Self-referential processing in our brain--a meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self

'I am afraid you will see the stain on my soul': Direct gaze neural processing in individuals with PTSD after moral injury recall

Direct eye contact is essential to understanding others' thoughts and feelings in social interactions. However, those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and exposure to moral injury (MI) may exhibit altered theory-of-mind (ToM)/mentalizing processes and experience shame which precludes one's capacity for direct eye contact. We investigated blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses associated with direct vs averted gaze using a virtual reality paradigm in individuals with PTSD (n = 28) relative to healthy controls (n = 18) following recall of a MI vs a neutral memory. Associations between BOLD responses and clinical symptomatology were also assessed. After MI recall, individuals with PTSD showed greater activation in the right temporoparietal junction as compared to controls (T = 4.83; pFDR < 0.001; k = 237) during direct gaze. No significant activation occurred during direct gaze after neutral memory recall. Further, a significant positive correlation was found between feelings of distress and right medial superior frontal gyrus activation in individuals with PTSD (T = 5.03; pFDR = 0.049; k = 123). These findings suggest that direct gaze after MI recall prompts compensatory ToM/mentalizing processing. Implications for future interventions aimed at mitigating the effects of PTSD on social functioning are discussed.

Attachment Reminders Trigger Widespread Synchrony across Multiple Brains

Infant stimuli elicit widespread neural and behavioral response in human adults, and such massive allocation of resources attests to the evolutionary significance of the primary attachment. Here, we examined whether attachment reminders also trigger cross-brain concordance and generate greater neural uniformity, as indicated by intersubject correlation. Human mothers were imaged twice in oxytocin/placebo administration design, and stimuli included four ecological videos of a standard unfamiliar mother and infant: two infant/mother alone (Alone) and two mother-infant dyadic contexts (Social). Theory-driven analysis measured cross-brain synchrony in preregistered nodes of the parental caregiving network (PCN), which integrates subcortical structures underpinning mammalian mothering with cortical areas implicated in simulation, mentalization, and emotion regulation, and data-driven analysis assessed brain-wide concordance using whole-brain parcellation. Results demonstrated widespread cross-brain synchrony in both the PCN and across the neuroaxis, from primary sensory/somatosensory areas, through insular-cingulate regions, to temporal and prefrontal cortices. The Social context yielded significantly more cross-brain concordance, with PCNs striatum, parahippocampal gyrus, superior temporal sulcus, ACC, and PFC displaying cross-brain synchrony only to mother-infant social cues. Moment-by-moment fluctuations in mother-infant social synchrony, ranging from episodes of low synchrony to tightly coordinated positive bouts, were tracked online by cross-brain concordance in the preregistered ACC. Findings indicate that social attachment stimuli, representing evolutionary-salient universal cues that require no verbal narrative, trigger substantial interbrain concordance and suggest that the mother-infant bond, an icon standing at the heart of human civilization, may function to glue brains into a unified experience and bind humans into social groups.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Infant stimuli elicit widespread neural response in human adults, attesting to their evolutionary significance, but do they also trigger cross-brain concordance and induce neural uniformity among perceivers? We measured cross-brain synchrony to ecological mother-infant videos. We used theory-driven analysis, measuring cross-brain concordance in the parenting network, and data-driven analysis, assessing brain-wide concordance using whole-brain parcellation. Attachment cues triggered widespread cross-brain concordance in both the parenting network and across the neuroaxis. Moment-by-moment fluctuations in behavioral synchrony were tracked online by cross-brain variability in ACC. Attachment reminders bind humans' brains into a unitary experience and stimuli characterized by social synchrony enhance neural similarity among participants, describing one mechanism by which attachment bonds provide the neural template for the consolidation of social groups.

Self-compassion and neural activity during self-appraisals in depressed and healthy adolescents

BACKGROUND

Depression is one of the most concerning mental disorders in youth. Because atypical excessive neural activity during self-referential processing is often implicated in depression, identifying psychological factors that link to lower depression and less excessive neural activity during self-referential processing is critical for treatment development. This study examined the relationship between self-compassion - a protective factor of youth depression - and neural activity during self-appraisals, a well-established experimental paradigm for studying self-referential processing, and their associations with depression severity in depressed and healthy youth.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 115 youth (79 met the clinical diagnosis of depression; 36 were matched healthy controls) aged from 11 to 17 years (68 females). Self-compassion and depression severity were measured with self-reported scales. In the scanner, participants were asked to judge whether the phrases they heard described them from four perspectives (self, mother, classmate, and best friend).

RESULTS

Higher self-compassion was associated with lower PCC/precuneus activity especially during negatively-valenced self-appraisals and explained its association with reduced depression severity. In depressed youth, higher self-compassion was associated with lower superior temporal gyrus/operculum/postcentral gyrus/insula activity especially during positively-valenced self-appraisals. In healthy youth, higher self-compassion was associated with higher activity in these regions.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-compassion was associated with less excessive experiential immersion and/or autobiographical memory retrieval during negative self-appraisals. Neural stimulation interventions targeting PCC/precuneus activity during negative self-appraisals combined with behavioral interventions targeting self-compassion could be a promising approach to youth depression treatment.

Neural Representation of Collective Self-esteem in Resting-state Functional Connectivity and its Validation in Task-dependent Modality

INTRODUCTION

Collective self-esteem (CSE) is an important personality variable, defined as self-worth derived from membership in social groups. A study explored the neural basis of CSE using a task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm; however, task-independent neural basis of CSE remains to be explored, and whether the CSE neural basis of resting-state fMRI is consistent with that of task-based fMRI is unclear.

METHODS

We built support vector regression (SVR) models to predict CSE scores using topological metrics measured in the resting-state functional connectivity network (RSFC) as features. Then, to test the reliability of the SVR analysis, the activation pattern of the identified brain regions from SVR analysis was used as features to distinguish collective self-worth from other conditions by multivariate pattern classification in task-based fMRI dataset.

RESULTS

SVR analysis results showed that leverage centrality successfully decoded the individual differences in CSE. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, orbitofrontal cortex, posterior insula, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, temporoparietal junction, and inferior frontal gyrus, which are involved in self-referential processing, affective processing, and social cognition networks, participated in this prediction. Multivariate pattern classification analysis found that the activation pattern of the identified regions from the SVR analysis successfully distinguished collective self-worth from relational self-worth, personal self-worth and semantic control.

CONCLUSION

Our findings revealed CSE neural basis in the whole-brain RSFC network, and established the concordance between leverage centrality and the activation pattern (evoked during collective self-worth task) of the identified regions in terms of representing CSE.

The (In)flexible self: Psychopathology, mindfulness, and neuroscience

Clinical and neuroscientific evidence indicates that transdiagnostic processes contribute to the generation and maintenance of psychopathological symptoms and disorders. Rigidity (inflexibility) appears a core feature of most transdiagnostic pathological processes. Decreasing rigidity may prove important to restore and maintain mental health. One of the primary domains in which rigidity and flexibility plays a role concerns the self. We adopt the pattern theory of self (PTS) for a working definition of self. This incorporates the pluralist view on self as constituted by multiple aspects or processes, understood to constitute a self-pattern, i.e. processes organized in non-linear dynamical relations across a number of time scales. The use of mindfulness meditation in the format of Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) has been developed over four decades in Clinical Psychology. MBIs are promising as evidence-based treatments, shown to be equivalent to gold-standard treatments and superior to specific active controls in several randomized controlled trials. Notably, MBIs have been shown to target transdiagnostic symptoms. Given the hypothesized central role of rigid, habitual self-patterns in psychopathology, PTS offers a useful frame to understand how mindfulness may be beneficial in decreasing inflexibility. We discuss the evidence that mindfulness can alter the psychological and behavioral expression of individual aspects of the self-pattern, as well as favour change in the self-pattern as a whole gestalt. We discuss neuroscientific research on how the phenomenology of the self (pattern) is reflected in associated cortical networks and meditation-related alterations in cortical networks. Creating a synergy between these two aspects can increase understanding of psychopathological processes and improve diagnostic and therapeutic options.

