TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural correlates of self-reflection
AU - Johnson, Sterling C.
AU - Baxter, Leslie C.
AU - Wilder, Lana S.
AU - Pipe, James G.
AU - Heiserman, Joseph E.
AU - Prigatano, George P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We wish to thank Sarah Hahn, PhD, and Patty Puppe, RT, for their efforts on this project. We also wish to thank Richard Lane, MD, PhD, for review and critical discussion of an earlier version of the manuscript. This study was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (AG18540), the National Institute of Mental Health (MH65723), the Arizona Alzheimer's Research Center, and the Barrow Neurological Foundation.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - The capacity to reflect on one's sense of self is an important component of self-awareness. In this paper, we investigate some of the neurocognitive processes underlying reflection on the self using functional MRI. Eleven healthy volunteers were scanned with echoplanar imaging using the blood oxygen level-dependent contrast method. The task consisted of aurally delivered statements requiring a yes-no decision. In the experimental condition, participants responded to a variety of statements requiring knowledge of and reflection on their own abilities, traits and attitudes (e.g. 'I forget important things', 'I'm a good friend', 'I have a quick temper'). In the control condition, participants responded to statements requiring a basic level of semantic knowledge (e.g. 'Ten seconds is more than a minute', 'You need water to live'). The latter condition was intended to control for auditory comprehension, attentional demands, decision-making, the motoric response, and any common retrieval processes. Individual analyses revealed consistent anterior medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate activation for all participants. The overall activity for the group, using a random-effects model, occurred in anterior medial prefrontal cortex (t = 13.0, corrected P = 0.05; x, y, z, 0, 54, 8, respectively) and the posterior cingulate (t = 14.7, P = 0.02; x, y, z, -2, -62, 32, respectively; 967 voxel extent). These data are consistent with lesion studies of impaired awareness, and suggest that the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex are part of a neural system subserving self-reflective thought.
AB - The capacity to reflect on one's sense of self is an important component of self-awareness. In this paper, we investigate some of the neurocognitive processes underlying reflection on the self using functional MRI. Eleven healthy volunteers were scanned with echoplanar imaging using the blood oxygen level-dependent contrast method. The task consisted of aurally delivered statements requiring a yes-no decision. In the experimental condition, participants responded to a variety of statements requiring knowledge of and reflection on their own abilities, traits and attitudes (e.g. 'I forget important things', 'I'm a good friend', 'I have a quick temper'). In the control condition, participants responded to statements requiring a basic level of semantic knowledge (e.g. 'Ten seconds is more than a minute', 'You need water to live'). The latter condition was intended to control for auditory comprehension, attentional demands, decision-making, the motoric response, and any common retrieval processes. Individual analyses revealed consistent anterior medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate activation for all participants. The overall activity for the group, using a random-effects model, occurred in anterior medial prefrontal cortex (t = 13.0, corrected P = 0.05; x, y, z, 0, 54, 8, respectively) and the posterior cingulate (t = 14.7, P = 0.02; x, y, z, -2, -62, 32, respectively; 967 voxel extent). These data are consistent with lesion studies of impaired awareness, and suggest that the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex are part of a neural system subserving self-reflective thought.
KW - Medial prefrontal cortex
KW - Posterior cingulate
KW - Self-awareness
KW - Self-reflection
KW - fMRI
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U2 - 10.1093/brain/awf181
DO - 10.1093/brain/awf181
M3 - Article
C2 - 12135971
AN - SCOPUS:0036348558
SN - 0006-8950
VL - 125
SP - 1808
EP - 1814
JO - Brain
JF - Brain
IS - 8
ER -