TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kalbe, E.
AU  - Schlegel, M.
AU  - Sack, A.T.
AU  - Nowak, D.A:
AU  - Dafotakis, M.
AU  - Bangard, C.
AU  - Brand, M.
AU  - Shamay-Tsoory, S.
AU  - Onur, Ö.
AU  - Kessler, J.
TI  - Dissociating cognitive from affective theory of mind: A TMS study
JO  - Cortex
VL  - 46
SN  - 0010-9452
CY  - Paris
PB  - Elsevier Masson
M1  - PreJuSER-10393
SP  - 769 - 780
PY  - 2010
N1  - We thank Michelle Moerel, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, for support in graphical image processing, and Ingo Meister and Mitra Ameli, Department of Neurology, University of Cologne, for assistance in MRI and rTMS. Furthermore, the work of the first author was funded in part by the EC-FP6-project DiMI, LSHBCT-2005-512146.
AB  - "Theory of Mind" (ToM), i.e., the ability to infer other persons' mental states, is a key function of social cognition. It is increasingly recognized to form a multidimensional construct. One differentiation that has been proposed is that between cognitive and affective ToM, whose neural correlates remain to be identified. We aimed to ascertain the possible role of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for cognitive ToM as opposed to affective ToM processes.1Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was used to interfere offline with cortical function of the right DLPFC in healthy male subjects who subsequently had to perform a computerized task assessing cognitive and affective ToM.RTMS over the right DLPFC induced a selective effect on cognitive but not affective ToM. More specifically, a significant acceleration of reaction times in cognitive ToM compared to affective ToM and control items was observed in the experimental (right DLPFC) compared to the control (vertex) rTMS stimulation condition.Our findings provide evidence for the functional independence of cognitive from affective ToM. Furthermore, they point to an important role of the right DLPFC within neural networks mediating cognitive ToM. Possible underlying mechanisms of the acceleration of cognitive ToM processing under rTMS are discussed.
KW  - Affect: physiology
KW  - Brain: physiology
KW  - Cognition: physiology
KW  - Humans
KW  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW  - Male
KW  - Neuropsychological Tests
KW  - Prefrontal Cortex: physiology
KW  - Reaction Time
KW  - Theory of Mind: physiology
KW  - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: adverse effects
KW  - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: methods
KW  - Young Adult
KW  - J (WoSType)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:19709653
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000277780100007
DO  - DOI:10.1016/j.cortex.2009.07.010
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/10393
ER  -