Martin Andrew K, Dzafic Ilvana, Ramdave Swathi, Meinzer Marcus
Centre for Clinical Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia.
Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2017 Aug 1;12(8):1209-1218. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsx063.
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is a key hub of the 'social brain', but little is known about specific processes supported by this region. Using focal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and a social cognitive battery with differing demands on self-other processing, we demonstrate specific involvement of the dmPFC in tasks placing high demands on self-other processing. Specifically, excitatory (anodal) HD-tDCS enhanced the integration of external information into the self for explicit higher-order socio-cognitive tasks across cognitive domains; i.e. visual perspective taking (VPT) and episodic memory. These effects were task specific, as no stimulation effects were found for attributing mental states from the eyes or implicit VPT. Inhibitory (cathodal) HD-tDCS had weaker effects in the opposite direction towards reduced integration of external information into the self. We thus demonstrate for the first time a specific and causal role of the dmPFC in integrating higher-order information from others/external source into that of the self across cognitive domains.
背内侧前额叶皮质（dmPFC）是“社会脑”的关键枢纽，但对于该区域所支持的特定过程却知之甚少。我们使用局灶性高清经颅直流电刺激（HD-tDCS）以及对自我-他人加工有不同要求的社会认知测试组，证明了dmPFC在对自我-他人加工有高要求的任务中具有特定参与。具体而言，兴奋性（阳极）HD-tDCS增强了外部信息在明确的跨认知领域高阶社会认知任务中融入自我的过程；即视觉观点采择（VPT）和情景记忆。这些效应具有任务特异性，因为在从眼睛归因心理状态或内隐VPT方面未发现刺激效应。抑制性（阴极）HD-tDCS在减少外部信息融入自我的相反方向上具有较弱的效应。因此，我们首次证明了dmPFC在跨认知领域将来自他人/外部来源的高阶信息整合到自我信息中的特定因果作用。
