Causal role of temporo-parietal junction for social behavior: A meta-analysis

The temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is thought to play a key role in human social behavior, however, there is currently no consensus on which aspects of social behavior are under TPJ control. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the TPJ causally underlies behaviors that require distinguishing between one's own and others' mental perspectives by conducting a meta-analysis of brain stimulation studies modulating TPJ activation during social cognition (94 papers with 160 effect sizes from 4073 participants).

Our meta-analysis revealed that stimulation of the TPJ shows small-to-moderate effects on the ability to distinguish between one's own and others' mental states (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.36) as well as on norm-guided social decision making (SMD = 0.36). In contrast, we observed no significant impact of TPJ stimulation on empathy (SMD = 0.17) or joint attention (SMD = 0.05), though we note that relatively few effect sizes were available for these two categories. Moreover, transcranial magnetic stimulation showed stronger effects on social cognition than transcranial electrical stimulation.

Taken together, our meta-analysis informs us about the effectiveness of different brain stimulation protocols for modulating social behavior and clarifies which aspects of social behavior are causally implemented by the TPJ, improving our understanding of the neural basis of social behavior.