University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Nov;23(11):3448-55. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00027. Epub 2011 Mar 31.
On the basis of the importance of social connection for survival, humans may have evolved a "sociometer"-a mechanism that translates perceptions of rejection or acceptance into state self-esteem. Here, we explored the neural underpinnings of the sociometer by examining whether neural regions responsive to rejection or acceptance were associated with state self-esteem. Participants underwent fMRI while viewing feedback words ("interesting," "boring") ostensibly chosen by another individual (confederate) to describe the participant's previously recorded interview. Participants rated their state self-esteem in response to each feedback word. Results demonstrated that greater activity in rejection-related neural regions (dorsal ACC, anterior insula) and mentalizing regions was associated with lower-state self-esteem. Additionally, participants whose self-esteem decreased from prescan to postscan versus those whose self-esteem did not showed greater medial prefrontal cortical activity, previously associated with self-referential processing, in response to negative feedback. Together, the results inform our understanding of the origin and nature of our feelings about ourselves.
基于社会联系对于生存的重要性，人类可能已经进化出了一种“社会计量器”——一种将被拒绝或被接受的感知转化为自我评价状态的机制。在这里，我们通过检查对拒绝或接受有反应的神经区域是否与自我评价状态相关，来探索社会计量器的神经基础。参与者在观看反馈词（“有趣”、“无聊”）时接受 fMRI 检查，这些反馈词表面上是由另一个人（同伙）选择来描述参与者之前录制的面试。参与者根据每个反馈词来评价自己的自我评价状态。结果表明，与拒绝相关的神经区域（背侧前扣带皮层、前岛叶）和心理化区域的活动与较低的自我评价状态有关。此外，与自我评估状态没有变化的参与者相比，自我评估状态从扫描前到扫描后下降的参与者在对负面反馈的反应中表现出更大的内侧前额叶皮质活动，这与自我参照处理有关。总的来说，这些结果为我们理解自我感觉的起源和本质提供了信息。
