Abstract

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.

Details

Title
Exploring the neural basis and modulating factors of implicit altercentric spatial perspective-taking with fNIRS
Author
Ang, Natania 1 ; Brucker, Birgit 2 ; Rosenbaum, David 3 ; Lachmair, Martin 4 ; Dresler, Thomas 5 ; Ehlis, Ann-Christine 5 ; Gerjets, Peter 6 

 University of Tübingen, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.10392.39) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 1447); Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital Tübingen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.411544.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0196 8249) 
 Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.418956.7) (ISNI:0000 0004 0493 3318) 
 Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital Tübingen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.411544.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0196 8249) 
 Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Villingen-Schwenningen, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany (GRID:grid.449295.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 0416 0296) 
 University of Tübingen, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.10392.39) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 1447); Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital Tübingen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.411544.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0196 8249); German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.411544.1) 
 University of Tübingen, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.10392.39) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 1447); Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany (GRID:grid.418956.7) (ISNI:0000 0004 0493 3318) 
Pages
20627
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2892810252
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.