Prefrontal hypoactivation induced via social stress is more strongly associated with state rumination than depressive symptomatology

Previous studies have consistently shown a pattern of prefrontal hypoactivation in depressed patients (DP); however, it remains unclear whether this neural correlate is a consequence or concomitant feature of depression and/or whether ruminative thinking might be underlying. Using a sample comprising 65 healthy controls (HC) and 77 DP, we investigated the behavioral and neural correlates in response to stress and their association with depressive symptomatology, trait and state rumination. Fitting repeated-measurement MANOVAs including 21 fNIRS-channels covering the bilateral Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG), Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and Somatosensory Association Cortex (SAC), we investigated the predictive value of diagnostic group (HC vs. DP) and state rumination. In DP, we observed significantly lower increases in cortical oxygenation under stress in channels of the right IFG and bilateral DLPFC. Participants reporting lower state rumination and no increases in state rumination under stress showed higher increases in cortical oxygenation compared to the other groups and in more channels compared to the analysis on diagnostic group. Re-running our fNIRS-analysis while correcting for performance resulted in time-dependent changes dependent on group (DP vs. HC) no longer yielding significance, however for the differentiation of state rumination groups.

Who am I really? The ephemerality of the self-schema following vmPFC damage

We studied the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in supporting the self-schema, by asking vmPFC patients, along with healthy and brain-damaged controls, to judge the degree to which they (or another person) were likely to engage in a series of activities, and how confident they were in their responses. Critically, participants provided their judgments on two separate occasions, a week apart. Our underlying assumption was that a strong self-schema would lead to confident and stable self-related judgments. We observed that control groups exhibited higher across-session consistency for self-related compared to other-related judgments, while this self-advantage was absent in vmPFC patients. In addition, regression analyses showed that in control groups the level of confidence associated with a specific (self- or other-related) judgment predicted the stability of that judgment across sessions. In contrast, vmPFC patients' confidence and rating consistency were aligned only for other-related judgments. By contrast, self-related judgments changed across sessions regardless of the confidence level with which they were initially endorsed. These findings indicate that the vmPFC is crucial to maintaining the self-schema and supporting the reliable retrieval of self-related information.

Understanding and predicting future relapse in depression from resting state functional connectivity and self-referential processing

BACKGROUND

The recurrent nature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) asks for a better understanding of mechanisms underlying relapse. Previously, self-referential processing abnormalities have been linked to vulnerability for relapse. We investigated whether abnormalities in self-referential cognitions and functioning of associated brain-networks persist upon remission and predict relapse.

METHODS

Remitted recurrent MDD patients (n = 48) and never-depressed controls (n = 23) underwent resting-state fMRI scanning at baseline and were additionally assessed for their implicit depressed self-associations and ruminative behaviour. A template-based dual regression approach was used to investigate between-group differences in default mode, cingulo-opercular and frontoparietal network resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC). Additional prediction of relapse status at 18-month follow-up was investigated within patients using both regression analyses and machine learning classifiers.

RESULTS

Remitted patients showed higher rumination, but no implicit depressed self-associations or RSFC abnormalities were observed between patients and controls. Nevertheless, relapse was related to i) baseline RSFC between the ventral default mode network and the precuneus, dorsomedial frontal gyrus, and inferior occipital lobe, ii) implicit self-associations, and iii) uncontrollability of ruminative thinking, when controlled for depressive symptomatology. Moreover, preliminary machine learning classifiers demonstrated that RSFC within the investigated networks predicted relapse on an individual basis.

CONCLUSIONS

Remitted MDD patients seem to be commonly characterized by abnormal rumination, but not by implicit self-associations or abnormalities in relevant brain networks. Nevertheless, relapse was predicted by self-related cognitions and default mode RSFC during remission, suggesting that variations in self-relevant processing play a role in the complex dynamics associated with the vulnerability to developing recurrent depressive episodes.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

Netherlands Trial Register, August 18, 2015, trial number NL53205.042.15.

Resting state default mode network is associated with wise advising

Default mode network (DMN) may be associated with wisdom (i.e., mature understanding of life featured by perspectival metacognition) when advising from a self-referential perspective due to the involvement of the DMN in reflecting on personal life experiences. After a resting-state functional MRI scan, 52 adults advised some youths going through life dilemmas, half from a second-person perspective and half from a third. After advising each youth, participants indicated the psychological distance they felt between themselves and the youth. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured in the DMN during resting states. Moreover, trained raters rated the participants' advice on wisdom criteria (i.e., metacognitive humility (MH), meta-level flexibility, and perspective-taking). The results showed that participants felt a significantly smaller psychological distance from the youth when advising from the second- than the third-person perspective. Moreover, only when advising from the second-person perspective was MH associated with ALFF in regions within the DMN (i.e., right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex). The right rostral ACC showed a significantly greater association with MH from the second- than the third-person perspective. Therefore, resting-state DMN activities may be important for self-involved wisdom performance (e.g., giving advice directly to others).

Posterior theta activity reveals an early signal of self-face recognition

Self-related visual information, especially one's own face and name, are processed in a specific, prioritized way. However, the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of self-prioritization have remained elusive. Moreover, it has been unclear whether this prioritization is an effect of enhancement and amplification, or rather a facilitating automatization of processing self-referential information. In this EEG study, 25 married women (who changed their surnames after marriage, so that their past and present surnames could be used as stimuli) performed a detection task with faces and names from five categories: self, self from the past, friend, famous, and unknown person. The aim was to determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of early electrophysiological markers of self-referential processing. We report results of event-related component (ERP) and time-frequency analyses. In the ERPs, the earliest self-relevance effect was displayed only 300 ms after stimulus onset in the midfrontal N2, and later in the parietal P3b, independently of the stimulus type. No self-relevance effect was found on the N170 component. However, local theta power at the occipito-temporal (visual) areas and inter-regional theta phase coherence between the visual and midfrontal areas showed that self-relevance differentiation of faces began already about 100-300 ms after stimulus onset. No such early effects were found for names. The results are discussed in terms of the time-course, functional localization, stimulus-specificity, and automatization of self-prioritization.

A shared novelty-seeking basis for creativity and curiosity

Curiosity and creativity are central pillars of human growth and invention. Although they have been studied extensively in isolation, the relationship between them has not yet been established. We propose that both curiosity and creativity emanate from the same mechanism of novelty seeking. We first present a synthesis showing that curiosity and creativity are affected similarly by a number of key cognitive faculties such as memory, cognitive control, attention, and reward. We then review empirical evidence from neuroscience research, indicating that the same brain regions are involved in both curiosity and creativity, focusing on the interplay between three major brain networks: the default mode network, the salience network, and the executive control network. After substantiating the link between curiosity and creativity, we propose a novelty-seeking model (NSM) that underlies them and suggests that the manifestation of the NSM is governed by one's state of mind.

