title: The temporal structure of resting-state brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex predicts self-consciousness.
abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated an overlap between the neural substrate of resting-state activity and self-related processing in the cortical midline structures (CMS). However, the neural and psychological mechanisms mediating this so-called "rest-self overlap" remain unclear. To investigate the neural mechanisms, we estimated the temporal structure of spontaneous/resting-state activity, e.g. its long-range temporal correlations or self-affinity across time as indexed by the power-law exponent (PLE). The PLE was obtained in resting-state activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in 47 healthy subjects by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We performed correlation analyses of the PLE and Revised Self-Consciousness Scale (SCSR) scores, which enabled us to access different dimensions of self-consciousness and specified rest-self overlap in a psychological regard. The PLE in the MPFC's resting-state activity correlated with private self-consciousness scores from the SCSR. Conversely, we found no correlation between the PLE and the other subscales of the SCSR (public, social) or between other resting-state measures, including functional connectivity, and the SCSR subscales. This is the first evidence for the association between the scale-free dynamics of resting-state activity in the CMS and the private dimension of self-consciousness. This finding implies the relationship of especially the private dimension of self with the temporal structure of resting-state activity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4. Electronic address: Dr.Zirui.Huang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zirui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8M5.
authors.forename: Natsuho
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Obara
authors.affiliation: Swimming Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3C5.
authors.forename: Henry Hap
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S2.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pokorny
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, PR China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, PR China; Taipei Medical University, Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Brain and Consciousness Research Center, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Northoff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cortical midline structures; Resting-state fMRI; Scale-free brain dynamics; Self-consciousness