Theory of mind is the ability to understand others' beliefs, mental states, and knowledge. Perspective-taking is a key part of this capacity, and while previous research has suggested that calculating another's perspective is relatively straightforward, executive function is required to resolve the conflict between the self and that other perspective. Previous studies have shown that theory of mind is selectively impaired by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, it has been hitherto unclear as to which specific aspect of perspective-taking is impacted. The current study administered rTMS (N = 31 adult participants) to the DLPFC (active condition) and vertex (control condition) in a within-subjects design. Participants completed a L1 VPT task after each stimulation session, and focus (relative performance on self-perspective trials compared with other perspective trials) and conflict indices (relative ability to resolve competing self/other perspectives) were calculated. Results showed that stimulation of the DLPFC selectively impaired the conflict index, suggesting that the DLPFC may be causally related with the resolution of conflict between self and other perspectives, and that self-other interference may rely on domain-general processes.

中文翻译：

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刺激背外侧前额叶皮层会影响 1 级视觉透视中的冲突解决。


心理理论是理解他人的信念、心理状态和知识的能力。观点采择是这种能力的关键部分，虽然之前的研究表明计算他人的观点相对简单，但需要执行功能来解决自我与其他观点之间的冲突。先前的研究表明，背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的经颅磁刺激（TMS）会选择性地损害心理理论。然而，迄今为止尚不清楚观点采择的哪个具体方面受到影响。当前的研究在受试者内部设计中对 DLPFC（活动状态）和顶点（控制状态）进行 rTMS（N = 31 名成人参与者）。参与者在每次刺激课程后完成 L1 VPT 任务，并计算焦点（自我视角试验与其他视角试验相比的相对表现）和冲突指数（解决自我/其他视角竞争的相对能力）。结果表明，DLPFC 的刺激选择性地损害了冲突指数，这表明 DLPFC 可能与自我和他人观点之间冲突的解决存在因果关系，而自我他人的干扰可能依赖于领域一般过程。