Functional connectivity mapping of regions associated with self- and other-processing

Abstract

Neuroscience literature increasingly suggests a conceptual self composed of interacting neural regions, rather than independent local activations, yet such claims have yet to be investigated. We, thus, combined task-dependent meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) with task-independent resting-state (RS) connectivity analysis to delineate the neural network of the self, across both states. Given psychological evidence implicating the self's interdependence on social information, we also delineated the neural network underlying conceptual other-processing. To elucidate the relation between the self-/other-networks and their function, we mined the MACM metadata to generate a cognitive-behavioral profile for an empirically identified region specific to conceptual self, the pregenual anterior cingulate (pACC), and conceptual other, posterior cingulate/precuneus (PCC/PC). Mining of 7,200 published, task-dependent, neuroimaging studies, using healthy human subjects, yielded 193 studies activating the self-related seed and were conjoined with RS connectivity analysis to delineate a differentiated self-network composed of the pACC (seed) and anterior insula, relative to other functional connectivity. Additionally, 106 studies activating the other-related seed were conjoined with RS connectivity analysis to delineate a differentiated other-network of PCC/PC (seed) and angular gyrus/temporoparietal junction, relative to self-functional connectivity. The self-network seed related to emotional conflict resolution and motivational processing, whereas the other-network seed related to socially oriented processing and contextual information integration. Notably, our findings revealed shared RS connectivity between ensuing self-/other-networks within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex, suggesting self-updating via integration of self-relevant social information. We, therefore, present initial neurobiological evidence corroborating the increasing claims of an intricate self-network, the architecture of which may promote social value processing.

Keywords: connectivity; posterior cingulate; precuneus; rostral anterior cingulate; self-concept; social cognition; social value.

Figure 1

Location of the seed regions. Seeds were drawn from an earlier coordinate‐based neuroimaging meta‐analysis on conceptual self versus conceptual other, which yielded two clusters of convergent brain activity in the pregenual anterior cingulate (red) for conceptual self > conceptual other (i.e., conceptual self) and in the posterior cingulate/precuneus (blue) for conceptual other > conceptual self [i.e., conceptual other; Murray et al., 2012]. The centers of mass of the pregenual anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate/precuneus are (x, y, z) −2, 38, 16 and 2, −61, 26, respectively. The seeds were rendered into a T1‐weighted MNI single subject template using Mango (multi‐image analysis graphical user interface (GUI); http://ric.uthscsa.edu/mango/). Crosshairs are positioned at (x, y, z) 0, 0, 10. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com.]

Figure 2

MACM only significant coactivations of conceptual self‐ and other‐seeds. Figure presents significant coactivations of (A) the conceptual self‐(i.e., self) seed (pregenual anterior cingulate) as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual other‐(i.e., other) seed (posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus) and (B) the conceptual other‐seed as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual self‐seed. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com.]

Figure 3

Resting‐state (RS) only functional connectivity of the conceptual self and other seeds. Figure represents significant RS correlations of (A) the conceptual self‐ (i.e. self) seed (pregenual anterior cingulate) as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual other‐ (i.e., other) seed (posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus), (B) the conceptual other‐seed as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual self, and of (C) the conjunction of both conceptual self‐ and other‐seeds. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com.]

Figure 4

MACM and RS functional connectivity for conceptual self and other seeds. Figure presents conjunction of significant MACM coactivations and RS correlations of (A) the conceptual self‐(i.e., self) seed (pregenual anterior cingulate) as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual other‐(i.e., other) seed (posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus) and (B) the conceptual other seed as a main effect and when contrasted against the conceptual self. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com.]

Figure 5

Domain and paradigm associations of the conceptual self‐seed and conceptual other‐seed. Inference scales represent a probabilistic measure of association between a cognitive concept and a brain activity. BrainMap metadata were used to perform functional forward (left column) and reverse (right column) inference for both conceptual self‐(i.e., self) and conceptual other‐(i.e., other) seeds. Conceptual self‐seed refers to the pregenual anterior cingulate and the conceptual other‐seed refers to the posterior cingulate/precuneus. Forward inference determines above‐chance brain activity given the presence of a term, while reverse inference determines the above‐chance probability of a term given observed brain activity. Base rate denotes the general probability of BrainMap activation in the cluster. The inference scales thus represent the likelihood of a significant term to be associated with a given seed. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com.]