Neural correlates of evaluating self and close-other in physical, academic and prosocial domains

Neural activity during negative self-evaluation is associated with negative self-concept and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls

Self-concept becomes reliant on social comparison, potentially leading to excessive self-focused attention, persistently negative self-concept and increased risk for depression during early adolescence. Studies have implicated neural activation in cortical midline brain structures in self-related information processing, yet it remains unclear how this activation may underlie subjective self-concept and links to depression in adolescence. We examined these associations by assessing neural activity during negative vs. positive self-referential processing in 39 11-to-13-year-old girls. During a functional neuroimaging task, girls reported on their perceptions of self-concept by rating how true they believed positive and negative personality traits were about them. Girls reported on depressive symptoms at the scan and 6 months later. Activation in the dorsomedial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortexes (dMPFC; VLPFC), and visual association area was significantly associated with subjective self-concept and/or depressive symptoms at the scan or 6 months later. Exploratory models showed higher activation in the dMPFC to Self-negative > Self-positive was indirectly associated with concurrent depressive symptoms through more negative self-concept. Higher activation in the visual association area to Self-positive > Self-negative was associated with lower depressive symptoms at follow-up through more positive self-concept. Findings highlight how differential neural processing of negative versus positive self-relevant information maps onto perceptions of self-concept and adolescent depression.

Development of Self-Concept in Childhood and Adolescence: How Neuroscience Can Inform Theory and Vice Versa

How do we develop a stable and coherent self-concept in contemporary times? Susan Harter's original work, The Construction of Self (1999; 2012), argues that cognitive and social processes are building blocks for developing a coherent sense of self, resulting in self-concept clarity across various domains in life (e.g., [pro-]social, academic, and physical). Here, we show how this framework guides and can benefit from recent findings on (1) the prolonged and nonlinear structural brain development during childhood and adolescence, (2) insights from developmental neuroimaging studies using self-concept appraisal paradigms, (3) genetic and environmental influences on behavioral and neural correlates of self-concept development, and (4) youth's perspectives on self-concept development in the context of 21st century global challenges. We examine how neuroscience can inform theory by testing several compelling questions related to stability versus change of neural, behavioral, and self-report measures and we reflect on the meaning of variability and change/growth.

Malleability of the sense of bodily self in early childhood: 5- and 6-year-old children show the enfacement illusion

The mechanisms underlying the developing sense of bodily self are debated. Whereas some scholars stress the role of sensory factors, others propose the importance of contextual factors. By manipulating multisensory stimulation and social familiarity with the other person, we explored two factors that are proposed to relate to young children's developing sense of bodily self. Including an adult sample allowed us to investigate age-related differences of the malleability of the bodily self. To this end, the study implemented an enfacement illusion with children (N = 64) and adults (N = 33). Participants were exposed to one trial with synchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation and one trial with asynchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation-either with a stranger or with the mother as the other person. A self-recognition task using morph videos of self and other and an enfacement questionnaire were implemented as dependent measures. Results revealed evidence for the presence of the enfacement effect in children in both measures. The identity of the other person had a significant effect on the self-recognition task. Contrary to our hypothesis, the effect was significantly smaller in the caregiver condition. No significant differences between children and adults emerged. Our results demonstrate the role of both multisensory stimulation and contextual-here social familiarity-factors for the construction and development of a bodily self. The study provides developmental science with a novel approach to the bodily self by showing the validity of the self-recognition task in a child sample. Overall, the study supports proposals that the sense of bodily self is malleable early in development.

