Functional lateralization of temporoparietal junction - imitation inhibition, visual perspective-taking and theory of mind

Santiesteban, Idalmis; Banissy, Michael J.; Catmur, Caroline and Bird, Geoffrey. 2015. Functional lateralization of temporoparietal junction - imitation inhibition, visual perspective-taking and theory of mind. European Journal of Neuroscience, 42(8), pp. 2527-2533. ISSN 0953-816X [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Although neuroimaging studies have consistently identified the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) as a key brain region involved in social cognition, the literature is far from consistent with respect to lateralization of function. For example, during theory-of-mind tasks bilateral TPJ activation is found in some studies but only right hemisphere activation in others. Visual perspective-taking and imitation inhibition, which have been argued to recruit the same socio-cognitive processes as theory of mind, are associated with unilateral activation of either left TPJ (perspective taking) or right TPJ (imitation inhibition). The present study investigated the functional lateralization of TPJ involvement in the above three socio-cognitive abilities using transcranial direct current stimulation. Three groups of healthy adults received anodal stimulation over right TPJ, left TPJ or the occipital cortex prior to performing three tasks (imitation inhibition, visual perspective-taking and theory of mind). In contrast to the extant neuroimaging literature, our results suggest bilateral TPJ involvement in imitation inhibition and visual perspective-taking, while no effect of anodal stimulation was observed on theory of mind. The discrepancy between these findings and those obtained using neuroimaging highlight the efficacy of neurostimulation as a complementary methodological tool in cognitive neuroscience.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13036

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates:

DateEvent
19 October 2015Published
28 August 2015Published Online
28 July 2015Accepted

Item ID:

18681

Date Deposited:

08 Nov 2016 13:12

Last Modified:

11 Mar 2021 11:41

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/18681

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