# A transcranial magnetic stimulation study on the role of the right angular gyrus in orienting and reorienting of attention toward threat

## TL;DR

This study investigates how the right angular gyrus helps shift attention to threatening stimuli using transcranial magnetic stimulation.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the neural mechanisms of attention reorientation toward threat.

## Key findings

- TMS to the right AG did not specifically affect reorienting to threatening or safe targets.
- Performance decrement was observed for targets contralateral to TMS stimulation.
- Biologically significant stimuli detection may rely more on the ventral frontoparietal network.

## Abstract

Reorientation of attention to threatening stimuli is a fundamental part of human cognition. Such interaction between cognitive and affective processes is often associated with faster response times. In the present study, the role of the right angular gyrus (AG) in reorienting to threat is examined. An exogenous spatial cueing paradigm was adopted with threatening and nonthreatening targets. Threat was induced by means of differential fear conditioning of the target. Single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the right AG at different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) after target onset (range 30–300 ms). Transcranial magnetic stimulation was predicted to interfere at an earlier SOA with reorienting (during invalidly cued trials) to threatening targets. Even though an overall decrement in performance to targets contralateral to TMS stimulation was found, TMS to right AG did not specifically affect reorienting, neither to safe nor to threatening targets. We suggest that detection of biologically significant stimuli outside the focus of attention may depend more on the ventral frontoparietal rather than dorsal frontoparietal network of attention.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.3758/s13415-025-01275-3.