The role of autism and alexithymia traits in behavioral and neural indicators of self-concept and self-esteem in adolescence

LAY ABSTRACT

Developing a positive view of the self is important for maintaining a good mental health, as feeling negative about the self increases the risk of developing internalizing symptoms such as feelings of depression and anxiety. Even though autistic individuals regularly struggle with these internalizing feelings, and both self-concept and internalizing feelings are known to develop during adolescence, there is a lack of studies investigating the development of positive self-concept and self-esteem in autistic adolescents. Here, we studied academic, physical, and prosocial self-concept as well as self-esteem in adolescent males with and without autism on both the behavioral and neural level. We additionally focused on similarities in one's own and peers' perspectives on the self, and we assessed a potential role of alexithymia (i.e. having trouble identifying and describing one's feelings) in developing a more negative view of the self. Results showed that there were no group differences in self-esteem, self-concept, or underlying neural activation. This shows that autistic adolescent males use the same neural processes when they evaluate their traits. However, regardless of clinical diagnosis, a higher number of autism traits was related to a less positive physical and prosocial self-concept, whereas more difficulty identifying one's feelings was related to lowered self-esteem and less activation in medial prefrontal cortex during self-evaluations. Therefore, in treatment of autistic adolescents with low self-esteem, it is important to take into account and possibly aim to improve alexithymic traits as well.

Developing body estimation in adolescence is associated with neural regions that support self-concept

Both self-concept, the evaluation of who you are, and the physical body undergo changes throughout adolescence. These two processes might affect the development of body image, a complex construct that comprises one's thoughts, feelings, and perception of one's body. This study aims to better understand the development of body image in relation to self-concept development and its neural correlates. Adolescents (aged 11-24) from the longitudinal Leiden Self-Concept study were followed for three consecutive years (NT1 = 160, NT2 = 151, and NT3 = 144). Their body image was measured using a figure rating scale and body dissatisfaction questionnaire. Body estimation was calculated based on figure ratings relative to their actual body mass index (BMI). Additionally, participants evaluated their physical appearance traits in an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task. Results revealed that body estimation and body dissatisfaction increased with age. Heightened inferior parietal lobe (IPL) activation during physical self-evaluation was associated with lower body estimation, meaning that the neural network involved in thinking about one's physical traits is more active for individuals who perceive themselves as larger than they are. IPL activity showed continued development during adolescence, suggesting an interaction between neural development and body perception. These findings highlight the complex interplay between affective, perceptual, and biological factors in shaping body image.

Neural substrates of marriage on self-parents processing and the association with a parents-oriented perspective shift in a collectivistic culture

Relationship with parents is a special bond that shapes self-other representations and have an impact on adult-child's marriage, especially in the early stages of marriage. This study sought to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying self-parents processing as well as their relationship with marriage. Seventy-eight premarital Korean participants were scanned in functional MRI while evaluating traits of the self and parents. Then, 21 of them returned after being married to engage in the identical task three years later. The precuneus and temporoparietal junction were identified to activate stronger for parents than self at both marital statuses. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, parietal operculum, and caudate activated more for self than parents before marriage, but their activities changed during marriage. The activation increase of the parietal operculum between marital statuses in the parents condition was negatively correlated with the level of marital dissatisfaction, and this association only appeared among participants with a child. Self-parents processing may recruit brain regions involved in autobiographical memory and self-other distinction, and marriage has an impact on the way individuals process rewards and multimodal sensory information during this processing. Marriage may lead to changes in brain function that affect the processing of emotions toward parents and a more parents-oriented perspective shift in collectivistic societies.

If you're happy and you know it: neural correlates of self-evaluated psychological health and well-being

Psychological health and well-being have important implications for individual and societal thriving. Research underscores the subjective nature of well-being, but how do individuals intuit this subjective sense of well-being in the moment? This pre-registered study addresses this question by examining the neural correlates of self-evaluated psychological health and their dynamic relationship with trial-level evaluations. Participants (N = 105) completed a self-evaluation task and made judgments about three facets of psychological health and positive functioning-self-oriented well-being, social well-being and ill-being. Consistent with pre-registered hypotheses, self-evaluation elicited activity in the default mode network, and there was strong spatial overlap among constructs. Trial-level analyses assessed whether and how activity in a priori regions of interest-perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventral striatum-were related to subjective evaluations. These regions explained additional variance in whether participants endorsed or rejected items but were differentially related to evaluations. Stronger activity in pgACC was associated with a higher probability of endorsement across constructs, whereas stronger activity in vmPFC was associated with a higher probability of endorsing ill-being items, but a lower probability of endorsing self-oriented and social well-being items. These results add nuance to neurocognitive accounts of self-evaluation and extend our understanding of the neurobiological basis of subjective psychological health and well-being.

