The temporal profile of self-prioritization

Personal relevance exerts a powerful influence on decisional processing, such that arbitrary stimuli associated with the self are classified more rapidly than identical material linked with other people. Notwithstanding numerous demonstrations of this facilitatory effect, it remains unclear whether self-prioritization is a temporally stable outcome of decision-making. Accordingly, using a shape-label matching task in combination with computational modeling, the current experiment investigated this matter. The results were informative. First, regardless of the target of comparison (i.e., friend or stranger), self-prioritization was a persistent product of decision-making across the testing session. Second, a variant of the standard drift diffusion model in which decisional boundaries collapsed gradually over the course of the task best fit the observed data. Third, whereas the efficiency of stimulus processing increased for other-related stimuli during the task, it decreased for self-related material. Collectively, these findings advance understanding of the temporal profile of self-prioritization.

Survival processing occupies the central bottleneck of cognitive processing: A psychological refractory period analysis

Words judged for relevance in a survival situation are remembered better than words judged for relevance in a nonsurvival context. This survival processing effect has been explained by selective tuning of human memory during evolution to process and retain information specifically relevant for survival. According to the richness-of-encoding hypothesis the survival processing effect arises from a domain-general mechanism-namely, a particularly rich and distinct form of encoding. This form of information processing is effortful and requires limited cognitive capacities. In our experiment, we used the well-established psychological refractory period framework in conjunction with the effect propagation logic to assess the role of central cognitive resources for the survival processing effect. Our data demonstrate that the survival memory advantage indeed relies on the capacity-limited central stage of cognitive processing. Thus, rating words in the context of a survival scenario involves central processing resources to a greater amount than rating words in a nonsurvival control condition. We discuss implications for theories of the survival processing effect.

Self-Prioritization Reconsidered: Scrutinizing Three Claims

Such is the power of self-relevance, it has been argued that even arbitrary stimuli (e.g., shapes, lines, colors) with no prior personal connection are privileged during information processing following their association with the self (i.e., self-prioritization). This prioritization effect, moreover, is deemed to be stimulus driven (i.e., automatic), grounded in perception, and supported by specialized processing operations. Here, however, we scrutinize these claims and challenge this viewpoint. Although self-relevance unquestionably influences information processing, we contend that, at least at present, there is limited evidence to suggest that the prioritization of arbitrary self-related stimuli is compulsory, penetrates perception, and is underpinned by activity in a dedicated neural network. Rather, self-prioritization appears to be a task-dependent product of ordinary cognitive processes.

Spatio-temporal brain dynamics of self-identity: an EEG source analysis of the current and past self

Current research on self-identity suggests that the self is settled in a unique mental representation updated across the lifespan in autobiographical memory. Spatio-temporal brain dynamics of these cognitive processes are poorly understood. ERP studies revealed early (N170-N250) and late (P3-LPC) waveforms modulations tracking the temporal processing of global face configuration, familiarity processes, and access to autobiographical contents. Neuroimaging studies revealed that such processes encompass face-specific regions of the occipitotemporal cortex, and medial cortical regions tracing the self-identity into autobiographical memory across the life span. The present study combined both approaches, analyzing brain source power using a data-driven, beamforming approach. Face recognition was used in two separate tasks: identity (self, close friend and unknown) and life stages (childhood, adolescence, adulthood) recognition. The main areas observed were specific-face areas (fusiform area), autobiographical memory areas (medial prefrontal cortex, parahippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus), along with executive areas (dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior temporal cortices). The cluster-permutation test yielded no significant early effects (150-200 ms). However, during the 250-300 ms time window, the precuneus and the fusiform cortices exhibited larger activation to familiar compared to unknown faces, regardless of life stages. Subsequently (300-600 ms), the medial prefrontal cortex discriminates between self-identity vs. close-familiar and unknown. Moreover, significant effects were found in the cluster-permutation test specifically on self-identity discriminating between adulthood from adolescence and childhood. These findings suggest that recognizing self-identity from other facial identities (diachronic self) comprises the temporal coordination of anterior and posterior areas. While mPFC maintained an updated representation of self-identity (diachronic self) based on actual rewarding value, the dlPFC, FG, MTG, paraHC, PCC was sensitive to different life stages of self-identity (synchronic self) during the access to autobiographical memory.

