The Neural Correlates of Visual Perspective Taking: a Critical Review

Visual perspective taking neural processing in forensic cases with high density EEG

This EEG study aims at dissecting the differences in the activation of neural generators between borderline personality disorder patients with court-ordered measures (BDL-COM) and healthy controls in visual perspective taking. We focused on the distinction between mentalizing (Avatar) and non-mentalizing (Arrow) stimuli as well as self versus other-perspective in the dot perspective task (dPT) in a sample of 15 BDL-COM cases and 54 controls, all of male gender. BDL-COM patients showed a late and diffuse right hemisphere involvement of neural generators contrasting with the occipitofrontal topography observed in controls. For Avatars only and compared to controls, the adoption of Self perspective involved a lower EEG activity in the left inferior frontal, right middle temporal cortex and insula in BDL-COM patients prior to 80 ms post-stimulus. When taking the Other-perspective, BDL-COM patients also showed a lower activation of superior frontal, right inferior temporal and fusiform cortex within the same time frame. The beta oscillation power was significantly lower in BDL-COM patients than controls between 400 and 1300 ms post stimulus in the Avatar-Other condition. These results indicate that BDL-COM patients display both altered topography of EEG activation patterns and reduced abilities to mobilize beta oscillations during the treatment of mentalistic stimuli in dPT.

Exploring the neural basis and modulating factors of implicit altercentric spatial perspective-taking with fNIRS

Humans spontaneously take the perspective of others when encoding spatial information in a scene, especially with agentive action cues present. This functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study explored how action observation influences implicit spatial perspective-taking (SPT) by adapting a left-right spatial judgment task to investigate whether transformation strategies underlying altercentric SPT can be predicted on the basis of cortical activation. Strategies associated with two opposing neurocognitive accounts (embodied versus disembodied) and their proposed neural correlates (human mirror neuron system; hMNS versus cognitive control network; CCN) are hypothesized. Exploratory analyses with 117 subjects uncover an interplay between perspective-taking and post-hoc factor, consistency of selection, in regions alluding to involvement of the CCN. Descriptively, inconsistent altercentric SPT elicited greater activation than consistent altercentric SPT and/or inconsistent egocentric SPT in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left motor cortex (MC), but not the inferior parietal lobules (IPL). Despite the presence of grasping cues, spontaneous embodied strategies were not evident during implicit altercentric SPT. Instead, neural trends in the inconsistent subgroups (22 subjects; 13 altercentric; 9 egocentric) suggest that inconsistency in selection modulates the decision-making process and plausibly taps on deliberate and effortful disembodied strategies driven by the CCN. Implications for future research are discussed.

Social Context and Reward Sensitivity Enhance Corticostriatal Function during Experiences of Shared Rewards

Although prior research has demonstrated enhanced striatal response when sharing rewards with close social connections, less is known about how individual differences affect ventral striatal (VS) activation and connectivity when experiencing rewards within social contexts. Given that self-reported reward sensitivity and level of substance use have been associated with differences in VS activation, we set out to investigate whether these factors would be independently associated with enhancements to neural reward responses within social contexts. In this pre-registered study, participants (N=45) underwent fMRI while playing a card guessing game in which correct or incorrect guesses resulted in monetary gains and losses that were shared evenly with either a close friend, stranger (confederate), or non-human partner. Consistent with our prior work, we found increased VS activation when sharing rewards with a socially close peer as opposed to an out-of-network stranger. As self-reported reward sensitivity increased, the difference in VS response to rewards shared with friends and strangers decreased. We also found enhanced connectivity between the VS and temporoparietal junction when sharing rewards with close friends as opposed to strangers. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed that as reward sensitivity and sub-clinical substance use increase, the difference in VS connectivity with the right fusiform face area increases as a function of social context. These findings demonstrate that responsivity to the context of close friends may be tied to individual reward sensitivity or sub-clinical substance use habits; together these factors may inform predictions of risk for future mental health disorders.

