scholarly journals Increasing the Difference in Decision Making for Oneself and for Others by Stimulating the Right Temporoparietal Junction

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinling Zhang ◽  
Siyang Chen ◽  
Xinmu Hu ◽  
Xiaoqin Mai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals A brain network supporting social influences in human decision-making

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Jan P. Gläscher
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prediction Error ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right

AbstractHumans learn from their own trial-and-error experience and from observing others. However, it remains unanswered how brain circuits compute expected values when direct learning and social learning coexist in an uncertain environment. Using a multi-player reward learning paradigm with 185 participants (39 being scanned) in real-time, we observed that individuals succumbed to the group when confronted with dissenting information, but increased their confidence when observing confirming information. Leveraging computational modeling and fMRI we tracked direct valuation through experience and vicarious valuation through observation, and their dissociable, but interacting neural representations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, respectively. Their functional coupling with the right temporoparietal junction representing instantaneous social information instantiated a hitherto uncharacterized social prediction error, rather than a reward prediction error, in the putamen. These findings suggest that an integrated network involving the brain’s reward hub and social hub supports social influence in human decision-making.

scholarly journals Attention, awareness, and the right temporoparietal junction

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (25) ◽  
pp. e2026099118
Author(s):  
Andrew I. Wilterson ◽  
Samuel A. Nastase ◽  
Branden J. Bio ◽  
Arvid Guterstam ◽  
Michael S. A. Graziano
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Schema Theory ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Endogenous Control ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Behavioral Paradigm ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right

The attention schema theory posits a specific relationship between subjective awareness and attention, in which awareness is the control model that the brain uses to aid in the endogenous control of attention. In previous experiments, we developed a behavioral paradigm in human subjects to manipulate awareness and attention. The paradigm involved a visual cue that could be used to guide attention to a target stimulus. In task 1, subjects were aware of the cue, but not aware that it provided information about the target. The cue measurably drew exogenous attention to itself. In addition, implicitly, the subjects’ endogenous attention mechanism used the cue to help shift attention to the target. In task 2, subjects were no longer aware of the cue. The cue still measurably drew exogenous attention to itself, yet without awareness of the cue, the subjects’ endogenous control mechanism was no longer able to use the cue to control attention. Thus, the control of attention depended on awareness. Here, we tested the two tasks while scanning brain activity in human volunteers. We predicted that the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) would be active in relation to the process in which awareness helps control attention. This prediction was confirmed. The right TPJ was active in relation to the effect of the cue on attention in task 1; it was not measurably active in task 2. The difference was significant. In our interpretation, the right TPJ is involved in an interaction in which awareness permits the control of attention.

scholarly journals Do Empathic Individuals Behave More Prosocially? Neural Correlates for Altruistic Behavior in the Dictator Game and the Dark Side of Empathy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 863
Author(s):  
Michael Schaefer ◽  
Anja Kühnel ◽  
Franziska Rumpel ◽  
Matti Gärtner
Keyword(s):  
Dictator Game ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Altruistic Behavior ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
The Right

Do empathic individuals behave more prosocially? When we think of highly empathic individuals, we tend to assume that it is likely that those people will also help others. Most theories on empathy reflect this common understanding and claim that the personality trait empathy includes the willingness to help others, but it remains a matter of debate whether empathic individuals really help more. In economics, a prominent demonstration that our behavior is not always based on pure self-interest is the Dictator Game, which measures prosocial decisions in an allocation task. This economic game shows that we are willing to give money to strangers we do not know anything about. The present study aimed to test the relationship between dispositional empathy and prosocial acting by examining the neural underpinnings of prosocial behavior in the Dictator Game. Forty-one participants played different rounds of the Dictator Game while being scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Brain activation in the right temporoparietal junction area was associated with prosocial acting (number of prosocial decisions) and associated with empathic concern. Behavioral results demonstrated that empathic concern and personal distress predicted the number of prosocial decisions, but in a negative way. Correlations with the amount of money spent did not show any significant relationships. We discuss the results in terms of group-specific effects of affective empathy. Our results shed further light on the complex behavioral and neural mechanisms driving altruistic choices.