Self-Prioritization Effect in Children and Adults

Self-related information is processed with priority, an effect known as the self-prioritization effect (SPE). Recent studies on SPE show enhanced cognitive processing of the newly learned self-association compared to non-self (such as mother, friend, and stranger) associations among younger and older adults. However, developmental influences on the magnitude of SPE remain poorly understood. In order to examine the developmental impacts on the SPE, in the present study, we recruited participants ranging from 9–22 years of age and divided them into three age groups: older children (age 9–13), teenagers (age 14–17), and young adult (age 18–22) and compared their performance in the matching judgment task. Our results show more significant bias toward self than mother, friend, or stranger condition in all the three age groups, showing robust SPE in the 9-22-year-old age group. We also observed a more significant bias toward mother-association than friend and stranger-association in all the age groups showing an enhanced bias toward mother. Our study extends the SPE in older children and teenagers and shows that SPE remains robust and stable throughout childhood.

Investigation of reward effects in overlapping dual-task situations

In dual-task (DT) situations, performance in reaction time and error rates decrease compared with single-task situations. These performance decrements are usually explained with the serial processing at the response selection stage constituting a bottleneck. Evidence for this assumption stems from the observation that response times for the second task (task 2; RT 2) increase with decreasing stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA). In this study, we investigated the effect of reward on bottleneck processing in DTs. In Experiment 1, we addressed two questions. First, does reward provided for task 2 performance affect task 2 performance, or does it affect task 1 performance? To conclude whether reward affected task 2 or task 1 performance, we relied on the psychological refractory period paradigm (PRP) as a chronometric tool. Second, we asked for the locus of the reward effect within the DT stream. We demonstrated shorter RTs in task 1 in a rewarded compared with an un-rewarded condition indicating reward affected task 1 processing. Furthermore, this reward effect is propagated onto task 2 at short SOA suggesting that the locus of the reward effect can be pinpointed before or at the bottleneck of task 1. In Experiment 2, we tested for the locus of the effect propagation onto task 2. To this end, we implemented an additional difficulty manipulation of the response selection of task 2 and found that the reward effect is propagated from task 1 onto the response selection stage of task 2.

Self-prioritization depends on assumed task-relevance of self-association

We conducted three experiments to test the effect of assumed task-relevance of self-association on the self-prioritization effect (SPE). Participants were first performing the standard matching task, and then a pseudo-word matching task, in which familiar labels from the standard task were replaced with pseudo-words. In the pseudo-words task, the association between stimuli and the self was, in fact, task-irrelevant. Learning instructions were varied to make participants believe that the self-association was task-relevant (Experiments 1 and 3) or task-irrelevant (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we told participants that geometrical shapes represent specific identities (self, friend, none) and pseudo-words' meanings reflect each of these identities to make participants believe that semantic associations of pseudo-words were task-relevant. In this experiment, a SPE was present in the pseudo-words task. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, but participants were told to form association pairs between pseudo-words and shapes, and not pseudo-words and identities. Thus, because the matching task presented only shapes and pseudo-words, participants were led to correctly believe that associations were task-irrelevant. Under these conditions, we did not observe a SPE in the pseudo-words task. Finally, in Experiment 3, participants were told that pseudo-words are "paired with" identities, making their relations with identities weaker than in Experiment 1, but still task-relevant. The SPE in the pseudo-word task reappeared. Together, the results suggest that a SPE can be observed in the absence of any stimuli with established self-associations, but only if self-associations are represented as task-relevant.

The impact of newly self-associated pictorial and letter-based stimuli in attention holding

Familiar self-associated stimuli such as one's own name and face are more efficient in guiding attention than other-associated stimuli. Remarkably, a short association of geometric shapes to the self versus others is sufficient to induce prioritization of the self- (vs. other-) associated shape in a matching task. Replications with other tasks measuring different stages of information processing, however, produced mixed results. It thus remains unclear whether the effect can be attributed to the newly associated stimulus alone. Therefore, in Study 1 (N = 28), we implemented the matching task and additionally compared the effectiveness of familiar versus newly self-associated stimuli with that of stranger-related stimuli to hold attention as cues in a dot-probe task. The self and the stranger were either represented by familiar labels ("I" vs. "stranger"), newly associated shapes, or shape-label pairs. In Study 2 (N = 31), participants associated nonwords to themselves and a stranger to compare the attentional impact of familiar and new self-associated letter combinations. Thus, we addressed the potential limitation due to modality present in former studies-which used mostly pictorial stimuli as new representations and letter combinations as familiar representations. Across both studies, in the dot-probe task, responses were faster towards targets following the self-associated stimuli compared with stranger-associated stimuli but only when familiar representations were used. Responses in the matching task were faster when confirming the correct self-associated pair. The results suggest that, under conditions of attentional competition, the prioritization of self-associated compared with other-associated cues does not generalize to newly associated stimuli.

