title: Using tDCS to Explore the Role of the Right Temporo-Parietal Junction in Theory of Mind and Cognitive Empathy.
abstract: The right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) is thought to be closely related to theory of mind (ToM) and cognitive empathy. In the present study, we investigated whether these socio-cognitive abilities could be modulated with non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ. Participants received anodal (excitatory), cathodal (inhibitory), or sham stimulation before performing a social cognitive task which included inferring other's intention (the ToM condition) and inferring other's emotion (the cognitive empathy condition). Our results showed that the accuracy of both ToM and cognitive empathy decreased after receiving the cathodal stimulation, suggesting that altering the cortical excitability in the rTPJ could influence human's socio-cognitive abilities. The results of this study emphasize the critical role of the rTPJ in ToM and cognitive empathy and demonstrate that these socio-cognitive abilities could be modulated by the tDCS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xinmu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: cognitive empathy; social cognition; temporo-parietal junction (TPJ); theory of mind; transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)