Dataset Information

Diminishing parochialism in intergroup conflict by disrupting the right temporo-parietal junction.

ABSTRACT: Individuals react to violation of social norms by outgroup members differently than to transgressions of those same norms by ingroup members: namely outgroup perpetrators are punished much more harshly than ingroup perpetrators. This parochial punishment pattern has been observed and extensively studied in social psychology and behavioral economics. Despite progress in recent years, however, little is known about the neural underpinnings of this intergroup bias. Here, we demonstrate by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) that the transient disruption of the right, but not the left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), reduces parochial punishment in a third-party punishment paradigm with real social groups. Moreover, we show that this observed TMS effect on parochial punishment is mediated by a classical punishment motive, i.e. retaliation. Finally, our data suggests that a change in perspective-taking might be the underlying mechanism that explains the impact of right TPJ disruption on retaliation motivation and parochial punishment. These findings provide the first causal evidence that the right TPJ plays a pivotal role in the implementation of parochial behaviors.

SUBMITTER: Baumgartner T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4014096 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diminishing parochialism in intergroup conflict by disrupting the right temporo-parietal junction.

Baumgartner Thomas T Schiller Bastian B Rieskamp Jörg J Gianotti Lorena R R LR Knoch Daria D

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 20130311 5

Individuals react to violation of social norms by outgroup members differently than to transgressions of those same norms by ingroup members: namely outgroup perpetrators are punished much more harshly than ingroup perpetrators. This parochial punishment pattern has been observed and extensively studied in social psychology and behavioral economics. Despite progress in recent years, however, little is known about the neural underpinnings of this intergroup bias. Here, we demonstrate by means of ...[more]

PMID: 23482623

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Project description:Bidirectional integration between sensory stimuli and contextual framing is fundamental to action control. Stimuli may entail context-dependent actions, while temporal or spatial characteristics of a stimulus train may establish a contextual framework for upcoming stimuli. Here we aimed at identifying core areas for stimulus-context integration and delineated their functional connectivity (FC) using meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) and analysis of resting-state networks. In a multi-study conjunction, consistently increased activity under higher demands on stimulus-context integration was predominantly found in the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), which represented the largest cluster of overlap and was thus used as the seed for the FC analyses. The conjunction between task-dependent (MACM) and task-free (resting state) FC of the right TPJ revealed a shared network comprising bilaterally inferior parietal and frontal cortices, anterior insula, premotor cortex, putamen and cerebellum, i.e., a 'ventral' action/attention network. Stronger task-dependent (vs. task-free) connectivity was observed with the pre-SMA, dorsal premotor cortex, intraparietal sulcus, basal ganglia and primary sensori motor cortex, while stronger resting-state (vs. task-dependent) connectivity was found with the dorsolateral prefrontal and medial parietal cortex. Our data provide strong evidence that the right TPJ may represent a key region for the integration of sensory stimuli and contextual frames in action control. Task-dependent associations with regions related to stimulus processing and motor responses indicate that the right TPJ may integrate 'collaterals' of sensory processing and apply (ensuing) contextual frames, most likely via modulation of preparatory loops. Given the pattern of resting-state connectivity, internal states and goal representations may provide the substrates for the contextual integration within the TPJ in the absence of a specific task.

Project description:In communication, much information is conveyed not explicitly but rather covertly, based on shared assumptions and common knowledge. For instance, when asked "Did you bring your cat to the vet?" a person could reply "It got hurt jumping down the table", thereby implicating that, indeed, the cat was brought to the vet. The assumption that getting hurt jumping down a table motivates a vet visit is tacitly attributed to the speaker by the listener, which implies Theory of Mind (ToM) processes. In the present study, we apply repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ), a key brain region underlying ToM, with the aim to disrupt ToM processes necessary for language understanding. We then assess effects on the comprehension of indirect speech acts and their matched direct controls. In one set of conditions, the direct and indirect stimuli where not matched for speech act type, whereas, in the other, these were matched, therefore providing an unconfounded test case for in/directness. When indirect speech acts and direct controls were matched for speech act type (both statements), the indirect ones took longer to process both following sham and verum TMS. However, when the indirect and direct speech acts were not matched for communicative function (accept/decline offer vs. descriptive statement respectively), then a delay was detected for the indirect ones following sham TMS but, crucially, not following verum TMS. Additionally, TMS affected behavior in a ToM task. We therefore do not find evidence that the rTPJ is causally involved in comprehending of indirectness per se, but conclude that it could be involved instead in the processing of specific social communicative activity of rejecting of accepting offers, or to a combination of differing in/directness and communicative function. Our findings are consistent with the view that ToM processing in rTPJ is more important and/or more pronounced for offer acceptance/rejection than for descriptive answers.

Dataset Information

Diminishing parochialism in intergroup conflict by disrupting the right temporo-parietal junction.

Publications

Diminishing parochialism in intergroup conflict by disrupting the right temporo-parietal junction.

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