Neural synchronization as a function of engagement with the narrative

We can all agree that a good story engages us, however, agreeing which story is good is far more debatable. In this study, we explored whether engagement with a narrative synchronizes listeners' brain responses, by examining individual differences in engagement to the same story. To do so, we pre-registered and re-analyzed a previously collected dataset by Chang et al. (2021) of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans of 25 participants who listened to a one-hour story and answered questionnaires. We assessed the degree of their overall engagement with the story and their engagement with the main characters. The questionnaires revealed individual differences in engagement with the story, as well as different valence towards specific characters. Neuroimaging data showed that the auditory cortex, the default mode network (DMN) and language regions were involved in processing the story. Increased engagement with the story was correlated with increased neural synchronization within regions in the DMN (especially the medial prefrontal cortex), as well as regions outside the DMN such as the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and the reward system. Interestingly, positively and negatively engaging characters elicited different patterns of neural synchronization. Finally, engagement increased functional connectivity within and between the DMN, the ventral attention network and the control network. Taken together, these findings suggest that engagement with a narrative synchronizes listeners' responses in regions involved in mentalizing, reward, working memory and attention. By examining individual differences in engagement, we revealed that these synchronization patterns are due to engagement, and not due to differences in the narrative's content.

The development of depressogenic self-schemas: Associations with children's regional grey matter volume in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

Cognitive theories of depression contend that biased cognitive information processing plays a causal role in the development of depression. Extensive research shows that deeper processing of negative and/or shallower processing of positive self-descriptors (i.e., negative and positive self-schemas) predicts current and future depression in adults and children. However, the neural correlates of the development of self-referent encoding are poorly understood. We examined children's self-referential processing using the self-referent encoding task (SRET) collected from 74 children at ages 6, 9, and 12; around age 10, these children also contributed structural magnetic resonance imaging data. From age 6 to age 12, both positive and negative self-referential processing showed mean-level growth, with positive self-schemas increasing relatively faster than negative ones. Further, voxel-based morphometry showed that slower growth in positive self-schemas was associated with lower regional gray matter volume (GMV) in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). Our results suggest that smaller regional GMV within vlPFC, a critical region for regulatory control in affective processing and emotion development, may have implications for the development of depressogenic self-referential processing in mid-to-late childhood.

Decoding individual differences in self-prioritization from the resting-state functional connectome

Although the self has traditionally been viewed as a higher-order mental function by most theoretical frameworks, recent research advocates a fundamental self hypothesis, viewing the self as a baseline function of the brain embedded within its spontaneous activities, which dynamically regulates cognitive processing and subsequently guides behavior. Understanding this fundamental self hypothesis can reveal where self-biased behaviors emerge and to what extent brain signals at rest can predict such biased behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the association between spontaneous neural connectivity and robust self-bias in a perceptual matching task using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 348 young participants. By decoding whole-brain connectivity patterns, the support vector regression model produced the best predictions of the magnitude of self-bias in behavior, which was evaluated via a nested cross-validation procedure. The out-of-sample generalizability was further authenticated using an external dataset of older adults. The functional connectivity results demonstrated that self-biased behavior was associated with distinct connections between the default mode, cognitive control, and salience networks. Consensus network and computational lesion analyses further revealed contributing regions distributed across six networks, extending to additional nodes, such as the thalamus, whose role in self-related processing remained unclear. These results provide evidence that self-biased behavior derives from spontaneous neural connectivity, supporting the fundamental self hypothesis. Thus, we propose an integrated neural network model of this fundamental self that synthesizes previous theoretical models and portrays the brain mechanisms by which the self emerges at rest internally and regulates responses to the external environment.

A neurocognitive model of early onset persistent and desistant antisocial behavior in early adulthood

It remains unclear which functional and neurobiological mechanisms are associated with persistent and desistant antisocial behavior in early adulthood. We reviewed the empirical literature and propose a neurocognitive social information processing model for early onset persistent and desistant antisocial behavior in early adulthood, focusing on how young adults evaluate, act upon, monitor, and learn about their goals and self traits. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose that persistent antisocial behavior is characterized by domain-general impairments in self-relevant and goal-related information processing, regulation, and learning, which is accompanied by altered activity in fronto-limbic brain areas. We propose that desistant antisocial development is associated with more effortful information processing, regulation and learning, that possibly balances self-relevant goals and specific situational characteristics. The proposed framework advances insights by considering individual differences such as psychopathic personality traits, and specific emotional characteristics (e.g., valence of social cues), to further illuminate functional and neural mechanisms underlying heterogenous developmental pathways. Finally, we address important open questions and offer suggestions for future research to improve scientific knowledge on general and context-specific expression and development of antisocial behavior in early adulthood.

Touching and being touched: where knowing and feeling meet

Philosophers maintain that touch confers a sense of reality or grounding to perceptual experience. In touching oneself, one is simultaneously both subject and object of touch, a template for experiencing oneself as subject and object of intentions, feelings, and motivations, or intersubjectivity. Here, I explore a form of self-touch carefully documented by Winnicott in observing how the infant engages the transitional object. I compare the processes of self-loss in transitional states, including absorption in art, empathic immersion, drug-induced ego dissolution, and depersonalization. I use examples drawn from Rodin, Dante, and the Beatles; research correlating neurophysiological findings with aspects of self-representation; predictive processing-based models; Hohwy's concepts of minimal and narrative self; Clark's notion of the extended mind; and phenomenological perspectives on touch, to postulate a role for self-touch in the pre-reflective sense of mine-ness, or grounding, in transitional states.

Rumination as a Transdiagnostic Phenomenon in the 21st Century: The Flow Model of Rumination

Rumination and its related mental phenomena share associated impairments in cognition, such as executive functions and attentional processes across different clinical conditions (e.g., in psychotic disorders). In recent decades, however, the notion of rumination has been increasingly narrowed to the "self-focused" type in depressive disorders. A closer review of the literature shows that rumination may be construed as a broader process characterized by repetitive thoughts about certain mental contents that interfere with one's daily activities, not only limited to those related to "self". A further examination of the construct of rumination beyond the narrowly focused depressive rumination would help expand intervention opportunities for mental disorders in today's context. We first review the development of the clinical construct of rumination with regard to its historical roots and its roles in psychopathology. This builds the foundation for the introduction of the "Flow Model of Rumination (FMR)", which conceptualizes rumination as a disruption of a smooth flow of mental contents in conscious experience that depends on the coordinated interactions between intention, memory, affect, and external events. The conceptual review concludes with a discussion of the impact of rapid technological advances (such as smartphones) on rumination. Particularly in contemporary societies today, a broader consideration of rumination not only from a cognition viewpoint, but also incorporating a human-device interaction perspective, is necessitated. The implications of the FMR in contemporary mental health practice are discussed.

Maintaining her image: A social comparative evaluation of the particularity of mothers in the Chinese cultural context

In Chinese culture, the mother holds a special meaning in one's self-concept, and is perceived as being stablyincorporated into and consistent with the self. However, it is unclear whether the evaluation of mothers by individuals is affected following the initiation of upward and downward social comparisons (USC and DSC). This experiment manipulated USC and DSC by evaluating positive and negative public figures and used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to record changes in brain activity during the evaluation. It was found that participants' evaluations of their mothers and their brain activity did not differ from the self during USC, verifying the equivalence of the mother and the self. In DSC, participants made significantly more positive social judgments about their mothers, accompanied by greater activation of the left temporal lobe. These results suggest that the mother was not only stably incorporated into the self but was in a position of even greater importance than the self. In DSC in particular, individuals are more likely to maintain a positive image of their mother.