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.

Through the looking glass: the neural basis of self-concept in young adults with antisocial trajectories

Self-concept is shaped by social experiences, but it is not yet well understood how the neural and behavioral development of self-concept is influenced by a history of antisocial behavior. In this pre-registered study, we examined neural responses to self-evaluations in young adults who engaged with antisocial behavior in childhood and either desisted or persisted in antisocial behavior. A self-concept task was performed by 94 young adults (age range 18-30 years). During the task, participants with a persistent or desistent antisocial trajectory (n = 54) and typically developing young adults (n = 40) rated whether positive and negative traits in different domains (prosocial and physical) described themselves. We examined both the effects of a history of antisocial behavior as well as current heterogeneity in psychopathic traits on self-concept appraisal and its neural underpinnings. Participants endorsed more positive trait statements than negative across domains, which did not differ between antisocial-history groups. However, current psychopathic traits were negatively associated with prosocial self-concept and medial prefrontal cortex activity during self-evaluation. Together, these findings suggest that antisocial tendencies might indeed be reflected in self-concept development of young adults, specifically in the prosocial domain.

Neural variability fingerprint predicts individuals' information security violation intentions

As the weakest links in information security defense are the individuals in an organizations, it is important to understand their information security behaviors. In the current study, we tested whether the neural variability pattern could predict an individual's intention to engage in information security violations. Because cognitive neuroscience methods can provide a new perspective into psychological processes without common methodological biases or social desirability, we combined an adapted version of the information security paradigm (ISP) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. While completing an adapted ISP task, participants underwent an fMRI scan. We adopted a machine learning method to build a neural variability predictive model. Consistent with previous studies, we found that people were more likely to take actions under neutral conditions than in minor violation contexts and major violation contexts. Moreover, the neural variability predictive model, including nodes within the task control, default mode, visual, salience and attention networks, can predict information security violation intentions. These results illustrate the predictive value of neural variability for information security violations and provide a new perspective for combining ISP with the fMRI technique to explore a neural predictive model of information security violation intention.

Development of the neural correlates of self- and other-referential processing across adolescence

During adolescence, major changes in brain mechanisms take place and differentiated representations of both the self and of others are developed. Although studies have investigated the neural mechanisms of self- and other-referential processing in adolescents, the development of these mechanisms remain largely unaddressed. Here, we report a three-year longitudinal study with annual measurements, and investigate the developmental trajectories of activity and connectivity underlying self- and other-referential processes in 34 participants from early to mid-adolescence (mean age timepoints 1, 2, 3= 12.9, 13.9, 15.0 years). Moreover, we probe whether these correlates continue to develop from mid-adolescence to young adulthood by comparing neural correlates of the adolescents at the last measurement to an independent group of 42 young adults (mean age 22 years). Participants underwent functional MRI while performing a trait judgement task in which they indicated whether an adjective described themselves, a similar or a dissimilar peer. Brain activity within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and right temporal parietal junction (TPJ) showed a quadratic change from early to mid-adolescence, with a peak in activity at the second measurement when evaluating the self, the similar and dissimilar peer. No differential activity was observed when comparing the adolescents to young adults. Functional connectivity did not change from early to mid-adolescence, however, connectivity of the dMPFC with a posterior midline region during self- and other-referential processing relative to the control condition reduced from mid-adolescence to young adulthood. Together, these findings provide insight in the developmental trajectories of brain activity and connectivity underlying the development of the self-concept and representations of peers in adolescence.

Integration of UTAUT model in Thailand cashless payment system adoption: the mediating role of perceived risk and trust

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model that examines the relationships among the five dimensions of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) toward the overall behavioral intentions (BIs); to use cashless payment systems in Thailand, which are practically based on the basic models and theories of consumer behavior such as the theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB) and technology acceptance model (TAM); and to explain the indirect effects between UTAUT and BIs to use cashless payment systems mediating by perceived risk and trust.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 708 respondents, who have had an experience with a cashless payment system in Thailand, were selected using a stage sampling method. The data obtained from the participants were analyzed using a structural equation modelling approach.

