The brain region that according to the researchers is responsible for detecting differences between your understanding of others’ thoughts and what you think yourself is called the temporoparietal junction. This brain region is often less active in people on the autism spectrum.

After re-assessing other findings from 35 years of Theory of Mind research in autism, the researchers argued that the brain in people on the spectrum may be able to grasp what others think, but then may have a harder time processing the degree to which others think differently from themselves.