Brain and Cognition 58 (2005) 240–244 www.elsevier.com/locate/b&c 0278-2626/$ - see front matter  2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2004.12.002 Brief communication In search of “master mindreaders”: Are psychics superior in reading the language of the eyes? Isabel Dziobek a,c,¤ , Kimberley Rogers a , Stefan Fleck b , Jason Hassenstab a , Stefan Gold a , Oliver T. Wolf c , Antonio Convit a,d a Department of Psychiatry, Center for Brain Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA b Max-Planck-Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany c Institute of Experimental Psychology, University Düsseldorf, Germany d Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, USA Accepted 16 December 2004 Available online 28 January 2005 Abstract Much of the eVort to understand the brain substrate of theory of mind and empathy has involved the study of individuals with deWcits in that domain, such as those on the autism spectrum. Studying individuals with presumed superior abilities in picking up social signals may yield important additional information. We predicted that psychic readers may have superior abilities and tested this by contrasting a group of 22 professional psychic readers with matched controls on a measure of theory of mind (“Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test) and a multidimensional measure of empathy [Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)]. Although psychic read- ers were not superior in reading the language of the eyes, they were shown to have more cognitive empathy, as measured with the “Fantasy” subscale of the IRI. We discuss the merits of research involving “experts” in social cognition and propose other possible groups of “master mindreaders.”  2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Theory of mind; Empathy; Social cognition; Mental states; Mindreading; Psychic; Expertise; Brain-behavior 1. Introduction “Theory of mind” refers to the ability to correctly infer other people’s mental states such as thoughts, desires, and intentions. During social interactions, men- tal state inferences are made continuously and mostly unconsciously, a process that is commonly described as having “intuitions” about people. The term is used inter- changeably with “mindreading” or “social cognition” and has been described as a cognitive component of empathy (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Theory of mind has been studied mostly among indi- viduals with known deWcits in this domain, such as indi- viduals with autism or schizophrenia (Happé, 1994; Kleinman, Marciano, & Ault, 2001; Sarfati & Hardy- Baylé, 1999). Little is known about individuals with extraordinary capabilities in social cognition. IdentiWcation of such subgroups may represent a fruitful complementary research strategy towards elucidation of the social brain. In contrast to impaired populations, healthy “expert” mindreaders are less likely to present with other cogni- tive deWcits that have complicated the interpretation of results. Moreover, the study of individuals with superior abilities may lead to the better understanding of social cognitive strategies that could be useful in designing cor- rective tools for aVected individuals. We hypothesize that superior social cognition may arise from a combination of inborn talent and ongoing ¤ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 212 263 3270. E-mail address: dziobi01@med.nyu.edu (I. Dziobek).