Resting-state Functional Connectivity of the Right Temporoparietal Junction Relates to Belief Updating and Reorienting during Spatial Attention

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1130-1141
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie Käsbauer ◽  
Paola Mengotti ◽  
Gereon R. Fink ◽  
Simone Vossel
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Prior Information ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Belief Updating ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right

Although multiple studies characterized the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), little is known about the link between rTPJ rsFC and cognitive functions. Given a putative involvement of rTPJ in both reorienting of attention and the updating of probabilistic beliefs, this study characterized the relationship between rsFC of rTPJ with dorsal and ventral attention systems and these two cognitive processes. Twenty-three healthy young participants performed a modified location-cueing paradigm with true and false prior information about the percentage of cue validity to assess belief updating and attentional reorienting. Resting-state fMRI was recorded before and after the task. Seed-based correlation analysis was employed, and correlations of each behavioral parameter with rsFC before the task, as well as with changes in rsFC after the task, were assessed in an ROI-based approach. Weaker rsFC between rTPJ and right intraparietal sulcus before the task was associated with relatively faster updating of the belief that the cue will be valid after false prior information. Moreover, relatively faster belief updating, as well as faster reorienting, were related to an increase in the interhemispheric rsFC between rTPJ and left TPJ after the task. These findings are in line with task-based connectivity studies on related attentional functions and extend results from stroke patients demonstrating the importance of interhemispheric parietal interactions for behavioral performance. The present results not only highlight the essential role of parietal rsFC for attentional functions but also suggest that cognitive processing during a task changes connectivity patterns in a performance-dependent manner.

scholarly journals High-definition tDCS to the right temporoparietal junction modulates slow-wave resting state power and coherence in healthy adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1735-1744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Donaldson ◽  
Melissa Kirkovski ◽  
Joel S. Yang ◽  
Soukayna Bekkali ◽  
Peter G. Enticott
Keyword(s):  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right ◽  
Cathodal Stimulation

The right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is a multisensory integration hub that is increasingly utilized as a target of stimulation studies exploring its rich functional network roles and potential clinical applications. While transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is frequently employed in such studies, there is still relatively little known regarding its local and network neurophysiological effects, particularly at important nonmotor sites such as the rTPJ. The current study applied either anodal, cathodal, or sham high-definition tDCS to the rTPJ of 53 healthy participants and used offline EEG to assess the impacts of stimulation on resting state (eyes open and eyes closed) band power and coherence. Temporoparietal and central region delta power was increased after anodal stimulation (the latter trend only), whereas cathodal stimulation increased frontal region delta and theta power. Increased coherence between right and left temporoparietal regions was also observed after anodal stimulation. All significant effects occurred in the eyes open condition. These findings are discussed with reference to domain general and mechanistic theories of rTPJ function. Low-frequency oscillatory activity may exert long-range inhibitory network influences that enable switching between and integration of endogenous/exogenous processing streams. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Through the novel use of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and EEG, we provide evidence that both anodal and cathodal stimulation of the right temporoparietal junction selectively modulate slow-wave power and coherence in distributed network regions of known relevance to proposed temporoparietal junction functionality. These results also provide direct evidence of the ability of tDCS to modulate oscillatory activity at a long-range network level, which may have explanatory power in terms of both neurophysiological and behavioral effects.

scholarly journals Asking ‘why?’ enhances theory of mind when evaluating harm but not purity violations

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 699-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A Dungan ◽  
Liane Young
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right

Abstract Recent work in psychology and neuroscience has revealed important differences in the cognitive processes underlying judgments of harm and purity violations. In particular, research has demonstrated that whether a violation was committed intentionally vs accidentally has a larger impact on moral judgments of harm violations (e.g. assault) than purity violations (e.g. incest). Here, we manipulate the instructions provided to participants for a moral judgment task to further probe the boundary conditions of this intent effect. Specifically, we instructed participants undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging to attend to either a violator’s mental states (why they acted that way) or their low-level behavior (how they acted) before delivering moral judgments. Results revealed that task instructions enhanced rather than diminished differences between how harm and purity violations are processed in brain regions for mental state reasoning or theory of mind. In particular, activity in the right temporoparietal junction increased when participants were instructed to attend to why vs how a violator acted to a greater extent for harm than for purity violations. This result constrains the potential accounts of why intentions matter less for purity violations compared to harm violations and provide further insight into the differences between distinct moral norms.

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