Cortical midline structures and the self.
For a long time philosophers and psychologists have been intrigued by the question of the self. More recently, this has become a topic of discussion in neuroscience. In this article, we suggest that the processing of self-referential stimuli in cortical midline structures (CMS) is a fundamental component in generating a model of the self. Drawing from neuroimaging studies, we distinguish between representation, monitoring, evaluation and integration of self-referential stimuli. All of these subfunctions are related to distinct regions within the CMS. This relationship between self-referential processing and CMS might provide novel insight into the neural correlates underlying the constitution of the self.
Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. gnorthof@bidmc.harvard.edu
Georg
G
Northoff
Felix
F
Bermpohl
D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D004532:Ego; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology