@article {Igelstr{\"o}mENEURO.0060-16.2016, author = {Kajsa M Igelstr{\"o}m and Taylor W Webb and Yin T Kelly and Michael SA Graziano}, title = {Topographical organization of attentional, social and memory processes in the human temporoparietal cortex}, elocation-id = {ENEURO.0060-16.2016}, year = {2016}, doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0060-16.2016}, publisher = {Society for Neuroscience}, abstract = {The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is activated in association with a large range of functions, including social cognition, episodic memory retrieval and attentional reorienting. An ongoing debate is whether the TPJ performs an overarching, domain-general computation, or if functions reside in domain-specific subdivisions. We scanned subjects with fMRI during five tasks known to activate the TPJ, probing social, attentional and memory functions, and used data-driven parcellation (independent component analysis) to isolate task-related functional processes in the bilateral TPJ. We found that one dorsal component in the right TPJ, which was connected with the frontoparietal control network, was activated in all the tasks. Other TPJ sub-regions were specific for attentional reorienting, oddball target detection or social attribution of belief. The TPJ components that participated in attentional reorienting and oddball target detection appeared spatially separated, but were both connected with the ventral attention network. The TPJ component that participated in the theory-of-mind task was part of the default mode network. Further, we found that the BOLD response in the domain-general dorsal component had a longer latency than responses in the domain-specific components, suggesting an involvement in distinct, perhaps post-perceptual, computations. These findings suggest that the TPJ performs both domain-general and domain-specific computations that reside within spatially distinct functional components.Significance Statement: The temporoparietal cortex (TPJ) is a major communication hub in the human brain. The exact pattern of overlap and separation of function in the TPJ has been difficult to study due to the complexity of its responses during many different kinds of tasks. We studied the activity in the TPJ during five behavioral tasks associated with attention, memory retrieval and social cognition. We found that one zone in the TPJ was active in all five tasks, whereas other zones were active in a more task-specific manner. Our findings suggest that the TPJ is a site where multiple brain networks converge and interact, but that it also contains more functionally specific subregions.}, URL = {https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2016/04/15/ENEURO.0060-16.2016}, eprint = {https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2016/04/15/ENEURO.0060-16.2016.full.pdf}, journal = {eNeuro} }