Abstract

Since the late decades of the twentieth century, the connections between language-related cognitive skills and the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) have been extensively researched. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, bilingualism and monolingualism have been compared, highlighting the impact of bilingualism in the ToM and the advantages of the bilingual brain.Experts on linguistics and neurolinguistics have been inspired specially by conclusions which claimed for the recognition of bias in research. The still immature attempts provided differences in results more likely to be attributed to the approaches of the experiments themselves than to the abilities of the individuals. The recognition of bias in research allowed (1) a more taxonomic perspective of the bilingualism as a researchable concept, (2) the identification of those aspects that still need to be attended and (3) the boost of bonds between psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.On the one hand studies on bilingualism and ToM point on the one hand to relevant differences among the several bilingualisms when it comes to define the relation with ToM. On the other hand, they insist on the need for research of the underlying mechanisms in bilingual processes, which requires to discriminate the brain areas involved when performing the tasks, as well as to examine the main relevant factors as for the relation with ToM, that is sociolinguistics, executive function (inhibition, working memory, planning …) or metalinguistic awareness. And at last, they remind that neuroscience is a core discipline when researching the brain regions involved, the cognitive processes themselves and the nature of their relationship with ToM.In the following lines we will be revising relevant studies and their results from the first hypothesis and conclusions claiming for a bilingual advantage to the recent ones, which provide different evidence and point to new hypothesis.