There is evidence for dissociable, causal roles for two key social brain regions in young adults. Specifically, the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is associated with embodied perspective taking, whereas the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is associated with the integration of social information. However, it is unknown whether these causal brain-behaviour associations are evident in older adults. Fifty-two healthy older adults were stratified to receive either rTPJ or dmPFC anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in a sham-controlled, double-blinded, repeated-measures design. Self-other processing was assessed across implicit and explicit level one (line-of-sight) and level two (embodied rotation) visual perspective taking (VPT) tasks, and self-other encoding effects on episodic memory. Both rTPJ and dmPFC stimulation reduced the influence of the alternate perspective during level one VPT, indexed by a reduced congruency effect (difference between congruent and incongruent perspectives). There were no stimulation effects on level two perspective taking nor self-other encoding effects on episodic memory. Stimulation to the rTPJ and dmPFC improved perspective selection during level one perspective taking. However, dissociable effects on self-other processing, previously observed in young adults, were not identified in older adults. The results provide causal evidence for age-related changes in social brain function that requires further scrutinization.

有证据表明，年轻人的两个关键社交大脑区域具有可分离的因果作用。具体来说，右侧颞顶叶交界处（rTPJ）与具体的视角采择相关，而背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC）与社会信息的整合相关。然而，尚不清楚这些因果脑行为关联在老年人中是否明显。52 名健康老年人被分层接受 rTPJ 或 dmPFC 阳极高清经颅直流电刺激，采用假控制、双盲、重复测量设计。在隐式和显式第一级（视线）和第二级（体现旋转）视觉透视（VPT）任务以及自我其他编码对情景记忆的影响中评估了自我其他处理。rTPJ 和 dmPFC 刺激都减少了第一级 VPT 期间替代视角的影响，通过降低的一致性效应（一致和不一致视角之间的差异）来指示。对二级视角采取没有刺激效应，对情景记忆也没有自我其他编码效应。对 rTPJ 和 dmPFC 的刺激改善了第一级视角选择期间的视角选择。然而，以前在年轻人中观察到的对自我其他加工的可分离影响在老年人中没有发现。这些结果为需要进一步审查的社会大脑功能中与年龄相关的变化提供了因果证据。对二级视角采取没有刺激效应，对情景记忆也没有自我其他编码效应。对 rTPJ 和 dmPFC 的刺激改善了第一级视角选择期间的视角选择。然而，以前在年轻人中观察到的对自我其他加工的可分离影响在老年人中没有发现。这些结果为需要进一步审查的社会大脑功能中与年龄相关的变化提供了因果证据。对二级视角采取没有刺激效应，对情景记忆也没有自我其他编码效应。对 rTPJ 和 dmPFC 的刺激改善了第一级视角选择期间的视角选择。然而，以前在年轻人中观察到的对自我其他加工的可分离影响在老年人中没有发现。这些结果为需要进一步审查的社会大脑功能中与年龄相关的变化提供了因果证据。