State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Neuroimage. 2018 Dec;183:291-299. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.018. Epub 2018 Aug 15.
Self-concept consists of self-identity that distinguishes self from other people and knowledge that describes one's own attributes in different dimensions. Because self-concept plays a fundamental role in individuals' social functioning and mental health, behavioral studies have examined cognitive processes of self-identity and self-knowledge extensively. Nevertheless, how different dimensions of the self-concept are organized in multi-voxel neural patterns remains elusive. Here, we address this issue by employing representational similarity analyses of behavioral/theoretical models of multidimensional self-representation and blood oxygen level dependent responses, recorded using functional MRI, to judgments of personality traits, physical attributes and social roles of oneself, a close (one's mother) other, and a distant (celebrity) other. The multivoxel patterns of neural activities in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) distinguished representations of the self from both close and distant others, suggesting a specific neural representation of the self-identity; and distinguished different dimensions of person knowledge of oneself, indicating dimension-sensitive neural representation of the self. Moreover, the pattern of PCC activity is more strongly coupled with dimensions of self-knowledge than self-identity. Our findings suggest that multivoxel neural patterns of the cortical midline structures distinguish not only self from others but also discriminate different dimensions of the self.
自我概念包括自我认同，它将自我与他人区分开来，以及描述自身在不同维度上的属性的知识。由于自我概念在个体的社会功能和心理健康中起着基础性作用，行为研究已经广泛地研究了自我认同和自我知识的认知过程。然而，自我概念的不同维度是如何在多体素神经模式中组织的仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们通过对多维自我表现的行为/理论模型的代表性相似性分析来解决这个问题，并使用功能磁共振成像记录的血液氧水平依赖反应，来判断自己、亲近的人（自己的母亲）、以及远方的人（名人）的人格特质、身体属性和社会角色。内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）和后扣带皮层（PCC）的多体素神经活动模式将自我与亲近的人和远方的人区分开来，表明自我认同的特定神经表示；并区分了自身知识的不同维度，表明自我的维度敏感神经表示。此外，PCC 活动的模式与自我知识的维度比自我认同更紧密地耦合。我们的发现表明，皮质中线结构的多体素神经模式不仅可以区分自我和他人，还可以区分自我的不同维度。
