Shidei Yuki, Matsuyoshi Daisuke, Isato Ayako, Sugihara Genichi, Takahashi Hidehiko, Yamada Makiko
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan.
Advanced Neuroimaging Center, Institute for Quantum Medical Science National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology Chiba Japan.
PCN Rep. 2025 Jan 9;4(1):e70046. doi: 10.1002/pcn5.70046. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Superiority illusion (SI), a cognitive bias where individuals perceive themselves as better than others, may serve as a psychological mechanism that contributes to well-being and resilience in older adults. However, the specific neural basis of SI in elderly populations remains underexplored. This study aims to identify brain regions partially associated with SI, exploring its potential role in adaptive psychological processes.
This study combined a behavioral task, voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses to investigate the neural substrates of the SI in a cohort of 145 participants, including young ( = 84), middle-aged ( = 37), and older adults ( = 24).
Our findings indicated that higher SI scores in older adults were correlated with greater gray matter volume in the right precuneus and stronger rsFC between the right precuneus and the left lateral occipital cortex. However, these correlations were not evident in younger and middle-aged groups.
Our findings underscore the importance of the right precuneus and its connectivity in the manifestation of the SI, particularly in older adults, highlighting its potential role in adaptive aging processes.
优越感错觉（SI）是一种认知偏差，个体认为自己比他人更优秀，它可能是一种有助于老年人幸福感和恢复力的心理机制。然而，老年人群中SI的具体神经基础仍未得到充分探索。本研究旨在确定与SI部分相关的脑区，探讨其在适应性心理过程中的潜在作用。
本研究结合行为任务、基于体素的形态学测量（VBM）和静息态功能连接（rsFC）分析，对145名参与者（包括年轻人84名、中年人37名和老年人24名）组成的队列进行研究，以探究SI的神经基质。
我们的研究结果表明，老年人较高的SI得分与右侧楔前叶更大的灰质体积以及右侧楔前叶与左侧枕外侧皮质之间更强的rsFC相关。然而，这些相关性在年轻人和中年人群体中并不明显。
我们的研究结果强调了右侧楔前叶及其连接在SI表现中的重要性，特别是在老年人中，突出了其在适应性衰老过程中的潜在作用。
