We recently proposed a neurocognitive model of distancing—an emotion regulation tactic—with a focus on the lateral parietal cortex. Although this brain area has been implicated in both cognitive control and self-projection processes during distancing, fMRI work suggests that these processes may be dissociable here. This preregistered (NCT03698591) study tested the contribution of left temporoparietal junction (TPJ) to distancing using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. We hypothesized that inhibiting left TPJ would decrease the efficiency of distancing but not distraction, another regulation tactic with similar cognitive control requirements, thus implicating this region in the self-projection processes unique to distancing. Active and sham continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) were applied to 30 healthy adults in a single-session crossover design. Tactic efficiency was measured using online reports of valence and effort. The stimulation target was established from the group TPJ fMRI activation peak in an independent sample using the same distancing task, and anatomical MRI scans were used for individual targeting. Analyses employed both repeated-measures ANOVA and analytic procedures tailored to crossover designs. Irrespective of cTBS, distancing led to greater decreases in negative valence over time relative to distraction, and distancing effort decreased over time while distraction effort remained stable. Exploratory analyses also revealed that active cTBS made distancing more effortful, but not distraction. Thus, left TPJ seems to support self-projection processes in distancing, and these processes may be facilitated by repeated use. These findings help to clarify the role of lateral parietal cortex in distancing and inform applications of distancing and distraction.

我们最近提出了一种距离的神经认知模型——一种情绪调节策略——重点放在外侧顶叶皮层。尽管这个大脑区域与距离期间的认知控制和自我投射过程有关，但 fMRI 工作表明这些过程在这里可能是可分离的。这项预先注册 (NCT03698591) 的研究测试了左侧颞顶交界处 (TPJ) 对使用重复经颅磁刺激保持距离的贡献。我们假设抑制左侧 TPJ 会降低距离的效率，但不会降低注意力分散的效率，这是另一种具有类似认知控制要求的调节策略，从而使该区域牵涉到距离特有的自我投射过程。在单会话交叉设计中，对 30 名健康成年人应用了主动和假连续 theta 爆发刺激 (cTBS)。战术效率是使用效价和努力的在线报告来衡量的。刺激目标是使用相同的距离任务从独立样本中的组 TPJ fMRI 激活峰值建立的，解剖 MRI 扫描用于个体靶向。分析采用了重复测量方差分析和为交叉设计量身定制的分析程序。不考虑 cTBS，疏远导致负效价随时间的推移相对于分心的降低更大，并且疏远努力随着时间的推移而减少，而分心努力保持稳定。探索性分析还表明，活跃的 cTBS 使保持距离更加努力，但不会分散注意力。因此，左 TPJ 似乎支持保持距离的自我投射过程，重复使用可能会促进这些过程。这些发现有助于阐明外侧顶叶皮层在疏远中的作用，并为疏远和分心的应用提供信息。