Table 3.

Whole-brain parametric effects of increasing mentalizing demands on brain activation

Effect/contrast	Sample	k	Region	x	y	z	t	pcorr
Within-subject effects
Effect of task
Mentalizing demands: parametric increase	Full	3036	Superior temporal gyrus	57	− 46	11	28.69	< .001
			Middle occipital gyrus [area hOc4lp]	27	− 91	2	24.99	< .001
			Superior temporal gyrus	48	− 22	− 7	22.04	< .001
			Inferior temporal gyrus [area FG4]	42	− 52	− 13	21.25	< .001
			Temporal pole	54	14	− 19	16.71	< .001
		4251	Middle temporal gyrus	− 54	− 52	14	26.84	< .001
			Middle occipital gyrus [area hOc4lp]	− 27	− 91	− 4	23.03	< .001
			Fusiform gyrus [area FG4]	− 39	− 55	− 10	21.55	< .001
			Cerebellum [lobule VIIa crusI (hem)]	− 24	− 76	− 34	16.49	< .001
			Inferior frontal gyrus, pars triangularis	− 51	20	20	16.40	< .001
		1115	Precuneus	6	− 52	38	18.85	< .001
		868	Inferior frontal gyrus, pars triangularis [area 45]	51	26	17	14.96	< .001
			Precentral gyrus	45	5	50	12.57	< .001
		925	Dorsomedial prefrontal gyrus	− 6	53	32	13.98	< .001
			Supplementary motor area	9	17	65	10.82	< .001
		56	Cerebellum [lobule IX (hem)]	− 6	− 52	− 40	11.02	< .001
		553	Thalamus [thalamus: prefrontal]	9	− 13	8	9.46	< .001
		27	Cerebellum vermis [lobule I IV (hem)]	0	− 46	− 16	6.06	< .001
		6	Middle cingulate cortex	0	− 16	41	5.44	.001
		2	Middle frontal gyrus	− 24	23	44	4.60	.025
Between-subject effects
Effect of age
Age: linear decrease	Full	12	Medial temporal pole	51	2	− 19	5.04	.004
Age: linear decrease	Youth	249	Superior parietal lobule [area 7P (SPL)]	− 27	− 58	56	6.37	.000
		207	Superior parietal lobule [area 7P (SPL)]	18	− 67	53	5.75	.000
			Precuneus	− 6	− 76	44	5.45	.001
			Superior parietal lobule [area 7A (SPL)]	18	− 58	62	5.30	.002
		35	Inferior parietal lobule [area hIP1 (IPS)]	− 36	− 40	38	5.14	.004
			Inferior parietal lobule [area PFt (IPL)]	− 48	− 34	41	4.78	.017
		35	Inferior parietal lobule [area 2]	48	− 34	47	5.01	.007
		13	Middle cingulate gyrus	6	26	38	4.85	.013
			Anterior cingulate gyrus	6	32	26	4.60	.034
		20	Superior frontal gyrus	24	− 1	47	4.83	.014
		11	Anterior insula	30	20	− 4	4.77	.017
		5	Supramarginal gyrus (area PFt (IPL)]	63	− 22	35	4.72	.021
		8	Inferior parietal lobule [area 7PC (SPL)]	33	− 46	53	4.72	.021
		2	Middle frontal gyrus	45	38	20	4.60	.034
		1	Postcentral gyrus [area 4p]	33	− 31	50	4.57	.037
Effect of diagnosis (categorical)
	No sign. effect
Effect of parent-reported autism traits (dimensional)
Linear increase	Full (no TD adult1)	4	Inferior parietal lobule [area PFm (IPL)]	54	− 55	38	4.82	.021
		10SVC	dmPFC (combined mask)	3	62	23	3.88	.011SVC
		15SVC	dmPFC (combined mask)	− 9	53	38	3.49	.035SVC
Linear increase	Youth	23SVC	dmPFC (combined mask)	3	56	26	3.77	.016SVC
		8SVC	dmPFC (combined mask)	− 15	50	35	3.43	.046SVC

Regions were classified according to the Automated Anatomical Labeling Atlas [47]. If applicable, functional labels were added in square brackets based on Anatomical Probability Maps (Anatomy toolbox [48]). x-, y-, and z-coordinates (MNI) and statistical information refer to peak voxels in the identified clusters. p values are adjusted for family-wise error correction for multiple comparisons across the whole brain, or across the combined mask of the right pSTS and dmPFC using small volume correction (SVC). Age and sex were included as covariates in the analysis. SPL superior parietal lobule, IPS intraparietal sulcus, IPL inferior parietal lobule, TD typically developing, pSTS posterior superior temporal sulcus, dmPFC dorsomedial prefrontal cortex

¹ no parent-reported SRS-scores available for TD adults