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Type | Journal Article |
Scope | Discipline-based scholarship |
Title | When differences matter: rTMS/fMRI reveals how differences in dispositional empathy translate to distinct neural underpinnings of self-other distinction in empathy |
Organization Unit | |
Authors |
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Item Subtype | Original Work |
Refereed | Yes |
Status | Published in final form |
Language |
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Journal Title | Cortex |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Geographical Reach | international |
ISSN | 0010-9452 |
Volume | 128 |
Number | 9ndac |
Page Range | 143 - 161 |
Date | 2020 |
Abstract Text | Self-other distinction is crucial for empathy, since it prevents the confusion of self-experienced emotions with those of others. We aimed to extend our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms of self-other distinction. Thirty-one female participants underwent continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) targeting the supramarginal gyrus (rSMG), a sub-region of the temporoparietal junction previously shown to be involved in self-other distinction, and the vertex, a cortical control site. Right after stimulation they completed a visuo-tactile empathy task in an MRI scanner. Self-other distinction performance was assessed by differences in emotion judgments and brain activity between conditions differing in the requirement for self-other distinction. Effects of rSMG-cTBS (compared to vertex cTBS) on self-other distinction depended on dispositional empathic understanding: they decreased self-other distinction in participants with lower dispositional empathic understanding, but increased it in participants with higher empathic understanding. On the neural level, this inverse relationship between disposition and self-other distinction performance translated into a reduction or an increase of cTBS-induced rSMG activity, in persons with lower and higher dispositional empathy, respectively. Moreover, the differences in rSMG activity were associated with two anatomically and functionally distinct networks. These findings open up novel perspectives on the causal role of rSMG in self-other distinction and empathy. They also suggest that considering individual differences may yield novel insights into how brain stimulation affects higher-level affect and cognition, and its neural correlates. |
Digital Object Identifier | 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.03.009 |
Other Identification Number | merlin-id:19245 |
PDF File | Download from ZORA |
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Keywords | Empathy, fMRI, cTBS, self-other distinction, egocentric bias |