Alterations of insular dynamic functional connectivity and psychological characteristics in unmedicated bipolar depression patients with a recent suicide attempt

BACKGROUND

Mounting evidence showed that insula contributed to the neurobiological mechanism of suicidal behaviors in bipolar disorder (BD). However, no studies have analyzed the dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) of insular Mubregions and its association with personality traits in BD with suicidal behaviors. Therefore, we investigated the alterations of dFC variability in insular subregions and personality characteristics in BD patients with a recent suicide attempt (SA).

METHODS

Thirty unmedicated BD patients with SA, 38 patients without SA (NSA) and 35 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) were included. The sliding-window analysis was used to evaluate whole-brain dFC for each insular subregion seed. We assessed between-group differences of psychological characteristics on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Finally, a multivariate regression model was adopted to predict the severity of suicidality.

RESULTS

Compared to NSA and HCs, the SA group exhibited decreased dFC variability values between the left dorsal anterior insula and the left anterior cerebellum. These dFC variability values could also be utilized to predict the severity of suicidality (r = 0.456, p = 0.031), while static functional connectivity values were not appropriate for this prediction. Besides, the SA group scored significantly higher on the schizophrenia clinical scales (p < 0.001) compared with the NSA group.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated that the dysfunction of insula-cerebellum connectivity may underlie the neural basis of SA in BD patients, and highlighted the dFC variability values could be considered a neuromarker for predictive models of the severity of suicidality. Moreover, the psychiatric features may increase the vulnerability of suicidal behavior.

Neural representation of perceived race mediates the opposite relationship between subcomponents of self-construals and racial outgroup punishment

Outgroup aggression characterizes intergroup conflicts in human societies. Previous research on relationships between cultural traits and outgroup aggression behavior showed inconsistent results, leaving open questions regarding whether cultural traits predict individual differences in outgroup aggression and related neural underpinnings. We conducted 2 studies to address this issue by collecting self-construal scores, EEG signals in response to Asian and White faces with painful or neutral expressions, and decisions to apply electric shocks to other-race individuals in a context of interracial conflict. We found that interdependent self-construals were well explained by 2 subcomponents, including esteem for group (EG) and relational interdependence (RI), which are related to focus on group collectives and harmonious relationships, respectively. Moreover, EG was positively associated with the decisions to punish racial outgroup targets, whereas RI was negatively related to the decisions. These opposite relationships were mediated by neural representations of perceived race at 120-160 ms after face onset. Our findings highlight the multifaceted nature of interdependent self-construal and the key role of neural representations of race in mediating the relationships of different subcomponents of cultural traits with racial outgroup punishment decisions in a context of interracial conflict.

Default egocentrism: an MVPA approach to overlap in own and others' socio-political attitudes

Understanding the socio-political attitudes of other people is a crucial skill, yet the neural mechanisms supporting this capacity remain understudied. This study used multivariate pattern analysis to examine patterns of activity in the default mode network (DMN) while participants assessed their own attitudes and the attitudes of other people. Classification analyses indicated that common patterns in DMN regions encode both own and others' support across a variety of contemporary socio-political issues. Moreover, cross-classification analyses demonstrated that a common coding of attitudes is implemented at a neural level. This shared informational content was associated with a greater perceived overlap between own attitude positions and those of others (i.e. attitudinal projection), such that higher cross-classification accuracy corresponded with greater attitudinal projection. This study thus identifies a possible neural basis for egocentric biases in the social perception of individual and group attitudes and provides additional evidence for self/other overlap in mentalizing.

Neural reactivity to neutral and aversive stimuli: Evidence for altered precuneus function in internalizing psychopathologies

Individuals with internalizing psychopathologies (IPs) demonstrate a negativity bias in emotion and self-related processing that contributes to negative interpretation of neutral information. However, most neuroimaging studies of emotional experience in IPs do not specifically investigate reactivity to neutral stimuli. Thus, little is known about the neural processes underlying emotional experience for neutral stimuli and how those processes may differ between groups and during neutral versus negative stimuli. To address this gap, we asked: (1) does neural reactivity to neutral and negative stimuli differ between IPs and control groups in brain regions associated with emotional and self-referential processing, and (2) does neural activity during neutral condition relate to clinical symptoms? Adults with IPs (n = 103) and healthy volunteers (HVs; n = 40) completed a well-validated fMRI task probing neural responses to neutral and negative images. A flexible factorial model revealed a significant group-by-condition interaction, such that individuals with IPs had less precuneus activation during the neutral condition relative to HVs. In IPs, precuneus activation during the neutral condition was negatively correlated with depression symptom severity. Individuals with IPs demonstrate abnormal precuneus reactivity to neutral stimuli that is associated with depression symptoms. This may reflect altered default mode network activity and/or self-referential processing in IPs.

A Systematic Review of Structural and Functional MRI Studies Investigating Social Networking Site Use

An understanding of the neurocognitive profile underlying the use of social networking sites (SNSs) can help inform decisions about the classification of problematic SNS use as an addictive disorder and elucidate how/when 'SNS addiction' might develop. The present review aimed to synthesize structural and functional MRI research investigating problematic/compulsive forms of SNS use or regular (non-addicted) SNS use behaviours. We conducted a systematic search for research articles published in English using the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases up to October 2022. Studies meeting our inclusion criteria were assessed for quality and a narrative synthesis of the results was conducted. Twenty-eight relevant articles were identified comprising structural MRI (n = 9), resting-state fMRI (n = 6) and task-based fMRI studies (n = 13). Current evidence suggests that problematic SNS use might be characterised by (1) reduced volume of the ventral striatum, amygdala, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and posterior insula; (2) increased ventral striatum and precuneus activity in response to SNS cues; (3) abnormal functional connectivity involving the dorsal attention network; (4) inter-hemispheric communication deficits. Regular SNS use behaviours appear to recruit regions involved in the mentalising network, the self-referential cognition network, the salience network, the reward network and the default mode network. Such findings are at least partially consistent with observations from the substance addiction literature and provide some provisional support for the addictive potential of SNSs. Nonetheless, the present review is limited by the small number of eligible studies and large heterogeneity in the methods employed, and so our conclusions should remain tentative. Moreover, there is a lack of longitudinal evidence suggesting SNSs cause neuroadaptations and thus conclusions that problematic SNS use represents a disease process akin to substance use addictions are premature. More well-powered longitudinal research is needed to establish the neural consequences of excessive and problematic SNS use.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Increases Posterior Theta Rhythm and Reduces Latency of Motor Imagery

Experiments show activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in motor imagery (MI) tasks, but its functional role requires further investigation. Here, we address this issue by applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the left DLPFC and evaluating its effect on brain activity and the latency of MI response. This is a randomized, sham-controlled EEG study. Participants were randomly assigned to receive sham (15 subjects) or real high-frequency rTMS (15 subjects). We performed EEG sensor-level, source-level, and connectivity analyses to evaluate the rTMS effects. We revealed that excitatory stimulation of the left DLPFC increases theta-band power in the right precuneus (PrecuneusR) via the functional connectivity between them. The precuneus theta-band power negatively correlates with the latency of the MI response, so the rTMS speeds up the responses in 50% of participants. We suppose that posterior theta-band power reflects attention modulation of sensory processing; therefore, high power may indicate attentive processing and cause faster responses.