Findings

The results of this paper reveal that UTAUT model, perceived risk and trust have all significant influences on BIs to use a cashless payment system. This suggests that consumers in Thailand adopt to specific financial technological innovation if they perceive that the risk is low and they can trust the system, especially if it is associated with a reliable online banking network.

Originality/value

The basic understanding of the UTAUT model that influences BIs to use cashless payment systems has been the focus of this current paper. This paper empirically examined the overall direct and indirect influences of UTAUT model and perceived risk, trust and BI to use. This current paper also expands the UTAUT theory by exploring several dimensions (i.e. performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence). Research findings reveal that effort expectancy can reduce perceived risk and increase trust in Thailand's cashless payment systems. This can generate more customer interest and engagement, as well as provide insights into customers' intentions in using a cashless payment system.

Personality Traits Induce Different Brain Patterns When Processing Social and Valence Information

This paper shows the brain correlates of Cloninger’s personality model during the presentation of social scenarios under positive or negative valence situations. Social scenarios were constructed when participants played the Dictator game with two confederates that had two opposites roles as the cooperator (Coop) and non-cooperator (NoCoop). Later the same day during a fMRI scanning session, participants read negative (Neg) and positive (Pos) situations that happened to confederates in the past. Participants were asked to think “how do you think those people felt during that situation?” A dissimilarity matrix between stimuli were obtained from fMRI results. Results shown that Harm Avoidance trait people make use of right middle frontal gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus to discriminate between Coop and NoCoop. Cooperation as a trait makes use of the right superior temporal gyrus and the right precuneus to discriminate between Coop and NoCoop in positive social scenarios. Finally, Self-directedness trait people make use of the right inferior parietal lobe to discriminate between Coop and NoCoop in negative social scenarios and the right precuneus to discriminate between Coop and Strangers. An intuitive link between discrimination findings and behavioral patterns of those personality traits is proposed.

Aberrant dynamic minimal spanning tree parameters within default mode network in patients with autism spectrum disorder

The altered functional connectivity (FC) level and its temporal characteristics within certain cortical networks, such as the default mode network (DMN), could provide a possible explanatory framework for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the current study, we hypothesized that the topographical organization along with its temporal dynamics of the autistic brain measured by temporal mean and variance of complex network measures, respectively, were significantly altered, which may further explain the autistic symptom severity in patients with ASD. To validate these hypotheses, the precise FCs between DMN regions at each time point were calculated using the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) project. Then, the minimal spanning tree (MST) technique was applied to construct a time-varying complex network of DMN. By analyzing the temporal mean and variance of MST parameters and their relationship with autistic symptom severity, we found that in persons with ASD, the information exchange efficiencies between cortical regions within DMN were significantly lower and more volatile compared with those in typical developing participants. Moreover, these alterations within DMN were closely associated with the autistic symptom severity of the ASD group.

Neural Correlates of Academic Self-concept and the Association with Academic Achievement in Older Children

Academic self-concept, which can be defined as one's beliefs about their academic ability, plays an important role in students' future academic achievement. Here, we examined the neuroanatomical substrates underlying academic self-concept in 92 school-aged children (9.90 ± 0.85 years, 41 girls) using voxel-based morphometry of images obtained by structural magnetic resonance imaging. Our results revealed a significant positive correlation between academic self-concept and achievement 1 year after assessment. Whole-brain regression analyses found that gray matter volume in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) was negatively associated with academic self-concept. Region of interest analyses further showed that regional gray matter volume in the right DLPFC could significantly predict achievement 1 year after assessment. Notably, mediation analyses suggested that regional gray matter volume in the right DLPFC mediated the effect of academic self-concept on students' future academic achievement.