More or less of me and you: self-relevance augments the effects of item probability on stimulus prioritization

Self-relevance exerts a powerful influence on information processing. Compared to material associated with other people, personally meaningful stimuli are prioritized during decision-making. Further exploring the character of this effect, here we considered the extent to which stimulus enhancement is impacted by the frequency of self-relevant versus friend-relevant material. In a matching task, participants reported whether shape-label stimulus pairs corresponded to previously learned associations (e.g., triangle = self, square = friend). Crucially however, before the task commenced, stimulus-based expectancies were provided indicating the probability with which both self- and friend-related shapes would be encountered. The results revealed that task performance was impacted by the frequency of stimulus presentation in combination with the personal relevance of the items. When self- and friend-related shapes appeared with equal frequencies, a self-prioritization effect emerged (Expt. 1). Additionally, in both confirmatory (Expt. 2) and dis-confirmatory (Expt. 3) task contexts, stimuli that were encountered frequently (vs. infrequently) were prioritized, an effect that was most pronounced for self-relevant (vs. friend-relevant) items. Further computational analyses indicated that, in each of the reported experiments, differences in performance were underpinned by variation in the rate of information uptake, with evidence extracted more rapidly from self-relevant compared to friend-relevant stimuli. These findings advance our understanding of the emergence and origin of stimulus-prioritization effects during decisional processing.

Judging me and you: Task design modulates self-prioritization

An extensive literature has revealed the benefits of self-relevance during stimulus processing. Compared to material associated with other persons (e.g., friend, mother), self-relevant information elicits faster and more accurate responses (i.e., the self-prioritization effect). Probing the boundary conditions of this effect, recent research has sought to identify whether the advantages of self-relevance can be attenuated (or even eliminated) under certain circumstances. Continuing in this tradition, here we explored the extent to which basic aspects of the task design modulate self-prioritization. The results of two experiments demonstrated just such an effect. During both simultaneous (i.e., Expt. 1) and sequential (i.e., Expt. 2) versions of a standard shape-label matching task, self-prioritization was reduced when stimulus presentation was blocked (i.e., self- or friend-relevant items) compared to intermixed (i.e., self- and friend-relevant items). These findings highlight both the persistence of self-prioritization and its sensitivity to task-related variation.

The Self-Prioritization Effect: Self-referential processing in movement highlights modulation at multiple stages

A wealth of recent research supports the validity of the Self-Prioritization Effect (SPE)—the performance advantage for responses to self-associated as compared with other-person-associated stimuli in a shape–label matching task. However, inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the particular stage(s) of information processing that are influenced. In one account, self-prioritization modulates multiple stages of processing, whereas according to a competing account, self-prioritization is driven solely by a modulation in central-stage information-processing. To decide between these two possibilities, the present study tested whether the self-advantage in arm movements previously reported could reflect a response bias using visual feedback (Experiment 1), or approach motivation processes (Experiments 1 and 2). In Experiment 1, visual feedback was occluded in a ballistic movement-time variant of the matching task, whereas in Experiment 2, task responses were directed away from the stimuli and the participant’s body. The advantage for self in arm-movement responses emerged in both experiments. The findings indicate that the self-advantage in arm-movement responses does not depend on the use of visual feedback or on a self/stimuli-directed response. They further indicate that self-relevance can modulate movement responses (predominantly) using proprioceptive, kinaesthetic, and tactile information. These findings support the view that self-relevance modulates arm-movement responses, countering the suggestion that self-prioritization only influences central-stage processes, and consistent with a multiple-stage influence instead.

Does Self-Associating a Geometric Shape Immediately Cause Attentional Prioritization?

