across modality (facial/vocal cues), indicating sensitivity to an abstract social dimension. These functional properties of the fSTS contrast with a region of middle STS that has a selective, largely unimodal auditory response to speech sounds over both communicative and noncommunicative vocal nonspeech sounds, and nonvocal sounds. Region of interest analyses were corroborated by a data-driven independent component analysis, identifying face-voice and auditory speech responses as dominant sources of voxelwise variance across the STS. These results suggest that the STS contains separate processing streams for the audiovisual analysis of face actions and auditory speech processing.
Landau-Wells, Marika; Saxe, Rebecca
Political preferences and threat perception: opportunities for neuroimaging and developmental research Journal Article
In: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, vol. 34, pp. 58-63, 2020, ISSN: 23521546.
@article{231,
title = {Political preferences and threat perception: opportunities for neuroimaging and developmental research},
author = {Marika Landau-Wells and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2352154619301330
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Landau-Wells-and-Saxe_2020_Threat-Perception_Political-Prefs_Opportunities.pdf, PDF
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/231.rtf, RTF},
doi = {10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.12.002},
issn = {23521546},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-08-01},
urldate = {2020-08-01},
journal = {Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences},
volume = {34},
pages = {58-63},
abstract = {People have preferences for how their social environment is organized and governed. One influential explanation of variation in these preferences focuses on individual differences in sensitivity to threats. Recent research demonstrates that this relationship is a function not only of the degree of sensitivity (greater or lesser), but also of the danger in question (i.e. immigration or climate change) and the kind of potential harm it poses (i.e. physical pain or contamination). Since many political issues are not unambiguously of one kind, the structure of an individual’s reactions to perceived political threats is also uncertain. We argue that future research should (i) use functional neuroimaging to test these structures and (ii) investigate the role of social learning in their transmission.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
People have preferences for how their social environment is organized and governed. One influential explanation of variation in these preferences focuses on individual differences in sensitivity to threats. Recent research demonstrates that this relationship is a function not only of the degree of sensitivity (greater or lesser), but also of the danger in question (i.e. immigration or climate change) and the kind of potential harm it poses (i.e. physical pain or contamination). Since many political issues are not unambiguously of one kind, the structure of an individual’s reactions to perceived political threats is also uncertain. We argue that future research should (i) use functional neuroimaging to test these structures and (ii) investigate the role of social learning in their transmission.
Richardson, H; Koster-Hale, J; Caselli, N; Magid, R; Benedict, R; Olson, H; Pyers, J; Saxe, R
Reduced Neural Selectivity for Mental States in Deaf Children with Delayed Exposure to Sign Language Journal Article
In: Nature Communications, vol. 11, pp. 3246, 2020.
@article{238,
title = {Reduced Neural Selectivity for Mental States in Deaf Children with Delayed Exposure to Sign Language},
author = {H Richardson and J Koster-Hale and N Caselli and R Magid and R Benedict and H Olson and J Pyers and R Saxe},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17004-y
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/s41467-020-17004-y_2.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Reduced%2BNeural%2BSelectivity%2Bfor%2BMental%2BStates%2Bin%2BDeaf%2BChildren%2Bwith%2BDelayed%2BExposure%2Bto%2BSign%2BLanguage%22&as_sauthors=Richardson&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1. Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/238.rtf, RTF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17004-y},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-06-01},
urldate = {2020-06-01},
journal = {Nature Communications},
volume = {11},
pages = {3246},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Nettle, Daniel; Saxe, Rebecca
Preferences for redistribution are sensitive to perceived luck, social homogeneity, war and scarcity Journal Article
In: Cognition, vol. 198, pp. 104234, 2020, ISSN: 00100277.
