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Perspective taking in the human brain: complementary evidence from neuroimaging studies with media-based naturalistic stimuli and artificial controlled paradigms
Perception and interpretation of various types of events and information in life crucially
depend on one’s perspective. A specific perspective can be explicitly adopted, for example,
via instructing an experimental subject, implicitly via a priori information given to subjects,
and by subjects’ personality traits or cultural background. The neural basis of perspective
taking has been addressed in a number of recent neuroimaging studies, some of which have
used movies and narratives as media-based stimuli to pursue a holistic understanding of the
phenomenon under ecologically valid conditions. Results across these studies suggest that
the human brain flexibly adapts to support the information-processing needs of different
perspectives, however, also that inferior temporal-occipital areas and posterior-medial
parietal areas are engaged across different perspectives. These findings are complemented
by studies that have investigated specific aspects of perspective taking with highly
controlled experimental designs. They have disclosed involvement of temporoparietal
junction in visual perspective taking and the importance of the affective component of the
pain matrix when empathizing with others’ pain. Identification with the protagonists also
seems to matter, as dorsomedial vs. ventromedial prefrontal areas are recruited when the
protagonist is dissimilar vs. similar to self. Finally, as a translational aspect, perspective
taking can, under certain conditions, serve as an effective emotion regulation technique,
wherein lateral and medial regions of the prefrontal cortex seem to support reappraisal
processes. Together findings from studies with media-based stimuli and more traditional
paradigms complement each other to gain a comprehensive understanding of the neural
basis of perspective taking.