The nature of the self: Neural analyses and heritability estimates of self-evaluations in middle childhood

How neural correlates of self-concept are influenced by environmental versus genetic factors is currently not fully understood. We investigated heritability estimates of behavioral and neural correlates of self-concept in middle childhood since this phase is an important time window for taking on new social roles in academic and social contexts. To do so, a validated self-concept fMRI task was applied in a twin sample of 345 participants aged between 7 and 9 years. In the self-concept condition, participants were asked to indicate whether academic and social traits applied to them whereas the control condition required trait categorization. The self-processing activation analyses (n = 234) revealed stronger medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activation for self than for control conditions. This effect was more pronounced for social-self than academic self-traits, whereas stronger dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation was observed for academic versus social self-evaluations. Behavioral genetic modeling (166 complete twin pairs) revealed that 25-52% of the variation in academic self-evaluations was explained by genetic factors, whereas 16-49% of the variation in social self-evaluations was explained by shared environmental factors. Neural genetic modeling (91 complete twin pairs) for variation in mPFC and anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation for academic self-evaluations confirmed genetic and unique environmental influences, whereas anterior PFC activation for social self-evaluations was additionally influenced by shared environmental influences. This indicates that environmental context possibly has a larger impact on the behavioral and neural correlates of social self-concept at a young age. This is the first study demonstrating in a young twin sample that self-concept depends on both genetic and environmental factors, depending on the specific domain.

Overlapping and distinct neural correlates of self-evaluations and self-regulation from the perspective of self and others

Prior research has implicated the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in processing evaluations from the perspective of self (self-traits) and evaluations from others (peer feedback), suggesting that these areas form a neural substrate that serves an intertwined function in monitoring self in relation to others. To test this possibility, we examined neural activation overlap in medial and lateral PFC after processing self- and other-informed evaluations. Young adults (age range 18-30-yrs, n = 40) performed two fMRI tasks. The self-concept task involved rating whether positive and negative traits described themselves. The Social Network Aggression Task involved processing positive, neutral or negative feedback from others, with the possibility to retaliate by blasting a loud noise following feedback. The results show that rating positive self traits and receiving positive peer feedback was associated with increased activity in an overlapping region in medial PFC. There were no significant correlations on a behavioral level and medial PFC activity for self-versus-other evaluations. The study further replicated the finding from previous research showing that higher activity in dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) when receiving negative social feedback was associated with reduced noise blast aggression. Finally, during retaliatory responses after receiving positive feedback, participants showed increased activity in the dlPFC. Together these findings suggest that medial PFC is more strongly involved in protecting positive self-views from both internal (self traits) and external (peer feedback) points of view, whereas dlPFC is more strongly involved in regulating retaliatory responses following social rejection, and actively inhibiting aggressive behavior after receiving positive peer feedback.

Social media use and the not-so-imaginary audience: Behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying the influence on self-concept

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Our findings reveal that adolescents with increased social media use (SMU) showed:

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Lower difference scores for self-ratings vs. how they expected peers would rate them.

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Higher mPFC-activity for self-ratings vs. reflected-peer-ratings.

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Higher mPFC-activity for physical self-ratings vs. academic/prosocial self-ratings.

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Less positive self-concept, but no convincing link with future clinical symptoms.

We investigated behavioral and neural mechanisms in the relation between social media use (SMU) and self-concept, as well as longitudinal developmental outcomes. Adolescents and young adults (N = 150, 11–21 years old at T1) rated themselves on 60 traits in the academic, physical and prosocial domain, and also indicated how they thought peers would judge them (reflected-peer-judgements). Longitudinal questionnaires (1- and 2-year follow-up) were collected to assess positive (prosocial behavior, self-concept clarity) and negative (clinical symptoms) long-term outcomes.

Results indicated that heavier self-reported SMU was linked with lower difference scores between self-judgements and reflected-peer-judgements. Lower SMU was related to more positive ratings from self-judgements vs. reflected-peer-judgements. SMU was also associated with less positive self-concept, particularly in the academic domain (boys and girls) and physical domain (girls). Neurally, increased SMU was linked to heightened mPFC-activity during self-judgements compared to reflected-peer-judgements, and increased activity during physical compared to academic and prosocial self-judgements. Longitudinal analyses indicated no evidence for long-term effects of social media use, self/reflected-peer-difference scores and mPFC-activity on clinical symptoms, prosocial behavior or self-concept clarity. This study highlights the complex relationship between social media use and wellbeing and future research is needed to confirm the lack of long-term effects.

