“We naturally attribute beliefs and intentions and emotions to people we interact with. That is, we develop a ‘theory’–though not necessarily a theory we’re consciously aware of–about what’s going on in their minds. (An inability to do this is thought to play a role in autism.) And this ‘theory’ in turn shapes our interpretation of things people say. The ‘ToM network’ is a brain region–or, really, a network of different brain regions–that seems to play an important role in the construction of these theories.”