Brain connectivity and the self: the case of cerebral disconnection.
Over the past several years, the study of self-related cognition has garnered increasing interest amongst psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists. Concomitantly, lesion and neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the importance of intact cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical connections for supporting high-level cognitive functions. Commissurotomy or "split-brain" patients provide unique insights into the role of the cerebral commissures in maintaining an individual's sense of self, as well as into the unique self-representation capabilities of each cerebral hemisphere. Here we review empirical work examining the integrity of self-related processes in patients with various disconnection syndromes, focusing on studies of self-recognition, ownership, and agency. Taken together, this body of work suggests that an intact corpus callosum enabling interhemispheric transfer is necessary for some, but not all types of self-representations.
Uddin
Lucina Q
LQ
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304, USA. lucina@stanford.edu
D001364:Awareness; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000503:physiopathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004532:Ego; D006801:Humans; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D014163:Transfer, Psychology