Mentalizing and self-other distinction in visual perspective taking: the analysis of temporal neural processing using high-density EEG

This high density EEG report dissects the neural processing in the visual perspective taking using four experimental comparisons (Arrow, Avatar and Self, Other). Early activation differences occurred between the Avatar and the Arrow condition in primary visual pathways concomitantly with alpha and beta phase locked responses predominant in the Avatar condition. In later time points, brain activation was stronger for the Avatar condition in paracentral lobule of frontal lobe. When taking the other's perspective, there was an increased recruitment of generators in the occipital and temporal lobes and later on in mentalizing and salience networks bilaterally before spreading to right frontal lobe subdivisions. Microstate analysis further supported late recruitment of the medial frontal gyrus and precentral lobule in this condition. Other perspective for the Avatar only showed a strong beta response located first in left occipito-temporal and right parietal areas, and later on in frontal lobes. Our EEG data support distinct brain processes for the Avatar condition with an increased recruitment of brain generators that progresses from primary visual areas to the anterior brain. Taking the other's perspective needs an early recruitment of neural processors in posterior areas involved in theory of mind with later involvement of additional frontal generators.

Seeing in my way or your way: impact of intelligence, attention, and empathy on brain reactivity

Previous studies showed that neurotypical adults are able to engage in unconscious analyses of others' mental states in the context of automatic perspective taking and experience systematic difficulties when judging the conflicts between their own (Self) and another's (Other) perspective. Several functional MRI (fMRI) studies reported widespread activation of mentalizing, salience, and executive networks when adopting the Other compared to Self perspective. This study aims to explore whether cognitive and emotional parameters impact on brain reactivity in dot perspective task (dPT). We provide here an fMRI analysis based on individual z-scores in eighty-two healthy adults who underwent the Samson's dPT after detailed assessment of fluid intelligence, attention, levels of alexithymia and social cognition abilities. Univariate regression models were used to explore the association between brain activation patterns and psychological variables. There was a strong positive association between Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and fMRI z-scores in Self perspective. When the Other perspective is taken, Continuous Performance Test (CPT)-II parameters were negatively associated with fMRI z-scores. Individuals with higher Toronto Alexithymia scale (TAS) score and lower scores in mini-Social cognition and Emotional Assessment (SEA) displayed significantly higher egocentric interference-related fMRI z-scores. Our data demonstrate that brain activation when focusing on our own perspective depends on the levels of fluid intelligence. Decreased attentional recruitment and decreased inhibitory control affects the brain efforts to adopt the Other perspective. Egocentric interference-associated brain fMRI activation was less marked in cases with better empathy abilities but the opposite was true for persons who experience increased difficulties in the recognition of emotions.

Patterns of multiple brain network activation in dot perspective task

In this functional MRI (fMRI) study on 82 healthy adults using the dot perspective task, inconsistency of perspectives was associated with a significant increase of the mean reaction time and number of errors both in Self and Other conditions. Unlike the Arrow (non-mentalizing), the Avatar (mentalizing) paradigm was characterized by the recruitment of parts of the mentalizing and salience networks. These data provide experimental evidence supporting the fMRI distinction between mentalizing and non-mentalizing stimuli. A widespread activation of classical theory of mind (ToM) areas but also of salience network and decision making areas was observed in the Other compared to Self-conditions. Compared to Self-Consistent, Self-Inconsistent trials were related to increased activation in the lateral occipital cortex, right supramarginal and angular gyrus as well as inferior, superior and middle frontal gyri. Compared to the Other-Consistent, Other-Inconsistent trials yielded strong activation in the lateral occipital cortex, precuneus and superior parietal lobule, middle and superior precentral gyri and left frontal pole. These findings reveal that altercentric interference relies on areas involved in self-other distinction, self-updating and central executive functions. In contrast, egocentric interference needs the activation of the mirror neuron system and deductive reasoning, much less related to pure ToM abilities.

