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Speech by Mr Claudio Borio, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department of the BIS, at the SUERF Annual Lecture Conference on "Populism, Economic Policies and Central Banking", SUERF/BAFFI CAREFIN Centre Conference, Milan, 8 November 2019.

A prominent theory claims that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is especially associated with embodied processes relevant to perspective-taking. In the present study, we use high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to provide evidence that the rTPJ is causally associated with the embodied processes underpinning perspective-taking. Eighty-eight young human adults were stratified to receive either rTPJ or dorsomedial PFC anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in a sham-controlled, double-blind, repeated-measures design. Perspective-tracking (line-of-sight) and perspective-taking (embodied rotation) were assessed using a visuo-spatial perspective-taking task that required understanding what another person could see or how they see it, respectively. Embodied processing was manipulated by positioning the participant in a manner congruent or incongruent with the orientation of an avatar on the screen. As perspective-taking, but not perspective-tracking, is influenced by bodily position, this allows the investigation of the specific causal role for the rTPJ in embodied processing. Crucially, anodal stimulation to the rTPJ increased the effect of bodily position during perspective-taking, whereas no such effects were identified during perspective-tracking, thereby providing evidence for a causal role for the rTPJ in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Stimulation to the dorsomedial PFC had no effect on perspective-tracking or taking. Therefore, the present study provides support for theories postulating that the rTPJ is causally involved in embodied cognitive processing relevant to social functioning.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to understand another's perspective is a fundamental component of social functioning. Adopting another perspective is thought to involve both embodied and nonembodied processes. The present study used high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and provided causal evidence that the right temporoparietal junction is involved specifically in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Specifically, HD-tDCS to the right temporoparietal junction, but not another hub of the social brain (dorsomedial PFC), increased the effect of body position during perspective-taking, but not tracking. This is the first causal evidence that HD-tDCS can modulate social embodied processing in a site-specific and task-specific manner.

The superior colliculus (SC) is arguably the most important visual structure in the mouse brain and is well known for its involvement in innate responses to visual threats and prey items. In other species, the SC plays a central role in voluntary as well as innate visual functions, including crucial contributions to selective attention and perceptual decision-making. In the mouse, the possible role of the SC in voluntary visual choice behaviors has not been established. Here, we demonstrate that the mouse SC of both sexes plays a causal role in visual perceptual decision-making by transiently inhibiting SC activity during an orientation change detection task. First, unilateral SC inhibition-induced spatially specific deficits in detection. Hit rates were reduced, and reaction times increased for orientation changes in the contralateral but not ipsilateral visual field. Second, the deficits caused by SC inhibition were specific to a temporal epoch coincident with early visual burst responses in the SC. Inhibiting SC during this 100-ms period caused a contralateral detection deficit, whereas inhibition immediately before or after did not. Third, SC inhibition reduced visual detection sensitivity. Psychometric analysis revealed that inhibiting SC visual activity significantly increased detection thresholds for contralateral orientation changes. In addition, effects on detection thresholds and lapse rates caused by SC inhibition were larger in the presence of a competing visual stimulus, indicating a role for the mouse SC in visual target selection. Together, our results demonstrate that the mouse SC is necessary for the normal performance of voluntary visual choice behaviors.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The mouse superior colliculus (SC) has become a popular model for studying the circuit organization and development of the visual system. Although the SC is a fundamental component of the visual pathways in mice, its role in visual perceptual decision-making is not clear. By investigating how temporally precise SC inhibition influenced behavioral performance during a visually guided orientation change detection task, we identified a 100-ms temporal epoch of SC visual activity that is crucial for the ability of mice to detect behaviorally relevant visual changes. In addition, we found that SC inhibition also caused deficits in visual target selection. Thus, our findings highlight the importance of the SC for visual perceptual choice behavior in the mouse.

Today’s fisheries sector hosts a multibillion dollar industry that is a vital source of food and nutrition, employment, trade, economic wellbeing and recreation. What is blue growth? The concept of a "blue economy" came out of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference and emphasizes conservation and sustainable management, based on the premise that healthy ocean ecosystems are more productive and a must for sustainable [...]

What word comes to mind when you think of “cities”? Busy? And when you think of “forests”? Peaceful? What if cities could be something different? To date, cities have largely been problematic for the environment. They occupy just two percent of the world’s land. However, they account for over 60 percent of global energy consumption, 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions [...]

Times like this have led us to rethink our daily lives, from our basic everyday habits to the way we usually get information. FAO is working to guarantee continued [...]

