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How Do We Know What Other People Are Thinking?

NPR | By NPR/TED Staff

Published February 20, 2015 at 9:20 AM EST

Part 4 of theTED Radio Hour episodeThe Unknown Brain

About Rebecca Saxe's TED Talk

Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? Neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe explains how one region in the brain focuses on other people's thoughts.

About Rebecca Saxe

Rebecca Saxe is a cognitive neuroscientist at MIT. While a graduate student, Saxe made a discovery: There's a specific region in our brain that becomes active when we contemplate the workings of other minds. Now, the head of MIT's Saxelab, she and her team are delving deeper into that brain region, hoping it might reveal clues about conditions such as autism.