Rethinking retrosplenial cortex: Perspectives and predictions

The last decade has produced exciting new ideas about retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and its role in integrating diverse inputs. Here, we review the diversity in forms of spatial and directional tuning of RSC activity, temporal organization of RSC activity, and features of RSC interconnectivity with other brain structures. We find that RSC anatomy and dynamics are more consistent with roles in multiple sensorimotor and cognitive processes than with any isolated function. However, two more generalized categories of function may best characterize roles for RSC in complex cognitive processes: (1) shifting and relating perspectives for spatial cognition and (2) prediction and error correction for current sensory states with internal representations of the environment. Both functions likely take advantage of RSC's capacity to encode conjunctions among sensory, motor, and spatial mapping information streams. Together, these functions provide the scaffold for intelligent actions, such as navigation, perspective taking, interaction with others, and error detection.

Perspective-taking is associated with increased discriminability of affective states in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Recent work using multivariate-pattern analysis (MVPA) on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data has found that distinct affective states produce correspondingly distinct patterns of neural activity in the cerebral cortex. However, it is unclear whether individual differences in the distinctiveness of neural patterns evoked by affective stimuli underlie empathic abilities such as perspective-taking (PT). Accordingly, we examined whether we could predict PT tendency from the classification of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI activation patterns while participants (n = 57) imagined themselves in affectively charged scenarios. We used an MVPA searchlight analysis to map where in the brain activity patterns permitted the classification of four affective states: happiness, sadness, fear and disgust. Classification accuracy was significantly above chance levels in most of the prefrontal cortex and in the posterior medial cortices. Furthermore, participants' self-reported PT was positively associated with classification accuracy in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and insula. This finding has implications for understanding affective processing in the prefrontal cortex and for interpreting the cognitive significance of classifiable affective brain states. Our multivariate approach suggests that PT ability may rely on the grain of internally simulated affective representations rather than simply the global strength.

EXPRESS: Is Implicit Level-2 Visual perspective taking embodied? Spontaneous perceptual simulation of others' perspectives is not impaired by motor restriction

Visual perspective taking may rely on the ability to mentally rotate one's own body into that of another. Here we test whether participants' ability to make active body movements plays a causal role in visual perspective taking. We utilized our recent task that measures whether participants spontaneously represent another's visual perspective in a (quasi-)perceptual format that can drive own perceptual decision making. Participants reported whether alphanumeric characters, presented in different orientations, are shown in their normal or mirror-inverted form (e.g., "R" vs. "Я"). Between trials, we manipulated whether another person was sitting either left or right of the character and whether participants' movement was restricted with a chin rest or they could move freely. As in our previous research, participants spontaneously took the visual perspective of the other person, recognizing rotated letters more rapidly when they appeared upright to the other person in the scene, compared to when they faced away from that person, and these effects increased with age but were (weakly) negatively related to Schizotypy and not to autistic traits or social skills. Restricting participants' ability to make active body movements did not influence these effects. The results therefore rule out that active physical movement plays a causal role in computing another's visual perspective, either to create alignment between own and other's perspective or to trigger perspective-taking processes. The postural adjustments people sometimes make when making judgements from another's perspective may instead be a bodily consequence of mentally transforming one's actual to an imagined position in space.

Association between dispositional empathy and self-other distinction in Irish and Belgian medical students: a cross-sectional analysis

OBJECTIVE

Physicians' cognitive empathy is associated with improved diagnosis and better patient outcomes. The relationship between self-reported and performance-based measures of cognitive empathic processes is unclear.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of the association between medical students' empathy scale scores and their empathic performance in a visuospatial perspective-taking (VPT) task.

PARTICIPANTS

Undergraduate medical students across two European medical schools (n=194).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Two self-report empathy and one performance-based perspective-taking outcome: Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE); Empathy Quotient (EQ); Samson's level-1 VPT task.

RESULTS

Higher scores on the 'standing in patient's shoes' subscale of the JSPE were associated with a lower congruency effect (as well as lower egocentric and altercentric biases) in the VPT (B=-0.007, 95% CI=-0.013 to 0.002, p<0.05), which reflects an association with better capacity to manage conflicting self-other perspectives, also known as self-other distinction. Lower egocentric bias was also associated with higher scores on the 'social skills' EQ subscale (B=-10.17, 95% CI=-17.98 to 2.36, p<0.05). Additionally, selection of a 'technique-oriented' clinical specialty preference was associated with a higher self-perspective advantage in the VPT, reflecting greater attentional priority given to the self-perspective.

CONCLUSIONS

We show that self-assessment scores are associated with selected performance-based indices of perspective taking, providing a more fine-grained analysis of the cognitive domain of empathy assessed in medical student empathy scales. This analysis allows us to generate new critical hypotheses about the reasons why only certain self-report empathy measures (or their subscales) are associated with physicians' observed empathic ability.

Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on visual perspective taking: A meta-analytic study

Visual perspective taking (VPT) is a critical ability required by complex social interaction. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has been increasingly used to examine the causal relationship between brain activity and VPT, yet with heterogeneous results. In the current study, we conducted two meta-analyses to examine the effects of NIBS of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) or dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) on VPT, respectively. We performed a comprehensive literature search to identify qualified studies and computed the standardized effect size (ES) for each combination of VPT level (Level-1: visibility judgment; Level-2: mental rotation) and perspective (self and other). Thirteen studies (rTPJ: 12 studies, 23 ESs; dmPFC: 4 studies, 14 ESs) were included in the meta-analyses. Random-effects models were used to generate the overall effects. Subgroup analyses for distinct VPT conditions were also performed. We found that rTPJ stimulation significantly improved participants' visibility judgment from the allocentric perspective, whereas its effects on other VPT conditions are negligible. Stimulation of dmPFC appeared to influence Level-1 performance from the egocentric perspective, although this finding was only based on a small number of studies. Notably, contrary to some theoretical models, we did not find strong evidence that these regions are involved in Level-2 VPT with a higher requirement of mental rotation. These findings not only advance our understanding of the causal roles of the rTPJ and dmPFC in VPT, but also reveal that the efficacy of NIBS on VPT is relatively small. Additionally, researchers should also be cautious about the potential publication bias and selective reporting.

Socio-cognitive training impacts emotional and perceptual self-salience but not self-other distinction

Training to inhibit imitative tendencies has been shown to reduce self-other interferences in both automatic imitation and perspective taking, suggesting that an enhancement of self-other distinction is transferrable from the motor to the cognitive domain. This study examined whether socio-cognitive training specifically enhances self-other distinction, or rather modulates self-salience, that is, the relative attentional priority of information pertaining to the self-perspective over information pertaining to the other person's perspective. Across two experiments, participants trained on one day to either imitate, inhibit imitation, inhibit control stimuli, or they were imitated. On the following day they completed a visuo-tactile affective perspective-taking paradigm measuring both self-other distinction and emotional self-salience, and a shape matching paradigm measuring perceptual self-salience. Results indicate no significant or consistent impact of training on self-other distinction performance, but reveal an increased emotional and perceptual self-salience following training to inhibit imitative tendencies. Together, these findings raise the question whether socio-cognitive training improves performance via enhanced self-other distinction, and invite to consider self-salience as a complementary angle to explain the past, present, and future findings on self-other distinction.

Corticospinal Excitability during a Perspective Taking Task as Measured by TMS-Induced Motor Evoked Potentials

Only by understanding the ability to take a third-person perspective can we begin to elucidate the neural processes responsible for one’s inimitable conscious experience. The current study examined differences in hemispheric laterality during a first-person perspective (1PP) and third-person perspective (3PP) taking task, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Participants were asked to take either the 1PP or 3PP when identifying the number of spheres in a virtual scene. During this task, single-pulse TMS was delivered to the motor cortex of both the left and right hemispheres of 10 healthy volunteers. Measures of TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) of the contralateral abductor pollicis brevis (APB) were employed as an indicator of lateralized cortical activation. The data suggest that the right hemisphere is more important in discriminating between 1PP and 3PP. These data add a novel method for determining perspective taking and add to the literature supporting the role of the right hemisphere in meta representation.

