Map 49 – Excentration

Anatomically and biochemically

Excentration – a term coined by Johannes Faupel – denotes the deliberate shift out of one's own perspective and into another. Neurobiologically, this is a shift in the leading network: from the self-referential mode of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC; central hub of the Default Mode Network, core of the self-reference network) to the perspective-taking mode of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ; also: Theory-of-Mind area, Perspective-Taking region).

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) initiates the excentration intention: I deliberately leave my standpoint. This is an executive impulse – excentration does not happen automatically. The TPJ calculates the other-perspective: what does the other person see, know and feel in this situation? The anterior insula registers whether the perspective shift has truly arrived: bodily self-experience changes when a foreign perspective is genuinely adopted. Someone who models the shift only intellectually, without insula involvement, has not yet fully completed the excentration.

What distinguishes excentration from ordinary empathy? Empathy is often an emotional resonance – feeling with someone. Excentration is a cognitive shift of the standpoint from which a situation is assessed. Both activate the TPJ, but the depth of insula involvement and the executive steering by the dlPFC differ. What makes the return from excentration so important? Because without a deliberate return – the step back to one's own standpoint – excentration can drift into over-identification. The vmPFC regulates the return and the integration of the new perspective into one's own model.

Examples from everyday life

• A conflict situation: Instead of reacting from one's own hurt, one enters the other person's perspective: what has this person seen, and what do they not know? The TPJ provides the computational model.
• A leadership conversation: A manager who genuinely takes the employee's perspective – rather than merely simulating it – changes their body language and tone. The insula is involved.
• Supervision context: Excentration is a core tool in systemic supervision: shifting between observer perspective, client perspective and one's own perspective.
• Self-excentration: One can also step out of one's own current emotion and observe oneself as an outsider. This reduces amygdala-driven reactivity.
• Literature and film: Deep immersion in a character activates TPJ and insula – the brain performs a form of excentration.

What this card does not say

This card describes a normal mechanism in the healthy human brain. Excentration as a deliberate perspective shift is a learnable tool, not a talent. This card is not a diagnostic tool and not a treatment guide.