@article{222,
title = {Preferences for redistribution are sensitive to perceived luck, social homogeneity, war and scarcity},
author = {Daniel Nettle and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0010027720300536
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1-s2.0-S0010027720300536-main.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Preferences%2Bfor%2Bredistribution%2Bare%2Bsensitive%2Bto%2Bperceived%2Bluck%2C%2Bsocial%2Bhomogeneity%2C%2Bwar%2Band%2Bscarcity%22&as_sauthors=Nettle&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/222.rtf, RTF},
doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104234},
issn = {00100277},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-05-01},
urldate = {2020-05-01},
journal = {Cognition},
volume = {198},
pages = {104234},
abstract = {Many human societies feature institutions for redistributing resources from some individuals to others, but preferred levels of redistribution vary greatly within and between populations. We postulate that support for redistribution is the output of a structured cognitive system that is sensitive to features of the social situation. We developed an experimental approach in which participants prescribe appropriate redistribution for hypothetical villages whose features vary. Over seven experiments involving 2400 adults from the UK, we show that participants shift their redistribution preferences systematically as situational features change. Higher levels of re-distribution are favoured when luck is more important in the initial distribution of resources; when social groups are more homogeneous; when the group is at war; and when resources are abundant rather than scarce.Judgements about the right level of redistribution carry moderate or high levels of moral conviction. Participants have systematic intuitions about when the implementation of redistribution will prove problematic, distinct from their intuitions about when it is desirable. Individuals are only weakly consistent in the level of redistribution they prefer, and political orientation explains rather little variation in preferred redistribution for a given situation. We argue that people have divergent views on redistribution at least in part because they have different appraisals of the features of their societies. Understanding the operating principles of the psychology of redistribution may help explain variation and change in support for, and hence existence of, redistributive institutions across societies and over time.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Many human societies feature institutions for redistributing resources from some individuals to others, but preferred levels of redistribution vary greatly within and between populations. We postulate that support for redistribution is the output of a structured cognitive system that is sensitive to features of the social situation. We developed an experimental approach in which participants prescribe appropriate redistribution for hypothetical villages whose features vary. Over seven experiments involving 2400 adults from the UK, we show that participants shift their redistribution preferences systematically as situational features change. Higher levels of re-distribution are favoured when luck is more important in the initial distribution of resources; when social groups are more homogeneous; when the group is at war; and when resources are abundant rather than scarce.Judgements about the right level of redistribution carry moderate or high levels of moral conviction. Participants have systematic intuitions about when the implementation of redistribution will prove problematic, distinct from their intuitions about when it is desirable. Individuals are only weakly consistent in the level of redistribution they prefer, and political orientation explains rather little variation in preferred redistribution for a given situation. We argue that people have divergent views on redistribution at least in part because they have different appraisals of the features of their societies. Understanding the operating principles of the psychology of redistribution may help explain variation and change in support for, and hence existence of, redistributive institutions across societies and over time.
Richardson, H; Gweon, H; Dodell-Feder, D; Malloy, C; Pelton, H; Keil, B; Kanwisher, N; Saxe, R
In: Cortex, vol. 125, pp. 12-29, 2020.
@article{241,
title = {Response Patterns in the Developing Social Brain are Organized by Social and Emotion Features and Disrupted in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder},
author = {H Richardson and H Gweon and D Dodell-Feder and C Malloy and H Pelton and B Keil and N Kanwisher and R Saxe},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945219304071
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-s2.0-S0010945219304071-main_1.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Response%2BPatterns%2Bin%2Bthe%2BDeveloping%2BSocial%2BBrain%2Bare%2BOrganized%2Bby%2BSocial%2Band%2BEmotion%2BFeatures%2Band%2BDisrupted%2Bin%2BChildren%2BDiagnosed%2Bwith%2BAutism%2BSpectrum%2BDisorder%22&as_sauthors=Richardson&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/241.rtf, RTF
https://osf.io/cbw6f/, OSF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2019.11.021},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-04-01},
urldate = {2020-04-01},
journal = {Cortex},
volume = {125},
pages = {12-29},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Tomova, L; Saxe, R; Klöbl, M; Lanzenberger, R; Lamm, C
Acute stress alters neural patterns of value representation for others Journal Article
In: NeuroImage, vol. 209, pp. 116497, 2020.
@article{245,
title = {Acute stress alters neural patterns of value representation for others},
author = {L Tomova and R Saxe and M Klöbl and R Lanzenberger and C Lamm},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811919310882
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-s2.0-S1053811919310882-main.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Acute%2Bstress%2Balters%2Bneural%2Bpatterns%2Bof%2Bvalue%2Brepresentation%2Bfor%2Bothers%22&as_sauthors=Tomova&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/245.rtf, RTF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116497},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-04-01},
urldate = {2020-04-01},
journal = {NeuroImage},
volume = {209},
pages = {116497},
abstract = {<p>Acute stress is often evoked during social interactions, by feelings of threat or negative evaluation by other people. We also constantly interact with others while under stress - in the workplace or in private alike. However, it is not clear how stress affects social interactions. For one, individuals could become more selfish and focused on their own goals. On the other hand, individuals might also become more focused on affiliating with potential social partners, in order to secure their support. There is, indeed, accumulating behavioral evidence that prosocial behaviors increase rather than decrease under stress. Here, we tested the underlying brain processes of such findings, by assessing the effects of stress on the neural representations of (monetary) value for self and other. Participants (N = 30; male, 18-40 years) played a gambling task for themselves and for another participant while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Each participant played the gambling task twice: once immediately following acute stress induction, and once in a control session. We compared neural patterns of value representation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and striatum using representational similarity analysis (RSA). We found that under stress, dmPFC and striatum showed higher dissimilarity between neural patterns underlying high and low value for the other. Dissimilarity of neural patterns underlying high and low value for the self was unaffected by stress. These findings suggest that participants track the magnitude of possible rewards for others more under stress, suggesting increased prosocial orientation.</p>},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
<p>Acute stress is often evoked during social interactions, by feelings of threat or negative evaluation by other people. We also constantly interact with others while under stress – in the workplace or in private alike. However, it is not clear how stress affects social interactions. For one, individuals could become more selfish and focused on their own goals. On the other hand, individuals might also become more focused on affiliating with potential social partners, in order to secure their support. There is, indeed, accumulating behavioral evidence that prosocial behaviors increase rather than decrease under stress. Here, we tested the underlying brain processes of such findings, by assessing the effects of stress on the neural representations of (monetary) value for self and other. Participants (N = 30; male, 18–40 years) played a gambling task for themselves and for another participant while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Each participant played the gambling task twice: once immediately following acute stress induction, and once in a control session. We compared neural patterns of value representation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and striatum using representational similarity analysis (RSA). We found that under stress, dmPFC and striatum showed higher dissimilarity between neural patterns underlying high and low value for the other. Dissimilarity of neural patterns underlying high and low value for the self was unaffected by stress. These findings suggest that participants track the magnitude of possible rewards for others more under stress, suggesting increased prosocial orientation.</p>
Richardson, H; Saxe, R
Early Signatures and Developmental Change in Brain Regions for Theory of Mind Book Chapter
In: Neural Circuit and Cognitive Development, vol. 2, Chapter 21, pp. 467-484, Second Edition, 2020.
