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 higher dispositional empathy. These two opposite impacts of cTBS 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.

中文翻译：

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当差异很重要时：rTMS / fMRI揭示了性情同理中的差异如何转化为同情中自我-他人差异的独特神经基础。

自我差异对移情至关重要，因为它可以防止自我体验的情感与他人的情感混淆。我们旨在扩展我们对自我-其他区分的神经认知机制的理解。31名女性参与者经历了连续的theta爆裂经颅磁刺激（cTBS），其针对的是右上颌上回（rSMG）（之前已证明参与自我区分的颞顶opa交界的一个子区域），以及顶点（即皮质控制）现场。刺激后，他们立即在MRI扫描仪中完成了视听同情任务。通过情感判断上的差异以及通过自我区分要求不同的条件下的大脑活动来评估自我区分。脑刺激对自我-他人区别的影响取决于个体对共情理解的个体差异：与顶点相比，rSMG的cTBS会增强具有较低共情理解的参与者的自我-他人区别，但会降低对较高共情理解的参与者的自我区别。在神经水平上，共情倾向与自我-其他区分表现之间的这种逆向关系与倾向较低的人，由cTBS诱导的rSMG活性的降低有关，而倾向较高的人，则由其增加。cTBS的这两个相反的影响与两个在解剖学和功能上不同的网络相关。这些发现为rSMG在自我-他人的区别和同理心中的因果作用开辟了新颖的观点。