Variation in self and familiar facial recognition in bipolar disorder patients at different clinical stages

Previous studies suggest a close relationship between self-disorders and schizophrenia or unipolar depression. However, few studies have explored the characteristics of self-processing in bipolar disorder (BD) during different clinical states. This study compared the differences in self-face recognition (SFR) among patients with bipolar mania (BPM), bipolar depression (BPD), bipolar remission (RM), and healthy controls (HC). Images of subject's own face, a familiar face, and an unfamiliar face were combined in pairs at a certain proportion to obtain three types of blended images. We then compared the tendency between BD and HC while judging two kinds of blended faces emerging from presentation software. The results showed that the BPM and BPD groups seemed to lack an advantage in self-recognition. Self-processing and familiarity processing were significantly enhanced in BPM patients, while only familiarity processing was enhanced in BPD. The severity of clinical symptoms was not significantly correlated with self-bias or familiarity bias in BD.

Effects of emotional arousal on the neural impact and behavioral efficacy of cigarette graphic warning labels

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Graphic warning labels (GWLs) on cigarette packs have been adopted by many jurisdictions world-wide. In the United States, the introduction of GWLs has been delayed by claims that their high level of negative emotional arousal unnecessarily infringed upon the tobacco manufacturers' free speech. This study aimed to provide experimental data on the contribution of emotional arousal to GWL efficacy.

DESIGN

Observational study using long-term naturalistic exposure and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

SETTING

Research university in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 168 adult smokers.

MEASUREMENTS

For 4 weeks, participants received cigarettes in packs that carried either high-arousal or low-arousal GWLs (n = 84 versus 84). Smoking behavior, quitting-related cognitions and GWL-induced brain response were measured before and after the 4-week exposure. The amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex served as regions of interest.

FINDINGS

Compared with the high-arousal group, the low-arousal group smoked fewer cigarettes [log10 -transformed, 1.076 versus 1.019; difference = 0.056, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.027, 0.085, χ2 (1)  = 14.21, P < 0.001] and showed stronger intention to quit (2.527 versus 2.810; difference = -0.283, 95% CI = -0.468, -0.098, χ2 (1)  = 8.921, P = 0.007) and endorsement of the GWLs' textual component (4.805 versus 5.503; difference = -0.698, 95% CI = -1.016, -0.380, χ2 (1)  = 18.47, P < 0.001). High-arousal GWLs induced greater amygdala response than low-arousal GWLs (0.157 versus 0.052; difference = 0.105, 95% CI = 0.049, 0.161, χ2 (1)  = 23.52, P < 0.001), although the response to high-arousal GWLs declined over time (slope = -0.087 versus 0.016; difference = -0.103, 95% CI = -0.198, -0.009, χ2 (1)  = 6.370, P = 0.046). Greater baseline amygdala response was associated with more smoking at 4 weeks in the high-arousal group, but less smoking in the low-arousal group (slope = 0.179 versus -0.122; difference = 0.287, 95% CI = 0.076, 0.498, χ2 (1)  = 7.086, P = 0.008). Medial prefrontal response did not differ significantly between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

High-arousal cigarette graphic warning labels (GWLs) appear to be less efficacious than low-arousal GWLs. The high emotional reaction that high-arousal GWLs elicit wanes over time. Baseline amygdala response negatively predicts efficacy of high-arousal GWLs and positively predicts efficacy of low-arousal GWLs. High emotional arousal may not be required for sustained GWL efficacy.

Alterations in EEG functional connectivity in individuals with depression: A systematic review

The brain works as an organised, network-like structure of functionally interconnected regions. Disruptions to interconnectivity in certain networks have been linked to symptoms of depression and impairments in cognition. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a low-burden tool by which differences in functional connectivity (FC) can be assessed. This systematic review aims to provide a synthesis of evidence relating to EEG FC in depression. A comprehensive electronic literature search for terms relating to depression, EEG, and FC was conducted on studies published before the end of November 2021, according to PRISMA guidelines. Studies comparing EEG measures of FC of individuals with depression to that of healthy control groups were included. Data was extracted by two independent reviewers, and the quality of EEG FC methods was assessed. Fifty-two studies assessing EEG FC in depression were identified: 36 assessed resting-state FC, and 16 assessed task-related or other (i.e., sleep) FC. Somewhat consistent findings in resting-state studies suggest for no differences between depression and control groups in EEG FC in the delta and gamma frequencies. However, while most resting-state studies noted a difference in alpha, theta, and beta, no clear conclusions could be drawn about the direction of the difference, due to considerable inconsistencies between study design and methodology. This was also true for task-related and other EEG FC. More robust research is needed to understand the true differences in EEG FC in depression. Given that the FC between brain regions drives behaviour, cognition, and emotion, characterising how FC differs in depression is essential for understanding the aetiology of depression.

Behavioral and ERP indices of self-schematic processing show differential associations with emerging symptoms of depression and social anxiety in late childhood: Evidence from a community-dwelling sample

Symptoms of depression and social anxiety elevate in late childhood. An identified cognitive risk to both depression and social anxiety is maladaptive self-schemas (or self-schematic processing). Beyond the behavioral indices of this construct, event-related potentials (ERPs) during self-schematic processing have also been observed to be associated with depression or depressive symptoms. However, no study has examined the ERPs underlying self-schematic processing in relation to social anxiety. More importantly, it was unclear to what extent behavioral and ERP indices of self-schematic processing were differentially associated with depression and social anxiety, especially in typical-risk youth with emerging symptoms. A hundred and fifteen community-dwelling children (66 girls; Mean age=10.91 years, SD=1.45) completed a self-referent encoding task (SRET) with EEG recorded. A Principal Component Analysis identified a late positive potential (LPP) component elicited in both the positive and negative SRET conditions. Multivariate multiple regression showed that in both conditions, behavioral SRET scores were associated with depressive symptoms while partialling out social anxiety symptoms, but not with social anxiety symptoms with depressive symptoms partialled out. The LPP amplitude elicited in both conditions showed marginally positive associations with social anxiety symptoms while partialling out depressive symptoms, but not with depressive symptoms while accounting for social anxiety. This study provides novel evidence concerning the ERP correlates of self-schematic processing in relation to social anxiety symptoms. More importantly, our findings for the first time speak to the differential associations between the behavioral SRET scores and SRET-elicited LPP and emerging symptoms of depression and social anxiety in late childhood.

The Role of Neural Self-Referential Processes Underlying Self-Concept in Adolescent Depression: A Comprehensive Review and Proposed Neurobehavioral Model

There is growing knowledge about how self-concept develops in adolescence and contributes to the onset of depression, but researchers have only recently begun investigating the neural mechanisms that underlie self-referential cognition in adolescents with and without depression. This paper reviews task-related functional neuroimaging (fMRI) research on self-referential neural processing in both healthy and depressed adolescents (M_age range = 12-18 years), with a focus on elucidating brain activation that may subserve adolescent self-perception and related associations with depression. Drawing on conclusions from the affective neuroscience literature and developmental theory, we propose a neurobehavioral model and future research recommendations to address how social factors might shape self-referential neural processes and self-concept in ways that confer risk for depression. We review the operationalization of self-concept, developmental theory (i.e., symbolic interactionism) on self-concept development, and the role of self-concept in adolescent depression. We then review empirical studies assessing neural activation during healthy and depressed adolescents' processing of self-relevant information, and the limited studies assessing links between social factors and neural self-referential processing.