@inbook{242,
title = {Early Signatures and Developmental Change in Brain Regions for Theory of Mind},
author = {H Richardson and R Saxe},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128144114000214
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RichardsonSaxe_NCCD.pdf, PDF
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?btnG=Search%2BScholar&as_q=%22Early%2BSignatures%2Band%2BDevelopmental%2BChange%2Bin%2BBrain%2BRegions%2Bfor%2BTheory%2Bof%2BMind%22&as_sauthors=Richardson&as_occt=any&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdtAAP=1&as_sdtp=1, Google Scholar
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/242.rtf, RTF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814411-4.00021-4},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Neural Circuit and Cognitive Development},
volume = {2},
pages = {467-484},
edition = {Second Edition},
chapter = {21},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
Raz, G; Saxe, R
Learning in infancy is active, endogenously motivated, and depends on the prefrontal cortices Journal Article
In: Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, vol. 2, pp. 247-268, 2020.
@article{294,
title = {Learning in infancy is active, endogenously motivated, and depends on the prefrontal cortices},
author = {G Raz and R Saxe},
url = {https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/citedby/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-084841
https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/annurev-devpsych-121318-084841.pdf, PDF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-084841},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Annual Review of Developmental Psychology},
volume = {2},
pages = {247-268},
abstract = {<p>A common view of learning in infancy emphasizes the role of incidental sensory experiences from which increasingly abstract statistical regularities are extracted. In this view, infant brains initially support basic sensory and motor functions, followed by maturation of higher-level association cortex. Here, we critique this view and posit that, by contrast and more like adults, infants are active, endogenously motivated learners who structure their own learning through flexible selection of attentional targets and active interventions on their environment. We further argue that the infant brain, and particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is well equipped to support these learning behaviors. We review recent progress in characterizing the function of the infant PFC, which suggests that, as in adults, the PFC is functionally specialized and highly connected. Together, we present an integrative account of infant minds and brains, in which the infant PFC represents multiple intrinsic motivations, which are leveraged for active learning.</p>},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
<p>A common view of learning in infancy emphasizes the role of incidental sensory experiences from which increasingly abstract statistical regularities are extracted. In this view, infant brains initially support basic sensory and motor functions, followed by maturation of higher-level association cortex. Here, we critique this view and posit that, by contrast and more like adults, infants are active, endogenously motivated learners who structure their own learning through flexible selection of attentional targets and active interventions on their environment. We further argue that the infant brain, and particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is well equipped to support these learning behaviors. We review recent progress in characterizing the function of the infant PFC, which suggests that, as in adults, the PFC is functionally specialized and highly connected. Together, we present an integrative account of infant minds and brains, in which the infant PFC represents multiple intrinsic motivations, which are leveraged for active learning.</p>
Tomova, Livia; Wang, Kimberly L.; Thompson, Todd; Matthews, Gillian A.; Takahashi, Atsushi; Tye, Kay M.; Saxe, Rebecca
Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger Journal Article
In: Nature Neuroscience, vol. 23, pp. 1597-1605, 2020.
@article{319,
title = {Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger},
author = {Livia Tomova and Kimberly L. Wang and Todd Thompson and Gillian A. Matthews and Atsushi Takahashi and Kay M. Tye and Rebecca Saxe},
url = {https://saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Tomova-et-al-2020.pdf, PDF},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-020-00742-z},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Nature Neuroscience},
volume = {23},
pages = {1597-1605},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Get Involved
Rigorous science and strong community
We care deeply about working as a unified community, and we are welcoming anyone who wants to be a part of our research!