tDCS for Empathy: rTPJ Increased Other-Pain Signals, DLPFC Did Not
A 2026 Psychological Medicine study involving 196 healthy adults found that transcranial direct current stimulation over the right temporoparietal junction increased cognitive empathy signals across pain and video tasks, while left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation produced narrower and less consistent effects.1 The useful finding is anatomical calibration: rTPJ looked more like an other-state representation target, …