The Getty Museum hopes its social media challenge will spark inspiration amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Called "Social Distancing, Haiku and You," Alan Nakagawa's project will result in a sound collage that interweaves a multitude of voices

With many zoos and aquariums closed to the public, keepers let animals roam empty hallways to meet their neighbors

Its paddle-like tail, unearthed in Morocco, suggests the Cretaceous carnivore ventured into the water to hunt

Items recovered include fossils, paintings, ancient coins, ceramics and jewelry

Man working on a new building

The icy breath of the north covered everything around with ice cover. But the Restless Barents Sea does not want to give up.

This photo shows the beautiful landscape of Capital Reef National Park with its amazing old orchards in foreground. Capital Reef has many old orchards of peaches, apples and apricots. The park lets you eat all you want if you eat it in the orchard.

The third installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis

Follow the Frenchman who remade the woods surrounding a royal estate into the world’s first nature preserve

In the late 1300s, tea was introduced to Japan from mainland China, transported in delicate jars. Over the years, as drinking tea became a prized activity in Japan, so too did the jars in which it was stored

The dominant bear in the swamp is fending off another challenge to his authority by an intruder. It's a clash of titans with mating rights on the line.

An OM worker from Latin America uses his carpentry skills to disciple young men in their faith and give them better employment opportunities for the future.

Many people travel to TeenStreet from afar, but very few choose to take as massive of a detour as the Harju family who drove through eleven countries before arriving in Germany.

Her face is full of joy, and her excitement for her job is clear. But how well do you know TeenStreet translator Agnes' story?

Mar del Plata, Argentina :: Crewmembers visit a Christian rehabilitation centre and remind women of their value in God's eyes.

Below is an interview with Elizabeth Lindqwister, the summer 2019 Liljenquist Family Fellow, and Prints & Photographs Division staff members, Karen Chittenden and Micah Messenheimer, about creating a Story Map focusing on the Civil War experience of Susie King Taylor. Many courageous people are pulling double and triple duty in this time of quarantine for […]

Here’s some culinary inspiration as you wait out a global pandemic

The Los Angeles Dodgers are being sued for negligence by a man who was attacked in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium and left with brain damage, his lawyers announced Friday.

Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson spoke to CBC's John Northcott about the realities of running a funeral home during the pandemic.

History’s census enumerators came back with the numbers and some very tall tales

Eight COVID-19 cases are now connected to that workplace, including six employees.

With Mother's Day only a few days away, businesses are coming up with creative ways to help your family celebrate. Everything from brunch in a box to colourful bouquets and home delivered chocolate.

Sign makers in P.E.I. have been busy since the province announced its plans to ease back COVID-19 restrictions, as businesses are ordering signs and decals ahead of reopening.

Women on P.E.I. are having a harder time holding onto their jobs than men in the COVID-19 pandemic, which runs contrary to the national trend.

Global cross-border bank claims continued to expand rapidly, growing at 9% year on year. As in previous quarters, the expansion was mainly due to claims on the non-bank sector, which grew at 12% year on year. The growth in claims on non-bank financial institutions was particularly strong (+17%). European banks' cross-border lending, which went through a prolonged contraction after the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09, has been expanding again since the start of 2018.

The annual growth rate of global cross-border bank claims fell to 6%, down from 9% at end-September 2019. The short-term share of foreign banks' claims, a key indicator of external vulnerability, is elevated for a number of borrowing emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Borrowers in EMDEs had untapped credit lines of $610 billion, or roughly 10% of the stock of global foreign claims on EMDEs at end-2019. Saudi Arabia joined the reporting population for the locational banking statistics (LBS) with data starting from Q4 2017, bringing the number of countries reporting these data to 48.

The locational banking statistics provide quarterly data on the outstanding claims and liabilities of internationally active banks located in reporting countries against counterparties residing in more than 200 countries. They capture the currency composition of banks' balance sheets and the geographical breakdown of their counterparties.

The consolidated banking statistics provide quarterly data on the worldwide consolidated positions of banks headquartered in reporting countries. They are designed to analyse the exposure of internationally active banks of different nationalities to individual countries and sectors.

As the nation unifies, divisiveness falls flat.

Publication by Mr Dimitar Radev, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, in the Quarterly Bulletin of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, issue 61, March 2020.

Hearing of Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, before the Section for the Economy and Finance of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Paris, 8 April 2020.

Robbyn Plumb tried to balance a career in the public service with looking after two kids, one with special needs. When the pandemic hit she finally hit a wall and decided to stop working. She writes about how hard it is for parents trying to do it all during COVID-19.

Mayor Bryan Paterson is urging the province to take second look at a request to give regions like his more autonomy in how they handle the presence — or absence — of COVID-19 in their communities.