Me, Myself and My Insula: An Oasis in the Forefront of Self-Consciousness

The insula is a multiconnected brain region that centralizes a wide range of information, from the most internal bodily states, such as interoception, to high-order processes, such as knowledge about oneself. Therefore, the insula would be a core region involved in the self networks. Over the past decades, the question of the self has been extensively explored, highlighting differences in the descriptions of the various components but also similarities in the global structure of the self. Indeed, most of the researchers consider that the self comprises a phenomenological part and a conceptual part, in the present moment or extending over time. However, the anatomical substrates of the self, and more specifically the link between the insula and the self, remain unclear. We conducted a narrative review to better understand the relationship between the insula and the self and how anatomical and functional damages to the insular cortex can impact the self in various conditions. Our work revealed that the insula is involved in the most primitive levels of the present self and could consequently impact the self extended in time, namely autobiographical memory. Across different pathologies, we propose that insular damage could engender a global collapse of the self.

Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique

Contemporary research on serotonergic psychedelic compounds has been rife with references to so-called 'mystical' subjective effects. Several psychometric assessments have been used to assess such effects, and clinical studies have found quantitative associations between 'mystical experiences' and positive mental health outcomes. The nascent study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, however, has only minimally intersected with relevant contemporary scholarship from disciplines within the social sciences and humanities, such as religious studies and anthropology. Viewed from the perspective of these disciplines-which feature rich historical and cultural literatures on mysticism, religion, and related topics-'mysticism' as used in psychedelic research is fraught with limitations and intrinsic biases that are seldom acknowledged. Most notably, existing operationalizations of mystical experiences in psychedelic science fail to historicize the concept and therefore fail to acknowledge its perennialist and specifically Christian bias. Here, we trace the historical genesis of the mystical in psychedelic research in order to illuminate such biases, and also offer suggestions toward more nuanced and culturally-sensitive operationalizations of this phenomenon. In addition, we argue for the value of, and outline, complementary 'non-mystical' approaches to understanding putative mystical-type phenomena that may help facilitate empirical investigation and create linkages to existing neuro-psychological constructs. It is our hope that the present paper helps build interdisciplinary bridges that motivate fruitful paths toward stronger theoretical and empirical approaches in the study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences.

Re-cognizing the new self: The neurocognitive plasticity of self-processing following facial transplantation

The face is a defining feature of our individuality, crucial for our social interactions. But what happens when the face connected to the self is radically altered or replaced? We address the plasticity of self-face recognition in the context of facial transplantation. While the acquisition of a new face following facial transplantation is a medical fact, the experience of a new identity is an unexplored psychological outcome. We traced the changes in self-face recognition before and after facial transplantation to understand if and how the transplanted face gradually comes to be perceived and recognized as the recipient's own new face. Neurobehavioral evidence documents a strong representation of the pre-injury appearance pre-operatively, while following the transplantation, the recipient incorporates the new face into his self-identity. The acquisition of this new facial identity is supported by neural activity in medial frontal regions that are considered to integrate psychological and perceptual aspects of the self.

Awareness impairment in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia: a systematic MRI review

This review aims to define awareness impairment and related disturbances in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum of disorders. An update of the available scientific literature on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the study of awareness in these disorders is also offered. MRI plays an important role in the characterization of neurodegenerative signatures and can increase our knowledge on brain structural and functional correlates of awareness. In the reviewing process, we established a-priori criteria and we searched the scientific literature for relevant articles on this topic. In summary, we selected 36 articles out of 1340 publications retrieved from PubMed. Based on this selection, this review discusses the multiple terms used to define different or overlapping aspects of awareness impairment, and specifically summarizes recent application of MRI for investigating anosognosia, social cognition, including theory of mind and emotional processing, free will, and autonoetic awareness alterations in different neurodegenerative disorders, with most of these studies focused on AD and FTLD. This systematic review highlights the importance of awareness impairment and related domains in neurodegenerative disorders, especially in AD and FTLD, and it outlines MRI structural and functional correlates in these populations.

Calling on clinicians to get social and emotional

OBJECTIVE

Disorders of social cognition, such as difficulties with emotion perception, alexithymia, Theory of Mind (ToM), empathy and disorders of emotion regulation, are prevalent and pervasive problems across many neurological, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric conditions. Clinicians are familiar with how these difficulties present but assessment and treatment has lagged behind other traditional cognitive domains, such as memory, language and executive functioning.

METHOD

In this paper, we review the prevalence and degree of impairment associated with disorders of social cognition and emotion regulation across a range of clinical conditions, with particular emphasis on their relationship to cognitive deficits and also real-world functioning. We reported effects sizes from published meta-analyses for a range of clinical disorders and also review test usage and available tests.

RESULTS

In general, many clinical conditions are associated with impairments in social cognition and emotion regulation. Effect sizes range from small to very large and are comparable to effect sizes for impairments in nonsocial cognition. Socio-emotional impairments are also associated with social and adaptive functioning. In reviewing prior research, it is apparent that the standardized assessment of social cognition, in particular, is not routine in clinical practice. This is despite the fact that there are a range of tools available and accruing evidence for the efficacy of interventions for social cognitive impairments.

CONCLUSION

We are using this information to urge and call for clinicians to factor social cognition into their clinical assessments and treatment planning, as to provide rigorous, holistic and comprehensive person-centred care.

Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli

The perception of faces is one of the most specialized visual processes in the human brain and has been investigated by means of the early event-related potential component N170. However, face perception has mostly been studied in the conventional laboratory, i.e., monitor setups, offering rather distal presentation of faces as planar 2D-images. Increasing spatial proximity through Virtual Reality (VR) allows to present 3D, real-life-sized persons at personal distance to participants, thus creating a feeling of social involvement and adding a self-relevant value to the presented faces. The present study compared the perception of persons under conventional laboratory conditions (PC) with realistic conditions in VR. Paralleling standard designs, pictures of unknown persons and standard control images were presented in a PC- and a VR-modality. To investigate how the mechanisms of face perception differ under realistic conditions from those under conventional laboratory conditions, the typical face-specific N170 and subsequent components were analyzed in both modalities. Consistent with previous laboratory research, the N170 lost discriminatory power when translated to realistic conditions, as it only discriminated faces and controls under laboratory conditions. Most interestingly, analysis of the later component [230–420 ms] revealed more differentiated face-specific processing in VR, as indicated by distinctive, stimulus-specific topographies. Complemented by source analysis, the results on later latencies show that face-specific neural mechanisms are applied only under realistic conditions (A video abstract is available in the Supplementary material and via YouTube: https://youtu.be/TF8wiPUrpSY).

The Mental Illness-Health Matrix and the Mental State Space Matrix: Complementary meta-conceptual frameworks for evaluating psychological states

OBJECTIVE

It is increasingly appreciated that mental health may not just involve a relative absence of mental illness, but the active presence of positive psychological desiderata. However, research attention on mental illness and health has tended to remain siloed and disconnected-proceeding along parallel tracks-with their potential relationship underexplored and undertheorized. As such, we sought to develop theoretical models to help us better understand the interaction of these two domains of experience.

METHODS

Through extensive engagement with relevant literature, we created two complementary meta-conceptual frameworks to represent and evaluate states of mental illness and health.

RESULTS

The Mental Illness-Health Matrix allows different forms of mental illness and health to be situated and assessed within a common framework. The Mental State Space Matrix further enables these various forms to be conceptualized and appraised in terms of numerous common parameters (e.g., valence and arousal).

CONCLUSION

It is hoped that these frameworks will stimulate and support further research on the inter-relational dynamics of illness and health. Indeed, the matrices themselves are provisional works-in-progress, with their articulation here intended as a foundation for their further development as understanding of these topics evolves and improves.

