The Right Temporoparietal Junction Is Causally Associated with Embodied Perspective-taking

Abstract

A prominent theory claims that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is especially associated with embodied processes relevant to perspective-taking. In the present study, we use high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to provide evidence that the rTPJ is causally associated with the embodied processes underpinning perspective-taking. Eighty-eight young human adults were stratified to receive either rTPJ or dorsomedial PFC anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in a sham-controlled, double-blind, repeated-measures design. Perspective-tracking (line-of-sight) and perspective-taking (embodied rotation) were assessed using a visuo-spatial perspective-taking task that required understanding what another person could see or how they see it, respectively. Embodied processing was manipulated by positioning the participant in a manner congruent or incongruent with the orientation of an avatar on the screen. As perspective-taking, but not perspective-tracking, is influenced by bodily position, this allows the investigation of the specific causal role for the rTPJ in embodied processing. Crucially, anodal stimulation to the rTPJ increased the effect of bodily position during perspective-taking, whereas no such effects were identified during perspective-tracking, thereby providing evidence for a causal role for the rTPJ in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Stimulation to the dorsomedial PFC had no effect on perspective-tracking or taking. Therefore, the present study provides support for theories postulating that the rTPJ is causally involved in embodied cognitive processing relevant to social functioning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe ability to understand another's perspective is a fundamental component of social functioning. Adopting another perspective is thought to involve both embodied and nonembodied processes. The present study used high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and provided causal evidence that the right temporoparietal junction is involved specifically in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Specifically, HD-tDCS to the right temporoparietal junction, but not another hub of the social brain (dorsomedial PFC), increased the effect of body position during perspective-taking, but not tracking. This is the first causal evidence that HD-tDCS can modulate social embodied processing in a site-specific and task-specific manner.

Right Temporoparietal Junction Plays a Role in the Modulation of Emotional Mimicry by Group Membership

“…Of particular interest, we would like to link the current study to prior research regarding the rTPJ's role in embodiment, a typical social cognition that is closely related to emotional mimicry (Arnold and Winkielman, 2020 ). Substantial brain stimulation studies have confirmed the link between the rTPJ and embodiment (Wang et al, 2016 ; Martin et al, 2019a , 2020 ). Especially, Martin et al ( 2019b ) revealed participants from Southeast Asian Singapore and Australia showed comparable embodiment mental rotation performance, and subsequently, these two culture groups showed equivalent embodied rotation performance after receiving anodal stimulation over the rTPJ.…”

Self-Boundary Dissolution in Meditation: A Phenomenological Investigation

“…Importantly, this research is the latest in a series of studies conducted over the past decade by our research team as part of an evolving effort to render the sense of self and its dissolution scientifically tractable (described in length in [ 31 ]). The earlier studies provided phenomenological support for the notion that meditators can strongly alter their SB in meditation [ 26 ], and the neurophysiological results showed that these alterations were mediated by neural regions, notably the posterior cingulate cortex, and the temporo-parietal junction [ 27 ], linked in other studies with embodied self-processes [ 24 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The phenomenology of SB dissolution entailed a reduction in sense of agency, sense of ownership, self-location, body sensations, first-person perspective, sense of time, and self-other distinction [ 25 ].…”

Operant and classical learning principles underlying mind–body interaction in pain modulation: a pilot fMRI study

“…In the present study, neural activity in the TPJ was significantly greater during the active choice of visual cues than during the passive clicking on cues selected by the computer. The TPJ has been studied mainly from the perspective of social neuroscience, and it is widely accepted that the function is right lateralized and is involved in empathy and perspective taking 45 , 46 , stimulus driven re-orientation of attention to a stimulus related to our behavior 47 , 48 , and goal-directed social behavior 49 , 50 . On the other hand, Geng and Vossel criticized these ideas and argued for the “contextual updating hypothesis,” which states that the TPJ is engaged in processing unexpected task stimuli, modulating expectations for outcomes of a behavior, and updating the context of human behavior, which is necessary for appropriate decisions.…”