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. 2023 Apr 26;13(1):6793.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33427-1.

Patterns of multiple brain network activation in dot perspective task

Marie-Louise Montandon  1   2 , Cristelle Rodriguez  3   4 , François R Herrmann  5 , Ariel Eytan  3   4 , Alan J Pegna  6 , Sven Haller  7   8   9   10 , Panteleimon Giannakopoulos  3   4
Affiliations

Patterns of multiple brain network activation in dot perspective task

Marie-Louise Montandon et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Group average task-related GLM analysis for the contrast Arrow > Avatar (A) and for the inverse comparison Avatar > Arrow (B), and for the contrasts Self > Other (C) and Other > Self (D). Right hemisphere on the left side, all clusters were thresholded by Z > 3.1 and a corrected cluster significance threshold of p = 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Group average task-related GLM analysis for the contrast Arrow Consistent > Arrow Inconsistent (A) and for the inverse comparison Arrow Inconsistent > Arrow Consistent (B), for the contrasts Avatar Consistent > Avatar Inconsistent (C) and Avatar Inconsistent > Avatar Consistent (D), and for the overlap between the contrasts Avatar Inconsistent > Avatar Consistent (in red) and Arrow Inconsistent > Arrow Consistent (in blue) (E). Right hemisphere on the left side, all clusters were thresholded by Z > 3.1 and a corrected cluster significance threshold of p = 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Group average task-related GLM analysis for the contrast Self Consistent > Self Inconsistent (A) and for the inverse comparison Self Inconsistent > Self Consistent (B), and for the contrasts Other Consistent > Other Inconsistent (C) and Other Inconsistent > Other Consistent (D). Right hemisphere on the left and side, all clusters were thresholded by Z > 3.1 and a corrected cluster significance threshold of p = 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Group average task-related GLM analysis for the contrast Arrow Consistent > Avatar Consistent (A) and for the inverse comparison Avatar Consistent > Arrow Consistent (B), and for the contrasts Arrow Inconsistent > Avatar Inconsistent (C) and Avatar Inconsistent > Arrow Inconsistent (D). Right hemisphere on the left side, all clusters were thresholded by Z > 3.1 and a corrected cluster significance threshold of p = 0.05.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Examples of the stimuli presented in the different experimental conditions: Consistent (A) and Inconsistent (C) conditions with the Avatar, and Consistent (B) and Inconsistent (D) conditions with the Arrow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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