In many cognitive tasks, stimuli associated with one's self elicit faster responses than stimuli associated with others. This is true for familiar self-representations (e.g., one's own name), for new self-associated stimuli, and for combinations of both. The current research disentangles the potential of self- versus stranger-representations for familiar, new, and paired (familiar + new) stimuli to guide attention. In Study 1 (N = 34), responses to familiar and new self- versus other representations were tested in a dot-probe task with a short stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA; 100 ms). Study 2 (N = 31) and Study 3 (N = 35) use a long SOA (1,000 ms) to test whether the findings are mirrored in inhibition of return (IOR). We observe significant performance differences for targets following self- versus stranger-associated stimuli (i.e., a cuing effect or IOR depending on the SOA length), yet only when familiar representations are present. This indicates that, under conditions of attentional competition between self- and stranger-representations, familiar self-representations impact the distribution of attention while new self-representations alone do not.

Self-prioritization during stimulus processing is not obligatory

An emerging literature has suggested that self-relevance automatically enhances stimulus processing (i.e., the self-prioritization effect). Specifically, during shape-label matching tasks, geometric shapes associated with the self are identified more rapidly than comparable stimuli paired with other targets (e.g., friend, stranger). Replicating and extending work that challenges the putative automaticity of this effect, here we hypothesized that self-relevance facilitates stimulus processing only when task sets draw attention to previously formed shape-label associations in memory. The results of a shape-classification task confirmed this prediction. Compared to shapes associated with a friend, those paired with the self were classified more rapidly when participants were required to report who the stimulus denoted (i.e., self or friend). In contrast, self-relevance failed to facilitate performance when participants judged either what the shape was (i.e., triangle or square, diamond or circle) or where it was located on the screen (i.e., above or below fixation). These findings further elucidate the conditions under which self-relevance does-and does not-influence stimulus processing.

When self-prioritization crosses the senses: Crossmodal self-prioritization demonstrated between vision and touch

The investigation of self-prioritization via a simple matching paradigm represents a new way of enhancing our knowledge about the processing of self-relevant content and also increases our understanding of the self-concept itself. By associating formerly neutral material with the self, and assessing the resulting prioritization of these newly formed self-associations, conclusions can be drawn concerning the effects of self-relevance without the burden of highly overlearned materials such as one's own name. This approach was used to gain further insights into the structure and complexity of self-associations: a tactile pattern was associated with the self and thereafter, the prioritization of the exact same visual pattern was assessed - enabling the investigation of crossmodal self-associations. The results demonstrate a prioritization of self-associated material that rapidly extends beyond the borders of a sensory modality in which it was first established.

Affective compatibility with the self modulates the self-prioritisation effect

The "self" shapes the way in which we process the world around us. It makes sense then, that self-related information is reliably prioritised over non self-related information in cognition. How might other factors such as self-compatibility shape the way self-relevant information is prioritised? The present work asks whether affective consistency between the self and arbitrarily self-associated stimuli influences the degree to which self-prioritisation can be observed. To this end, participants were asked to associate themselves with either a positive or a negative concept and to then indicate if a given stimulus (Experiment 1: Emotional faces; Experiment 2: Luminance cues) and an identity label matched. If affective consistency is key to self-prioritisation, negative constructs should dampen self-prioritisation and positive constructs should boost self-prioritisation because the self is universally construed as positive. Indeed, the results of the two experiments indicate that participants who made the negative association had more difficulty confirming whether the stimulus and the label matched than those who made the positive association. The implications of this finding are discussed in terms of "self" theories that span various levels of information processing. The data reveal that self-referential information processing goes beyond a default elevation of priority to the self.

Capacity limitations of processing presuppositions triggered by determiners

Definite determiners trigger existence- and uniqueness-presuppositions, that is, the speaker assumes that it is taken for granted that there exists exactly one of the mentioned object in the relevant discourse. Indefinite determiners are associated with anti-uniqueness, that is, that there are several of the mentioned object. Applying the Maximize Presupposition principle, this additional meaning component arises as an anti-presupposition and involves first considering the definite determiner's uniqueness-presupposition and then its negation. We here investigate processing of the two determiners in more detail and ask whether this processing is automatic or requires limited central capacities. To do so, we employed the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) approach and the locus of slack-logic. We observed more difficult processing for the indefinite compared to the definite determiner in felicitous sentences, and also in infelicitous compared to felicitous sentences. Further, immediate processing of the indefinite determiner appears capacity-limited. These results support the Maximize Presupposition principle and are an important step forward toward understanding cognitive processing of presuppositions.