Neural signatures of promotion versus prevention goal priming: fMRI evidence for distinct cognitive-motivational systems

Regulatory focus theory (RFT) postulates two cognitive-motivational systems for personal goal pursuit: the promotion system, which is associated with ideal goals (an individual's hopes, dreams, and aspirations), and the prevention system, which is associated with ought goals (an individual's duties, responsibilities, and obligations). The two systems have been studied extensively in behavioral research with reference to differences between promotion and prevention goal pursuit as well as the consequences of perceived attainment versus nonattainment within each system. However, no study has examined the neural correlates of each combination of goal domain and goal attainment status. We used a rapid masked idiographic goal priming paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging to present individually selected promotion and prevention goals, which participants had reported previously that they were close to attaining ("match") or far from attaining ("mismatch"). Across the four priming conditions, significant activations were observed in bilateral insula (Brodmann area (BA) 13) and visual association cortex (BA 18/19). Promotion priming discriminantly engaged left prefrontal cortex (BA 9), whereas prevention priming discriminantly engaged right prefrontal cortex (BA 8/9). Activation in response to promotion goal priming was also correlated with an individual difference measure of perceived success in promotion goal attainment. Our findings extend the construct validity of RFT by showing that the two systems postulated by RFT, under conditions of both attainment and nonattainment, have shared and distinct neural correlates that interface logically with established network models of self-regulatory cognition.

Neural responses for evaluating self and mother traits in adolescence depend on mother-adolescent relationships

An important task in adolescence is to achieve autonomy while preserving a positive relationship with parents. Previous fMRI studies showed largely overlapping activation in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) for evaluating self and close-other traits but separable activation for self and non-close other. Possibly, more similar mPFC activation reflects closeness or warmth in relationships. We investigated neural indicators of the mother–adolescent relationship in adolescents between 11 and 21 years (N = 143). Mother–adolescent relationship was measured using (i) mothers’ and adolescents’ trait evaluations about each other, (ii) observations of warmth, negativity and emotional support in mother–adolescent conversation and (iii) similarity in adolescents’ neural activation for evaluating self vs mother traits. Results showed relatively more similar mPFC activation in adolescents who evaluated their mothers’ traits more positively, suggesting that this is possibly a neural indicator of mother–adolescent relationship quality. Furthermore, mid-adolescence was characterized by more negative mother–adolescent interaction compared to early and late adolescence. This effect co-occurred with mid-adolescent peaks in dorsal striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal sulcus activation in evaluating traits of self vs mother. These results suggest more negative relationships and stronger self-focus in mid-adolescence.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is associated with distinct resting-state neural patterns in patients with generalized anxiety disorder

INTRODUCTION

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be effective for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); however, the neural mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the potential neural mechanisms through which MBCT may reduce anxiety in patients with mild-to-moderate GAD.

METHODS

Eight weekly group MBCT sessions (2 h each) were conducted with 32 GAD patients. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used, along with clinical and mindfulness profiles. A regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach was applied, and resting-state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) using the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) seed was examined.

RESULTS

MBCT reduced the anxiety and increased the mindfulness abilities of patients. After MBCT, patients had reduced ReHo in broad regions of the limbic system, along with increased DMN functional connectivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula. Overlapping regions of reduced ReHo and increased DMN functional connectivity were observed in the mid-cingulate cortex (MCC) and bilateral insula. The increased PCC-ACC and PCC-insula functional connectivity following MBCT were related to anxiety improvements, suggesting a potential therapeutic mechanism for mindfulness-based therapies.

DISCUSSION

Group MBCT treatment appears to have effectively reduced anxiety symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate GAD. Activation and functional connectivity appeared significantly different across some limbic regions after MBCT treatment. The salience network showed reduced ReHo and increased connectivity to the PCC. The DMN functional connectivity of the MCC may indicate reduced anxiety and improved mindfulness in GAD patients.

