Abstract
We performed a quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies to identify brain areas which are commonly engaged in social and visuo-spatial perspective taking. Specifically, we compared brain activation for visual-perspective taking to activation for false belief reasoning, which requires awareness of perspective to understand someone's mistaken belief about the world which contrasts with reality. In support of a previous account by Perner and Leekam (2008), our meta-analytic conjunction analysis found common activation for false belief reasoning and visual perspective taking in the left but not the right dorsal temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). This fits with the idea that the left dorsal TPJ is responsible for representing different perspectives in a domain-general fashion. Moreover, our conjunction analysis found activation in the precuneus and the left middle occipital gyrus close to the putative Extrastriate Body Area (EBA). The precuneus is linked to mental-imagery which may aid in the construction of a different perspective. The EBA may be engaged due to imagined body-transformations when another's viewpoint is adopted.
Highlights
Being able to adopt another person’s perspective is an important feature of human social cognition
In support of a previous account by Perner and Leekam (2008), our meta-analytic conjunction analysis found common activation for false belief reasoning and visual perspective taking in the left but not the right dorsal temporo-parietal junction (TPJ)
This fits with the idea that the left dorsal TPJ is responsible for representing different perspectives in a domain-general fashion
Summary
Being able to adopt another person’s perspective is an important feature of human social cognition. One group of studies has looked at perspective relevant processes in the context of visuo-spatial cognition, typically by asking about the visual experience arising from a different point of view (visual perspective taking). Studies in this field can be divided into level 1 and 2 visual perspective taking (Masangkay et al, 1974; Flavell et al, 1981). Besides research on visual perspective taking, another group of studies has looked at perspective relevant processing in social contexts. Children are told a story in which a character, Mistaken Max, fails to witness how his chocolate is unexpectedly transferred from one location to another. To arrive at the correct answer—its original location—children have to take into account that Mistaken Max holds a false belief about the location of the chocolate, which contrasts with their own knowledge about its real location
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