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Stimulation of the Social Brain Improves Perspective Selection in Older Adults: A HD-tDCS Study

Martin, Andrew K., Perceval, G., Roheger, M., Davies, I., Meinzer, M. (2021) Stimulation of the Social Brain Improves Perspective Selection in Older Adults: A HD-tDCS Study. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, . ISSN 1530-7026. (doi:10.3758/s13415-021-00929-2) (KAR id:89868)

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.3758/s13415-021-00929-2
Uncontrolled keywords: Perspective taking; Aging; Right temporoparietal junction; Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; Self-reference effect; Social cognition
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Andrew Martin
Date Deposited: 21 Aug 2021 09:04 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Mar 2023 14:14 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/89868 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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