Rebecca Saxe’s work addresses the human brain’s capacity for abstract thought and the origins of ‘theory of mind,’ the ability to understand the beliefs, hopes and plans of other people.
Rebecca Saxe
Professor
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
From this contributor
U.S. agency backtracks on broad interpretation of ‘clinical trial’
Autism researchers need no longer worry that their basic research will become entangled in the red tape associated with clinical trials.
U.S. agency backtracks on broad interpretation of ‘clinical trial’
By
Hannah Furfaro
6 February 2018 | 6 min read
1985 paper on the theory of mind
In 1985, Simon Baron-Cohen, Alan Leslie and Uta Frith reported for the first time that children with autism systematically fail the false belief task.
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Alison Singer
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Processing facial emotions, and more
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Jill Adams
5 May 2026 | 2 min read
Gene activity in human cortex shows striking sex differences
The results mark a “dramatic shift” in how neuroscientists think about sex differences, and they may help explain sex biases in certain neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental conditions.
Gene activity in human cortex shows striking sex differences
The results mark a “dramatic shift” in how neuroscientists think about sex differences, and they may help explain sex biases in certain neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental conditions.
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Lauren Schenkman
5 May 2026 | 5 min read