title: Transcranial direct current stimulation of the right temporoparietal junction impairs third-person perspective taking.
abstract: Given the current debates about the precise functional role of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in egocentric and exocentric perspective taking, in the present study we manipulated activity in the rTPJ to investigate the effects on a spatial perspective-taking task. Participants engaged in a mental body transformation task, requiring them to mentally rotate their own body to the position of an avatar, while undergoing anodal, cathodal, or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ. As a control task, participants judged the laterality of a stimulus feature with respect to a fixation cross on the screen. For the first half of the experiment (only during online tDCS), a task-selective effect of tDCS was observed, reflected in slower reaction times following anodal than following cathodal and sham tDCS for the mental body transformation task, but not for the control task. The effects of tDCS were most pronounced for stimuli implying a more difficult mental body transformation. No effects of tDCS were observed during the second half of the experiment. The effects of tDCS were most pronounced for participants scoring low on aberrant perceptual beliefs and spiritual transcendence, suggesting a relation between third-person perspective taking and bodily and perceptual experiences. The finding that anodal stimulation of the rTPJ impairs third-person perspective taking indicates a key role of this region in exocentric spatial processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.vanelk@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Elk
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duizer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ilja
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sligte
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Schie
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010556:Personality Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012399:Rotation; D012938:Social Perception; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D029181:Spirituality; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mental body transformation task; Right temporoparietal junction; Spatial perspective taking; Transcranial direct current stimulation