Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Department of Medical Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah Ein Kerem Campus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel.
Department of Neurology, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel.
Cereb Cortex. 2024 Jul 3;34(7). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhae303.
Self-defining memories are highly significant personal memories that contribute to an individual's life story and identity. Previous research has identified 4 key subcomponents of self-defining memories: content, affect, specificity, and self-reflection. However, these components were not tested under functional neuroimaging. In this study, we first explored how self-defining memories distinguish themselves from everyday memories (non-self-defining) through their associated brain activity. Next, we evaluated the different self-defining memory subcomponents through their activity in the underlying brain system. Participants recalled both self-defining and non-self-defining memories under functional MRI and evaluated the 4 subcomponents for each memory. Multivoxel pattern analysis uncovered a brain system closely related to the default mode network to discriminate between self-defining and non-self-defining memories. Representational similarity analysis revealed the neural coding of each subcomponent. Self-reflection was coded mainly in the precuneus, middle and inferior frontal gyri, and cingulate, lateral occipital, and insular cortices. To a much lesser extent, content coding was primarily in the left angular gyrus and fusiform gyrus. No region was found to represent information on affect and specificity. Our findings highlight the marked difference in brain processing between significant and non-significant memories, and underscore self-reflection as a predominant factor in the formation and maintenance of self-defining memories, inviting a reassessment of what constitutes significant memories.
自我定义的记忆是对个人生活故事和身份有重要贡献的高度个人化的记忆。先前的研究已经确定了自我定义记忆的 4 个关键子成分：内容、情感、特异性和自我反思。然而，这些成分在功能神经影像学中并没有得到测试。在这项研究中，我们首先通过与自我定义记忆相关的大脑活动来探索自我定义记忆如何与日常记忆（非自我定义）区分开来。接下来，我们通过其在潜在大脑系统中的活动来评估不同的自我定义记忆子成分。参与者在功能磁共振成像下回忆自我定义和非自我定义的记忆，并对每个记忆的 4 个子成分进行评估。多元体素模式分析揭示了一个与默认模式网络密切相关的大脑系统，以区分自我定义和非自我定义的记忆。代表性相似性分析揭示了每个子成分的神经编码。自我反思主要编码于楔前叶、中额和下额回以及扣带回、外侧枕叶和脑岛皮质。在较小程度上，内容编码主要在左角回和梭状回。没有发现任何区域代表情感和特异性信息。我们的发现强调了重要和非重要记忆之间大脑处理的显著差异，并强调了自我反思是形成和维持自我定义记忆的主要因素，这促使我们重新评估什么构成了重要的记忆。
