Objective Human social interaction crucially depends on our ability to understand what others think or believe, an ability referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM). While decades of research assumed that this milestone is reached around the age of 4 years, recently, novel infant ToM tasks have shown that already infants younger than 2 years expect people to act according to their beliefs - even if these differ from the infant’s own beliefs. This has created one of the biggest puzzles of developmental psychology: Why do children consistently fail traditional ToM tasks until the age of 4 years, if already infants understand others' beliefs? The supervisor has recently suggested how the emergence of a self-concept (SELF) and ability to distinguish between self and other might build a link between early- and later-developing ToM abilities.Here, we want to address these questions with cognitive neuroscience, by combining behavioral and infant functional neuroimaging (fNIRS) tasks of ToM and SELF with brain-structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This combination of methods will allow us to compare the brain regions involved in the novel infant and later-developing traditional ToM tasks, and to study their link to the brain regions involved in SELF.I have a strong background in combining brain-structural MRI with behavioral ToM tasks in preschool-aged children. My supervisor is a world-leading expert in early ToM and developing cutting-edge neurocognitive tasks for preverbal infants. She was recently awarded an ERC grant to test her theory on the role of SELF for ToM. The current action importantly complements that project by an innovative neuroimaging approach, which uniquely becomes possible through our combined expertise. I will strongly benefit from the infrastructure and expertise in that project, and will be able to learn cutting-edge infant neurocognitive testing methods, crucial for my future career goal of becoming a leading researcher in early-childhood development. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologycognitive neuroscienceengineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingmagnetic resonance imagingsocial sciencespsychologydevelopmental psychology Keywords Theory of Mind mentalizing self-awareness neurocognitive development infant cognition developmental psychology social cognition Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2017 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2017 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET Net EU contribution € 200 194,80 Address NORREGADE 10 1165 Kobenhavn Denmark See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 200 194,80