Impaired self-awareness of cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease relates to cingulate cortex dysfunction

BACKGROUND

Impaired self-awareness of cognitive deficits (ISAcog) has rarely been investigated in Parkinson's disease (PD). ISAcog is associated with poorer long-term outcome in other diseases. This study examines ISAcog in PD with and without mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), compared to healthy controls, and its clinical-behavioral and neuroimaging correlates.

METHODS

We examined 63 PD patients and 30 age- and education-matched healthy controls. Cognitive state was examined following the Movement Disorder Society Level II criteria. ISAcog was determined by subtracting z-scores (based on controls' scores) of objective tests and subjective questionnaires. Neural correlates were assessed by structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in 47 patients (43 with MRI) and 11 controls. We analyzed whole-brain glucose metabolism and cortical thickness in regions where FDG-uptake correlated with ISAcog.

RESULTS

PD-MCI patients (N = 23) showed significantly more ISAcog than controls and patients without MCI (N = 40). When all patients who underwent FDG-PET were examined, metabolism in the bilateral superior medial frontal gyrus, anterior and midcingulate cortex negatively correlated with ISAcog (FWE-corrected p < 0.001). In PD-MCI, ISAcog was related to decreased metabolism in the right superior temporal lobe and insula (N = 13; FWE-corrected p = 0.023) as well as the midcingulate cortex (FWE-corrected p = 0.002). Cortical thickness was not associated with ISAcog in these regions. No significant correlations were found between ISAcog and glucose metabolism in controls and patients without MCI.

CONCLUSIONS

Similar to Alzheimer's disease, the cingulate cortex seems to be relevant in ISAcog in PD. In PD-MCI patients, ISAcog might result from a disrupted network that regulates awareness of cognition and error processes.

Recurrence quantification analysis of periodic dynamics in the default mode network in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia

Abnormal functional connectivity (FC) within the default model network (DMN) in schizophrenia has been frequently reported in previous studies. However, traditional FC analysis was mostly linear correlations based, with the information on nonlinear or temporally lagged brain signals largely overlooked. Fifty-five first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia (FES) patients and 53 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The DMN was extracted using independent component analysis. Recurrence quantification analysis was used to measure the duration, predictability, and complexity of the periodic processes of the nonlinear DMN time series. The Mann‒Whitney U test was conducted to compare these features between FES patients and HCs. The support vector machine was applied to discriminate FES from HCs based on these features. Determinism, which means predictability of periodic process activity, between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) and posterior cingulate and between the vMPFC and precuneus, was significantly decreased in FES compared with HCs. Determinism between the vMPFC and precuneus was positively correlated with category fluency scores in FES. The classifier achieved 77% accuracy. Our results suggest that synchronized periodicity among DMN brain regions is dysregulated in FES, and the periodicity in BOLD signals may be a promising indicator of brain functional connectivity.

Intrinsic neural timescales mediate the cognitive bias of self - temporal integration as key mechanism

Our perceptions and decisions are not always objectively correct as they are featured by a bias related to our self. What are the behavioral, neural, and computational mechanisms of such cognitive bias? Addressing this yet unresolved question, we here investigate whether the cognitive bias is related to temporal integration and segregation as mediated by the brain's Intrinsic neural timescales (INT). Using Signal Detection Theory (SDT), we operationalize the cognitive bias by the Criterion C as distinguished from the sensitivity index d'. This was probed in a self-task based on morphed self- and other faces. Behavioral data demonstrate clear cognitive bias, i.e., Criterion C. That was related to the EEG-based INT as measured by the autocorrelation window (ACW) in especially the transmodal regions dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and default-mode network (DMN) as distinct from unimodal visual cortex. Finally, simulation of the same paradigm in a large-scale network model shows high degrees of temporal integration of temporally distinct inputs in CMS/DMN and dlPFC while temporal segregation predominates in visual cortex. Together, we demonstrate a key role of INT-based temporal integration in CMS/DMN and dlPFC including its relation to the brain's uni-transmodal topographical organization in mediating the cognitive bias of our self.

Neural Correlates of Impaired Self-awareness of Deficits after Acquired Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

Self-awareness is essential for the process and outcome of rehabilitation but is often affected by acquired brain injury (ABI). While many studies investigated the psychological aspects of self-awareness deficits, the biological underpinnings are not well understood. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the neural correlates of self-awareness after ABI. Results indicate that anticipation of future problems is associated with lesions and decreased neural functioning in the right frontal lobe, as well as increased diffusivity throughout the white matter of the brain. Poor behavioral adjustment on implicit awareness tasks is associated with less functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex and right or middle inferior frontal gyri to the fronto-parietal control network, as well as more activation in the left insula and left parietal operculum during error processing. Recognition of mistakes is associated with internetwork connectivity of anterior or posterior default mode network to salience network. In conclusion, after ABI, different results in brain activation and connectivity are found depending on level of awareness measured. Future studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

Differential patterns of default mode network activity associated with negative and positive rumination in bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) engage in both negative and positive rumination, defined as maladaptive self-focused thinking, and this tendency predicts depressive and manic episodes, respectively. Prior research in patients with major depression implicates regions of the default mode network (DMN) consistent with the self-focused nature of rumination. Little is known about the neural correlates of rumination in bipolar disorder.

METHODS

Fifteen euthymic patients with BD (twelve with Type I) and 17 healthy controls (HC) performed negative and positive rumination induction tasks, as well as a distraction task, followed by a self-related trait judgment task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants also underwent resting state scans. We examined functional connectivity at rest and during the induction tasks, as well as task-based activation during the trait judgment task, in core regions of the DMN.

RESULTS

Compared to HC, patients with BD showed greater functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) at rest and during positive rumination, compared to distraction. They also showed greater activity in the PCC and MPFC during processing of positive traits, following positive rumination. At rest and during negative rumination compared to distraction, patients with BD showed greater functional connectivity between the PCC and inferior parietal lobule than HC.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings demonstrate that negative and positive rumination are subserved by different patterns of connectivity within the DMN in BD. Additionally, the PCC and MPFC are key regions involved in the processing of positive self-relevant traits following positive rumination.

Temporal dynamic patterns of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex underlie the association between rumination and depression

As a major contributor to the development of depression, rumination has proven linked with aberrant default-mode network (DMN) activity. However, it remains unclear how the spontaneous spatial and temporal activity of DMN underlie the association between rumination and depression. To illustrate this issue, behavioral measures and resting-state functional magnetic resonance images were connected in 2 independent samples (NSample1 = 100, NSample2 = 95). Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were used to assess spatial characteristic patterns, while voxel-wise functional concordance (across time windows) (VC) and Hurst exponent (HE) were used to assess temporal dynamic patterns of brain activity. Results from both samples consistently show that temporal dynamics but not spatial patterns of DMN are associated with rumination. Specifically, rumination is positively correlated with HE and VC (but not fALFF and ReHo) values, reflecting more consistent and regular temporal dynamic patterns in DMN. Moreover, subregion analyses indicate that temporal dynamics of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) reliably predict rumination scores. Furthermore, mediation analyses show that HE and VC of VMPFC mediate the association between rumination and depression. These findings shed light on neural mechanisms of individual differences in rumination and corresponding risk for depression.

