title: Neural correlates of reflection on actual versus ideal self-discrepancy.
abstract: Subjective feelings of actual/ideal self-discrepancy vary across individuals and influence one's own affective states. However, the neural correlates of actual/ideal self-discrepancy and their genetic individual differences remain unknown. We investigated neural correlates of actual/ideal self-discrepancy and their associations with the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) that moderates human affective states during self-reflection. We scanned short/short and long/long allele carriers of 5-HTTLPR, using functional MRI, during reflection on the distance between actual and ideal self in personality traits. We found that larger actual/ideal self-discrepancy was associated with activations in the ventral/dorsal striatum and dorsal medial and lateral prefrontal cortices. Moreover, these brain activities were stronger in short/short than long/long allele carriers and predicted self-report of life satisfaction in short/short carriers but trait depression in long/long carriers. Our findings revealed neural substrates of actual/ideal self-discrepancy and their associations with affective states that are sensitive to individuals' genetic makeup.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yina
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xinhuai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yuanye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: shan@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shihui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000483:Alleles; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
keywords: 5-HTTLPR; Life satisfaction; Self-discrepancy; Striatum; fMRI