title: Self, cortical midline structures and the resting state: Implications for Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Different aspects of the self have been reported to be affected in many neurological or psychiatric diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), including mainly higher-level cognitive self-unawareness. This higher sense of self-awareness is most likely related to and dependent on episodic memory, due to the proper integration of ourselves in time, with a permanent conservation of ourselves (i.e., sense of continuity across time). Reviewing studies in this field, our objective is thus to raise possible explanations, especially with the help of neuroimaging studies, for where such self-awareness deficits originate in AD patients. We describe not only episodic (and autobiographical memory) impairment in patients, but also the important role of cortical midline structures, the Default Mode Network, and the resting state (intrinsic brain activity) for the processing of self-related information.
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil. Electronic address: weiler_marina@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weiler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Northoff
authors.affiliation: Unit for Neuropsychology and Neurolinguistics, Department of Neurology, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil.
authors.forename: Benito Pereira
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Damasceno
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil; Unit for Neuropsychology and Neurolinguistics, Department of Neurology, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcio Luiz Figueredo
authors.initials: MLF
authors.lastname: Balthazar
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D001921:Brain; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D059906:Neuroimaging; D013995:Time
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Autobiographical memory; Cortical midline structures; Default mode network; Intrinsic activity; Resting state; Self-awareness; Temporal continuity