title: Multistability of the Brain Network for Self-other Processing.
abstract: Early fMRI studies suggested that brain areas processing self-related and other-related information were highly overlapping. Hypothesising functional localisation of the cortex, researchers have tried to locate "self-specific" and "other-specific" regions within these overlapping areas by subtracting suspected confounding signals in task-based fMRI experiments. Inspired by recent advances in whole-brain dynamic modelling, we instead explored an alternative hypothesis that similar spatial activation patterns could be associated with different processing modes in the form of different synchronisation patterns. Combining an automated synthesis of fMRI data with a presumption-free diffusion spectrum image (DSI) fibre-tracking algorithm, we isolated a network putatively composed of brain areas and white matter tracts involved in self-other processing. We sampled synchronisation patterns from the dynamical systems of this network using various combinations of physiological parameters. Our results showed that the self-other processing network, with simulated gamma-band activity, tended to stabilise at a number of distinct synchronisation patterns. This phenomenon, termed "multistability," could serve as an alternative model in theorising the mechanism of processing self-other information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, 10617 Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, 10617 Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tsung-Ren
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D063132:Connectome / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*