When differences matter: rTMS/fMRI reveals how differences in dispositional empathy translate to distinct neural underpinnings of self-other distinction in empathy

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.03.009
• Publication Date: 2020-04-02T23:22:56Z
• Authors: H. Bukowski; M. Tik; G. Silani; C.C. Ruff; C. Windischberger; C. Lamm
• Keywords: Social Cognition; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology|Social Cognition; Emotions; RIGHT TEMPOROPARIETAL JUNCTION; Social and Behavioral Sciences; 501014 Neuropsychologie; bepress|Life Sciences|Neuroscience and Neurobiology; self; 0302 clinical medicine; 10007 Department of Economics; rTMS; THETA-BURST STIMULATION; bepress|Life Sciences|Neuroscience and Neurobiology|Cognitive Neuroscience; PLASTICITY; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Cognitive Psychology|Biases, Framing, and Heuristics; 501014 Neuropsychology; 501006 Experimental psychology; fMRI; Brain; Social and Personality Psychology; 16. Peace & justice; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; 330 Economics; PsyArXiv|Neuroscience|Cognitive Neuroscience; VARIABILITY; EXCITABILITY; FMRI; Self-other distinction; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Cognitive Psychology; bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Social Psychology; bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Personality and Social Contexts; Female; other distinction; Biases, Framing, and Heuristics; Personality; 2805 Cognitive Neuroscience; Cognitive Neuroscience; Egocentric bias; INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES; 3206 Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology; 03 medical and health sciences; Humans; MOTOR CORTEX STIMULATION; Emotion; 3205 Experimental and Cognitive Psychology; 501006 Experimentalpsychologie; Cognitive Psychology; cTBS; bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Cognitive Psychology; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences; BRAIN-STIMULATION; PsyArXiv|Neuroscience; bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences; egocentric bias; Empathy; PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Emotion; REPETITIVE TMS; Neuroscience

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 right 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 was assessed by differences in emotion judgments, and brain activity between conditions differing in the requirement for self-other distinction. Effects of brain stimulation on self-other distinction depended on individual differences in dispositional empathic understanding: cTBS of rSMG, compared to vertex, enhanced self-other distinction in participants with lower dispositional empathic understanding, but diminished it in participants with higher empathic understanding. On the neural level, this inverse relationship between empathic disposition and self-other distinction performance was linked to a reduction of cTBS-induced rSMG activity in persons with lower dispositional empathy, and an increase in those with lower dispositional empathy. These opposite cTBS impacts were also 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.