The social mysteries of the superior temporal sulcus

Michael Beauchamp does a summary of work by Deen et al. (open access), who use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to show a regular anterior–posterior organization in the STS for different social tasks such as theory of mind, biological motion, faces, voices and language. Here is the summary graphic:

Organization of social perception and cognition within the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Results of Deen et al. are shown on an inflated cortical surface model of the left and right hemisphere. Filled circles show the location of the peak activation, averaged across subjects, for each contrast. Colored regions show the extent of the activation for each contrast (multiple colored regions for some contrasts).