Temporal integration as "common currency" of brain and self-scale-free activity in resting-state EEG correlates with temporal delay effects on self-relatedness

The self is a multifaceted phenomenon that integrates information and experience across multiple time scales. How temporal integration on the psychological level of the self is related to temporal integration on the neuronal level remains unclear. To investigate temporal integration on the psychological level, we modified a well-established self-matching paradigm by inserting temporal delays. On the neuronal level, we indexed temporal integration in resting-state EEG by two related measures of scale-free dynamics, the power law exponent and autocorrelation window. We hypothesized that the previously established self-prioritization effect, measured as decreased response times or increased accuracy for self-related stimuli, would change with the insertion of different temporal delays between the paired stimuli, and that these changes would be related to temporal integration on the neuronal level. We found a significant self-prioritization effect on accuracy in all conditions with delays, indicating stronger temporal integration of self-related stimuli. Further, we observed a relationship between temporal integration on psychological and neuronal levels: higher degrees of neuronal integration, that is, higher power-law exponent and longer autocorrelation window, during resting-state EEG were related to a stronger increase in the self-prioritization effect across longer temporal delays. We conclude that temporal integration on the neuronal level serves as a template for temporal integration of the self on the psychological level. Temporal integration can thus be conceived as the "common currency" of neuronal and psychological levels of self.

Sticking together? Re-binding previous other-associated stimuli interferes with self-verification but not partner-verification

The self-prioritisation and we-prioritisation effects can be observed through faster responses to self-stimuli (self and group) than non-self-stimuli. It remains uncertain if we-prioritisation extends to individual members of one's own group. In light of recent work that implicates memory-based processes in identity-prioritisation effects, the present experiment was developed to determine whether a task-partner's identity relevant information also benefits from an enhanced representation, despite conflicting evidence of partner-prioritisation. To this end, pairs of participants were recruited to perform a joint task. Each partner was assigned a shape and a stranger was also assigned a shape. Participants then completed a shape-to-label matching task where one participant responded if a shape and a label pair matched and the other responded if the shape and a label pair did not match. Halfway through the task the associated identities were switched such that the same shapes and labels were reassigned. Overall, a standard self-prioritisation effect was observed with match-responders making faster responses to self- over partner- and stranger-stimuli. After identities were remapped a decrement in performance was observed for self-trials relative to baseline self-responses. Conversely, responses were faster to partner- and stranger-stimuli relative to baseline performance for each stimulus type. Thus, no evidence was observed for an enhanced representation for task-partner-associated identities. However, an interaction between old and new memory traces for self- and other-associated identities does seem to interfere with self-retrieval and self-verification processes.

Creating a network of importance: The particular effects of self-relevance on stimulus processing

Several factors guide our attention and the way we process our surroundings. In that regard, there is an ongoing debate about the way we are influenced by stimuli that have a particular self-relevance for us. Recent findings suggest that self-relevance does not always capture our attention automatically. Instead, an interpretation of the literature might be that self-relevance serves as an associative advantage facilitating the integration of relevant stimuli into the self-concept. We compared the effect of self-relevant stimuli with the effect of negative stimuli in three tasks measuring different aspects of cognitive processing. We found a first dissociation suggesting that negative valence attracts attention while self-relevance does not, a second dissociation suggesting that self-relevance influences stimulus processing beyond attention-grabbing mechanisms and in the form of an "associative glue," while negative valence does not, and, last but not least, a third dissociation suggesting that self-relevance influences stimulus processing at a later stage than negative valence does.

It's not always about me: The effects of prior beliefs and stimulus prevalence on self-other prioritisation

Although self-relevance is widely acknowledged to enhance stimulus processing, the exclusivity of this effect remains open to question. In particular, in commonly adopted experimental paradigms, the prioritisation of self-relevant (vs. other-relevant) material may reflect the operation of a task-specific strategy rather than an obligatory facet of social-cognitive functioning. By changing basic aspects of the decisional context, it may therefore be possible to generate stimulus-prioritisation effects for targets other than the self. Based on the demonstration that ownership facilitates object categorisation (i.e., self-ownership effect), here we showed that stimulus prioritisation is sensitive to prior expectations about the prevalence of forthcoming objects (owned-by-self vs. owned-by-friend) and whether these beliefs are supported during the task. Under conditions of stimulus uncertainty (i.e., no prior beliefs), replicating previous research, objects were classified more rapidly when owned-by-self compared with owned-by-friend (Experiment 1). When, however, the frequency of stimulus presentation either confirmed (Experiment 2) or disconfirmed (Experiment 3) prior expectations, stimulus prioritisation was observed for the most prevalent objects regardless of their owner. A hierarchical drift diffusion model (HDDM) analysis further revealed that decisional bias was underpinned by differences in the evidential requirements of response generation. These findings underscore the flexibility of ownership effects (i.e., stimulus prioritisation) during object processing.

