title: An exploratory fMRI study into inferences of self-agency.
abstract: Building on the recent findings that the experience of self-agency over actions and corresponding outcomes can also rely on cognitive inferential processes, rather than motor prediction processes, this study aims to investigate the brain areas involved in agency inference processing in a setting where action and outcome are independent. Twenty-three right-handed subjects were scanned using functional MRI while performing an agency inference task, in which action outcomes matched or mismatched goals. The experience of self-agency was associated with increased activation in the inferior parietal lobule as well as the bilateral (medial) superior frontal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. These findings provide new and exciting insights in the processing of inferential self-agency, providing a first look at the neural correlates of self-agency processing independent of motor-prediction processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Department of Psychiatry of the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Department of Psychiatry of the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands R.A.Renes@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Renes
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Department of Psychiatry of the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Neeltje E M
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: van Haren
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Department of Psychiatry of the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aarts
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Department of Psychiatry of the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Matthijs
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vink
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: fMRI; inference; matching; medial prefrontal cortex; self-agency