title: What is the self? A psychobiological perspective.
abstract: Philosophers have long struggled with questions about the nature of personal identity and of the self, with some viewing the self as a transcendent entity, and others arguing that the self is a constructed fiction. An approach based in cognitive-affective neuroscience emphasizes that self-related structures and processes are based in the brain-mind, and emerge within the social processes of human development. Alterations in such structures and processes are present in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, and neuropsychiatric lesion and functional brain imaging studies have led to more detailed awareness of the precise neuronal circuitry underlying self-representations. A cognitive-affective neuroscience approach provides a conceptual basis from which clinical research can further explore how best to assess and treat a wide range of disruptions to the self.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Dan J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment