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. 2017 Jun 29;12(6):e0180136.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180136. eCollection 2017.

Absence of EEG correlates of self-referential processing depth in ALS

Tatiana Fomina  1   2 , Sebastian Weichwald  1 , Matthis Synofzik  3   4   5 , Jenifer Just  3   4   5 , Ludger Schöls  3   4   5 , Bernhard Schölkopf  1 , Moritz Grosse-Wentrup  1
Affiliations

Absence of EEG correlates of self-referential processing depth in ALS

Tatiana Fomina et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Self-referential processing is a key cognitive process, associated with the serotonergic system and the default mode network (DMN). Decreased levels of serotonin and reduced activations of the DMN observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suggest that self-referential processing might be altered in patients with ALS. Here, we investigate the effects of ALS on the electroencephalography correlates of self-referential thinking. We find that electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of self-referential thinking are present in healthy individuals, but not in those with ALS. In particular, thinking about themselves or others significantly modulates the bandpower in the medial prefrontal cortex in healthy individuals, but not in ALS patients. This finding supports the view of ALS as a complex multisystem disorder which, as shown here, includes dysfunctional processing of the medial prefrontal cortex. It points towards possible alterations of self-consciousness in ALS patients, which might have important consequences for patients' self-conceptions, personal relations, and decision-making.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Motivation.
Overview of the studies relating ALS and self-referential processing.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The beamformer target.
Left hemisphere medial view: the voxels chosen for the beamformer are shown in red.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Mean MPFC log-bandpower is modulated by the conditions “self”, “friend”, “celebrity”, “count”.
A. Healthy individuals, and B. ALS patients. Inset plot shows for every frequency band the modulation of the mean log-bandpowers in the self-referential conditions relative to the control (“count”) condition. The mean log-bandpower is averaged over subjects and trials for every frequency band. γ1 indicates low γ and γ2 indicates high γ. Note that modulations relative to the control condition were used only for visualisation (and not for the ANOVA).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Healthy controls: p-value brain map.
Color shows voxels with p < 0.05.
Fig 5
Fig 5. ALS patients: p-value brain map.
Color shows voxels with p < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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