The neural correlates of academic self-concept in adolescence and the relation to making future-oriented academic choices

This study examined the role of brain regions involved in academic self-evaluation in relation to problems with study orientation. For this purpose, 48 participants between ages 14-20 years evaluated themselves on academic traits sentences in an fMRI session. In addition, participants completed an orientation to study choice questionnaire, evaluated the importance of academic traits, and completed a reading and shortened IQ test as an index of cognitive performance. Behavioral results showed that academic self-evaluations were a more important predictor for problems with study orientation compared to subjective academic importance or academic performance. On a neural level, we found that individual differences in the positivity of academic self-evaluations were reflected in increased precuneus activity. Moreover, precuneus activity mediated the relation between academic self positivity and problems with study orientation. Together, these findings support the importance of studying academic self-concept and its neural correlates in the educational decision-making process.

Direct and reflected self-concept show increasing similarity across adolescence: A functional neuroimaging study

In adolescence, the perceived opinions of others are important in the construction of one’s self-concept. Previous studies found involvement of medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) and temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) in direct (own perspective) and reflected (perceived perspective of others) self-evaluations, but no studies to date examined differences in these processes across adolescence. In this study, 150 adolescents between 11 and 21 years old evaluated their traits from their own perspective and from the perceived perspective of peers in a fMRI session. Results showed overlapping behavioural and neural measures for direct and reflected self-evaluations, in mPFC, precuneus and right TPJ. The difference in behavioural ratings declined with age, and this pattern was mirrored by activity in the mPFC, showing a diminishing difference in activation for direct > reflected self-evaluations with increasing age. Right TPJ was engaged more strongly for reflected > direct evaluations in adolescents who were less positive about themselves, and those who showed who showed less item-by-item agreement between direct and reflected self-evaluations. Together, the results suggest that the internalization of others’ opinions in constructing a self-concept occurs on both the behavioural and neural levels across adolescence, which may aid in developing a stable self-concept.

Sex differences in own and other body perception

Own body perception, and differentiating and comparing one's body to another person's body, are common cognitive functions that have relevance for self-identity and social interactions. In several psychiatric conditions, including anorexia nervosa, body dysmorphic disorder, gender dysphoria, and autism spectrum disorder, self and own body perception, as well as aspects of social communication are disturbed. Despite most of these conditions having skewed prevalence sex ratios, little is known about whether the neural basis of own body perception differs between the sexes. We addressed this question by investigating brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a Body Perception task in 15 male and 15 female healthy participants. Participants viewed their own body, bodies of same-sex, or opposite-sex other people, and rated the degree that they appeared like themselves. We found that men and women did not differ in the pattern of brain activation during own body perception compared to a scrambled control image. However, when viewing images of other bodies of same-sex or opposite-sex, men showed significantly stronger activations in attention-related and reward-related brain regions, whereas women engaged stronger activations in striatal, medial-prefrontal, and insular cortices, when viewing the own body compared to other images of the opposite sex. It is possible that other body images, particularly of the opposite sex, may be of greater salience for men, whereas images of own bodies may be more salient for women. These observations provide tentative neurobiological correlates to why women may be more vulnerable than men to conditions involving own body perception.

The neural signature of self-concept development in adolescence: The role of domain and valence distinctions

Neuroimaging studies in adults showed that cortical midline regions including medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) are important in self-evaluations. The goals of this study were to investigate the contribution of these regions to self-evaluations in late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, and to examine whether these differed per domain (academic, physical and prosocial) and valence (positive versus negative). Also, we tested whether this activation changes across adolescence. For this purpose, participants between ages 11–21-years (N = 150) evaluated themselves on trait sentences in an fMRI session. Behaviorally, adolescents rated their academic traits less positively than children and young adults. The neural analyses showed that evaluating self-traits versus a control condition was associated with increased activity in mPFC (domain-general effect), and positive traits were associated with increased activity in ventral mPFC (valence effect). Self-related mPFC activation increased linearly with age, but only for evaluating physical traits. Furthermore, an adolescent-specific decrease in striatum activation for positive self traits was found. Finally, we found domain-specific neural activity for evaluating traits in physical (dorsolateral PFC, dorsal mPFC) and academic (PPC) domains. Together, these results highlight the importance of domain distinctions when studying self-concept development in late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood.