“School of Cognitive Sciences”
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| Paper IPM / Cognitive Sciences / 18119 |
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| Abstract: | |||||
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Background:
Theory of mind (ToM), the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is hypothesized to play a crucial role in ToM, which has altered activity in ASD and can be targeted by noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS). Very few NIBS studies investigated the role of rTPJ in ToM in ASD and no NIBS study investigated the impact of NIBS on implicit ToM. This randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled crossover study, investigated the effects of excitatory and inhibitory theta-burst stimulation (TBS) on the rTPJ to determine its causal role in enhancing implicit mentalizing capacity in ASD and its involvement in overlap or mismatch between our vs others' mental states (egocentric bias).
Methods:
Twelve out of seventeen subjects (mean age ñ SD = 13.84 ñ 3.32), who completed the experiment were randomly assigned to three sessions of continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), and sham stimulation scheduled one week apart to prevent carryover effects. Stimulation was delivered via a Magventure device (Denmark) with a stimulation intensity during active sessions set at 80% of each subject's active motor threshold (AMT), while it was reduced to 50% for sham sessions. Immediately after each stimulation, cognitive correlates of ToM, including implicit mentalizing and egocentric bias, were evaluated via the Buzz-lightyear task that assesses the implicit mentalizing aspect of ToM.
Results:
Both cTBS and iTBS significantly improved implicit mentalizing compared to sham stimulation, with cTBS being more effective than iTBS. However, the analysis showed no effect of stimulation on egocentric bias.
Conclusions:
The results demonstrate a causal link between the rTPJ and implicit mentalizing suggesting that TBS can enhance ToM in ASD. Targeting the rTPJ may improve implicit mentalizing in ASD and other disorders with impaired ToM.
Research Category and Technology and Methods
Clinical Research: 10. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
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