Self-relevance enhances evidence gathering during decision-making

Despite repeated demonstrations that self-relevant material is prioritized during stimulus appraisal, a number of unresolved issues remain. In particular, it is unclear if self-relevance facilitates task performance when stimuli are encountered under challenging processing conditions. To explore this issue, using a backward masking procedure, here participants were required to report if briefly presented objects (pencils and pens) had previously been assigned to the self or a best friend (i.e., object-ownership task). The results yielded a standard self-ownership effect, such that responses were faster and more accurate to self-owned (vs. friend-owned) objects. In addition, a drift diffusion model analysis indicated that this effect was underpinned by a stimulus bias. Specifically, evidence was accumulated more rapidly from self-owned compared to friend-owned stimuli. These findings further elucidate the extent and origin of self-prioritization during decisional processing.

Stranger to my face: Top-down and bottom-up effects underlying prioritization of images of one's face

Recent studies suggest that we rapidly and effortlessly associate neutral information with the self, leading to subsequent prioritization of this information in perception. However, the exact underlying processes behind these effects are not fully known. Here, we focus specifically on top-down and bottom-up processes involved in self-prioritization, and report results from three experiments involving face detection, using a sequential match-non-match task. Across the three experiments we asked participants to associate an unfamiliar face with the self (Experiment 1), to associate one's face with a stranger's name (Experiment 2), and to establish both associations simultaneously (Experiment 3). We found that while participants showed evidence of bottom-up prioritization of their real faces, they did not show such an effect for self-associated strangers' faces. However, the participants showed a robust self-related top-down effect; when presented with a self-related cue, they were later faster at classifying both subsequent correct and incorrect targets. Together, our results suggest that self-prioritization is underpinned by distinct top-down and bottom-up processes. We discuss our findings in the context of the proposal that the self acts as an "integrative glue", and suggest an interpretation of our results within the framework of predictive coding.

Self-related shapes can hold the eyes

Increasing evidence suggests that individuals are highly sensitive to self-related stimuli. Here, we report two experiments conducted to assess whether two schematic stimuli, arbitrarily associated with either the self or a stranger, can shape attention holding in an oculomotor task. In both experiments, participants first completed a manual matching task in which they were asked to associate the self and a stranger with two shapes (triangle vs. square). Then, in an oculomotor task, they were asked to perform a saccade from the centre of the screen towards a peripheral target while either the triangle or the square were centrally presented. In Experiment 1, saccades had to be performed on each trial-irrespective of the central shape-while in Experiment 2, saccades had to be performed only when the central shape was associated with either the self or the stranger, depending on block instruction. Participants were slower to initiate a saccade away from the central shape when this was associated with the self rather than with the stranger, but this pattern of results emerged only in Experiment 2. Overall, these data suggest that stimuli associated with the self through episodic learning can hold attention when the self/other distinction is a task-relevant dimension.

Searching for the inner self: evidence against a direct dependence of the self-prioritization effect on the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex

The processing of self-referential material is supposed to be located in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and in particular in the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). A reliable method to assess effects of self-relevance is the so-called matching paradigm in which the prioritization of newly learned self-associations in comparison to non-self-relevant associations can be measured. To assess the connection of activation in the VMPFC and self-referential processing, we measured the self-prioritization effect (SPE) before and after experimentally manipulating activation in the VMPFC. We applied either excitatory or inhibitory stimulation to the VMPFC via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In a sample of N = 65 healthy adults, we found a significant SPE before and after both types of stimulation and, remarkably, no systematic change of the SPE due to the stimulation. These results are evidential against a direct dependence of the SPE from activation in the VMPFC, indicating either that the SPE differs from other, more elaborate self-effects, and thereby is processed in different brain areas, or that the connection of SPE and VMPFC is correlational rather than causal.