Left inferior-parietal lobe activity in perspective tasks: identity statements

Abstract

We investigate the theory that the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) is closely associated with tracking potential differences of perspective. Developmental studies find that perspective tasks are mastered at around 4 years of age. Our first study, meta-analyses of brain imaging studies shows that perspective tasks specifically activate a region in the left IPL and precuneus. These tasks include processing of false belief, visual perspective, and episodic memory. We test the location specificity theory in our second study with an unusual and novel kind of perspective task: identity statements. According to Frege's classical logical analysis, identity statements require appreciation of modes of presentation (perspectives). We show that identity statements, e.g., “the tour guide is also the driver” activate the left IPL in contrast to a control statements, “the tour guide has an apprentice.” This activation overlaps with the activations found in the meta-analysis. This finding is confirmed in a third study with different types of statements and different comparisons. All studies support the theory that the left IPL has as one of its overarching functions the tracking of perspective differences. We discuss how this function relates to the bottom-up attention function proposed for the bilateral IPL.

Impaired spontaneous belief inference following acquired damage to the left posterior temporoparietal junction

“…First, it is possible that the two patients did not compute at all the other person’s false belief unless they were instructed to track the person’s mental state. It has been recently claimed that the left TPJ, more particularly the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), may play a general role in consciously tracking potential perspective differences ( Arora et al , 2015 ). The profile of our patients would suggest that the left TPJ tracks such perspective difference spontaneously .…”

Rehumanizing the homeless: Altered BOLD response following contact with an extreme outgroup

“…Moreover, research conducted subsequent to the present study (Bruneau, Jacoby, Kteily, & Saxe, 2018) has clarified the unique role of the left IPL in dehumanized perception beyond like/dislike of social groups. In addition, social cognition tasks outside of dehumanized contexts have consistently shown activation in these regions (Arora et al, 2015;Van der Meer, Groenewold, Nolen, Pijenborg, & Aleman, 2011;Van Overwalle 2009;Blakemore, 2012). Overall, the data shows altered social cognition brain network response to homeless targets following contact, and this seemed to occur regardless of the participants' affective responses.…”

An evaluation of neurocognitive models of theory of mind

“…The mental subjectivity of other people’s reasoning can then be captured by teleology within the other’s perspective (‘teleology-in-perspective’), i.e., in the case of a false belief the other person will do what she would need to do if the world were as she thinks it is. Processing perspectivity is a process that cuts across the domain of ToM to other areas of knowledge such as understanding false signs ( Aichhorn et al, 2009 ), identity ( Arora et al, 2015 ), or level 2 visual perspective taking ( Schurz et al, 2013 ; see also Schurz et al, 2015 ).…”