Brain mechanisms of visuospatial perspective-taking in relation to object mental rotation and the theory of mind

Visuospatial perspective-taking (VPT) is a process of imagining what can be seen and how a scene looks from a location and orientation in space that differs from one's own. It comprises two levels that are underpinned by distinct neurocognitive processes. Level-2 VPT is often studied in relation to two other cognitive phenomena, object mental rotation (oMR) and theory of mind (ToM). With the aim to describe the broad picture of neurocognitive processes underlying level-2 VPT, here we give an overview of the recent behavioral and neuroscientific findings of level-2 VPT. We discuss its relation to level-1 VPT, which is also referred to as perspective-tracking, and the neighboring topics, oMR and ToM. Neuroscientific research shows that level-2 VPT is a diverse cognitive process, encompassing functionally distinct neural circuits. It shares brain substrates with oMR, especially those parietal brain areas that are specialized in spatial reasoning. However, compared to oMR, level-2 VPT involves additional activations in brain structures that are typically involved in ToM tasks and deal with self/other distinctions. In addition, level-2 VPT has been suggested to engage brain areas coding for internal representations of the body. Thus, the neurocognitive model underpinning level-2 VPT can be understood as a combination of visuospatial processing with social cognition and body schema representations.

A Bird's eye view from below: Activity in the temporo-parietal junction predicts from-above Necker Cube percepts

The temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) consistently emerges in other-regarding behavior, including tasks probing affective phenomena such as morality and empathy. Yet the TPJ is also recruited in processes with no affective or social component, such as visuo-spatial processing and mathematical cognition. We present serendipitous findings from a perceptual decision-making task on a bistable stimulus, the Necker Cube, performed in an MRI scanner. The stimulus in question is a transparent, wire-frame cube that evokes spontaneous switches in perception. Individuals can view the cube from below or from above, though a consistent bias is shown towards seeing the cube from above. We replicate this bias, finding participants spend more time in the from-above percept. However, in testing for BOLD differences between percept orientations, we found robust responses in bilateral TPJ for the from-above > from-below perceptual state. We speculate that this neural response comes from the sensory incongruence of viewing an object from above while lying supine in the scanner. We further speculate that the TPJ resolves this incongruence by facilitating an egocentric projection. Such a function would explain the TPJ's ubiquitous response to other-regarding, visuo-spatial and mathematical cognition, as all these phenomena demand an ability to ambulate through the coordinate space. Our findings suggest the TPJ may not play a specific role in social or moral components of other-regarding behavior, such as altruism, and further indirectly suggest that "pure", allocentric altruism may not correlate with the TPJ. Results further have implications on how the TPJ may be modulated by activities such as flight or drone operation. Finally, this study highlights the possible need for congruence between stimuli and body position in neuroimaging studies.

Stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex impacts conflict resolution in Level-1 visual perspective taking

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.

Dissociating Profiles of Social Cognitive Disturbances Between Mixed Personality and Anxiety Disorder

BACKGROUND

An emerging body of research has begun to elucidate disturbances to social cognition in specific personality disorders (PDs). No research has been conducted on patients with Mixed Personality Disorder (MPD), however, who meet multiple diagnostic criteria. Further, very few studies have compared social cognition between patients with PD and those presenting with symptomatic diagnoses that co-occur with personality pathologies, such as anxiety disorder (AD). The aim of this study was to provide a detailed characterization of deficits to various aspects of social cognition in MPD and dissociate impairments specific to MPD from those exhibited by patients with AD who differ in the severity of personality pathology.

METHOD

Building on our previous research, we administered a large battery of self-report and performance-based measures of social cognition to age-, sex- and education-matched groups of patients with MPD or AD, and healthy control participants (HCs; n = 29, 23, and 54, respectively). This permitted a detailed profiling of these clinical groups according to impairments in emotion recognition and regulation, imitative control, low-level visual perspective taking, and empathic awareness and expression.

RESULTS

The MPD group demonstrated poorer emotion recognition for negative facial expressions relative to both HCs and AD. Compared with HCs, both clinical groups also performed significantly worse in visual perspective taking and interference resolution, and reported higher personal distress when empathizing and more state-oriented emotion regulation.

CONCLUSION

We interpret our results to reflect dysfunctional cognitive control that is common to patients with both MPD and AD. Given the patterns of affective dispositions that characterize these two diagnostic groups, we suggest that prolonged negative affectivity is associated with inflexible styles of emotion regulation and attribution. This might potentiate the interpersonal dysfunction exhibited in MPD, particularly in negatively valenced and challenging social situations.