Electrophysiological correlates of dispositional mindfulness: A quantitative and complexity EEG study

While growing evidence supports that dispositional mindfulness relates to psychological health and cognitive enhancement, to date there have been only a few attempts to characterize its neural underpinnings. In the present study, we aimed at exploring the electrophysiological (EEG) signature of dispositional mindfulness using quantitative and complexity measures of EEG during resting state and while performing a learning task. Hundred twenty participants were assessed with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and underwent 5 min eyes-closed resting state and 5 min at task EEG recording. We hypothesized that high mindfulness individuals would show patterns of brain activity related to (a) lower involvement of the default mode network (DMN) at rest (reduced frontal gamma power) and (b) a state of 'task readiness' reflected in a more similar pattern from rest to task (reduced overall q-EEG power at rest but not at task), as compared to their low mindfulness counterparts. Dispositional mindfulness was significantly linked to reduced frontal gamma power at rest and lower overall power during rest but not at task. In addition, we found a trend towards higher entropy during task performance in mindful individuals, which has recently been reported during mindfulness meditation. Altogether, our results add to those from expert meditators to show that high (dispositional) mindfulness seems to have a specific electrophysiological pattern characteristic of less involvement of the DMN and mind-wandering processes.

The update of self-identity: Importance of assessing autobiographical memory in major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder is a leading global cause of disability. There is a growing interest for memory in mood disorders since it might constitute an original tool for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. MDD is associated with impaired autobiographical memory characterized by a tendency to overgeneral memory, rather than vivid episodic self-defining memory, which is mandatory for problem-solving and projection in the future. This memory bias is maintained by three mechanisms: ruminations, avoidance, and impaired executive control. If we adopt a broader and comprehensive perspective, we can hypothesize that all those alterations have the potential to impair self-identity updating. We posit that this update requires a double referencing process: (1) to internalized self-representation and (2) to an externalized framework dealing with the representation of the consequence of actions. Diagnostic and therapeutic implications are discussed in the light of this model and the importance of assessing autobiographical memory in MDD is highlighted. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory Psychology > Brain Function and Dysfunction Neuroscience > Clinical.

Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is driven by thalamic-default mode network decoupling

ABSTRACT

For millenniums, mindfulness was believed to diminish pain by reducing the influence of self-appraisals of noxious sensations. Today, mindfulness meditation is a highly popular and effective pain therapy that is believed to engage multiple, nonplacebo-related mechanisms to attenuate pain. Recent evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is associated with the engagement of unique cortico-thalamo-cortical nociceptive filtering mechanisms. However, the functional neural connections supporting mindfulness meditation-based analgesia remain unknown. This mechanistically focused clinical trial combined functional magnetic resonance imaging with psychophysical pain testing (49°C stimulation and pain visual analogue scales) to identify the neural connectivity supporting the direct modulation of pain-related behavioral and neural responses by mindfulness meditation. We hypothesized that mindfulness meditation-based pain relief would be reflected by greater decoupling between brain mechanisms supporting appraisal (prefrontal) and nociceptive processing (thalamus). After baseline pain testing, 40 participants were randomized to a well-validated, 4-session mindfulness meditation or book-listening regimen. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and noxious heat (49°C; right calf) were combined during meditation to test study hypotheses. Mindfulness meditation significantly reduced behavioral and neural pain responses when compared to the controls. Preregistered (NCT03414138) whole-brain analyses revealed that mindfulness meditation-induced analgesia was moderated by greater thalamus-precuneus decoupling and ventromedial prefrontal deactivation, respectively, signifying a pain modulatory role across functionally distinct neural mechanisms supporting self-referential processing. Two separate preregistered seed-to-seed analyses found that mindfulness meditation-based pain relief was also associated with weaker contralateral thalamic connectivity with the prefrontal and primary somatosensory cortex, respectively. Thus, we propose that mindfulness meditation is associated with a novel self-referential nociceptive gating mechanism to reduce pain.

Bone conduction facilitates self-other voice discrimination

One's own voice is one of the most important and most frequently heard voices. Although it is the sound we associate most with ourselves, it is perceived as strange when played back in a recording. One of the main reasons is the lack of bone conduction that is inevitably present when hearing one's own voice while speaking. The resulting discrepancy between experimental and natural self-voice stimuli has significantly impeded self-voice research, rendering it one of the least investigated aspects of self-consciousness. Accordingly, factors that contribute to self-voice perception remain largely unknown. In a series of three studies, we rectified this ecological discrepancy by augmenting experimental self-voice stimuli with bone-conducted vibrotactile stimulation that is present during natural self-voice perception. Combining voice morphing with psychophysics, we demonstrate that specifically self-other but not familiar-other voice discrimination improved for stimuli presented using bone as compared with air conduction. Furthermore, our data outline independent contributions of familiarity and acoustic processing to separating the own from another's voice: although vocal differences increased general voice discrimination, self-voices were more confused with familiar than unfamiliar voices, regardless of their acoustic similarity. Collectively, our findings show that concomitant vibrotactile stimulation improves auditory self-identification, thereby portraying self-voice as a fundamentally multi-modal construct.

Impaired disengagement from worry: Dissociating the impacts of valence and internally-directed attention

Worry is a repetitive, negative thought process that is widely experienced as difficult to control. Despite the adverse effects of uncontrollable worry on academic and other role functioning, the mechanisms by which worry becomes uncontrollable remain poorly understood. Previous experimental work has historically emphasized valence (negative versus positive or neutral). However, contemporary cognitive neuroscience also distinguishes between internally-directed attention (e.g., to thoughts) and externally-directed attention (e.g., to perceptual stimuli). To date, no studies have experimentally examined potential dissociable contributions of valence versus attentional direction to impaired disengagement from worry. In a 2 (negative or neutral valence) x 2 (internal or external attention) between-subjects, experimental and prospective design (https://osf.io/vdyfn/), participants (N = 200) completed alternating blocks of a randomly-assigned attention manipulation and validated sustained attention task. Participants also rated trait worry and distress during the experimental session (T1) and a naturalistic stressor (the week before finals; T2). There was a main effect, such that internally-directed attention impaired sustained attention (increased commission errors). Worry (internal x negative) also impaired sustained attention (faster and less accurate responding) in planned group contrasts. Trait worry did not moderate these effects. Sustained attention at T1 did not predict distress or worry during the T2 stressor. These findings augment the literature on the attentional consequences of worry and replicate and extend previous findings of altered speed-accuracy tradeoffs following experimentally-induced worry. We also find evidence for impaired disengagement from internally-directed (versus externally-directed) attention, which may help to explain impaired disengagement from related forms of perseverative thought (e.g., rumination).

Effective Connectivity of Functionally Anticorrelated Networks Under Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

BACKGROUND

Classic psychedelic-induced ego dissolution involves a shift in the sense of self and a blurring of the boundary between the self and the world. A similar phenomenon is identified in psychopathology and is associated with the balance of anticorrelated activity between the default mode network, which directs attention inward, and the salience network, which recruits the dorsal attention network to direct attention outward.

METHODS

To test whether changes in anticorrelated networks underlie the peak effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), we applied dynamic causal modeling to infer effective connectivity of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from a study of 25 healthy adults who were administered 100 μg of LSD or placebo.

RESULTS

We found that inhibitory effective connectivity from the salience network to the default mode network became excitatory, and inhibitory effective connectivity from the default mode network to the dorsal attention network decreased under the peak effect of LSD.

CONCLUSIONS

The effective connectivity changes we identified may reflect diminution of the functional anticorrelation between resting-state networks that may be a key neural mechanism of LSD and underlie ego dissolution. Our findings suggest that changes to the sense of self and subject-object boundaries across different states of consciousness may depend upon the organized balance of effective connectivity of resting-state networks.