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Tuning the Right TPJ: How Empathy Modulates Pragmatic Sensitivity

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Kathrin Rothermich^1,2 (), Rose Baker-Iyore¹, Anna Abernathy¹, Katherine Palin-Montero¹, Ruby George¹, Jordan Zack¹, Sofia Bick-Martinez¹, Moritz Dannhauer^2,3; ¹Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, ²Alliance for Brain Stimulation, East Carolina University, ³Department of Computer Science, East Carolina University

Understanding others’ emotions and intentions depends on neural systems that integrate verbal, prosodic, and contextual cues during social interaction. The right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) plays a central role in this integration process, supporting perspective taking and affective attunement. Altered rTPJ activity has been linked to reduced empathic accuracy and pragmatic sensitivity, yet mechanistic evidence remains limited. This study examined whether stimulation of the rTPJ alters empathic processing during pragmatic reasoning. Participants (n=21) completed two counterbalanced sessions of cathodal or sham transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) targeting the rTPJ while judging sincere, blunt, sarcastic, or teasing exchanges from the Relational Inference in Social Communication (RISC) database. Reaction time, accuracy of judging sincerity, and self-reported empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index subscales) were analyzed across conditions using Pearson correlations. Under sham, higher Perspective Taking was associated with slower responses to teasing, suggesting greater reflective engagement of the rTPJ when decoding socially ambiguous cues. After cathodal stimulation, Empathic Concern was linked to significantly slower responses to teasing, while Perspective Taking predicted reduced accuracy for blunt remarks, indicating diminished integration of speaker intent when rTPJ excitability was manipulated. Together, the results show that empathy traits shape individual sensitivity to rTPJ modulation, with cognitive and affective empathy exerting distinct influences on processing speed and pragmatic accuracy. The findings provide mechanistic evidence that rTPJ excitability contributes to empathic and pragmatic inference during dynamic social communication.

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