Self-esteem modulates dorsal anterior cingulate cortical response in self-referential processing

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 50; no. 7; pp. 1267 - 1270
• Main Authors: Yang, Juan, Dedovic, Katarina, Chen, Weihai, Zhang, Qinglin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; Feedback; Female; fMRI; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - blood supply; Gyrus Cinguli - physiology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Information processing; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Oxygen - blood; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Self; Self-Assessment; Self-esteem; Semantics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; fMRI; Self-esteem; Human; Cingulate cortex; Central nervous system; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Cognition; Self esteem; Self; Encephalon
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.02.010

► The neural mechanism underlying association between levels of self-esteem and processing of self-relevant information was investigated. ► Participants finished self-reflection, other-reflection and semantic-evaluation tasks when they were scanned. ► Participants also finished Rosenberg self-esteem scale. ► There was a negative correlation between the self-esteem scores and the changes in activation of dACC in Self versus Other contrast. Self-esteem can be defined as evaluations that individuals make about their worth as human beings. These evaluations are in part based on how we evaluate ourselves on our abilities, values, opinions, etc. compared with others or our past or ideal self; and they are also influenced by a thought that what others may think about us. Studies to date investigating the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in self-esteem have focused mostly on the latter process (i.e. on how self-esteem is associated with neural correlates of processing feedback from others). However, given that people spend a lot of time thinking about themselves and evaluating their worth, we aimed to investigate neural mechanism underlying the association between levels of self-esteem and processing of self-relevant information. Seventeen participants completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan during which they were asked to evaluate whether a given statement is true about them (Self), an acquaintance of theirs (Other), or about general knowledge (Semantic). A whole brain correlational analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between levels of self-esteem and changes in activation of dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus (dACC, BA32) in response to evaluating self-relevant information (Self versus Other contrast). This result extends previous findings implicating this region in the association between processing evaluative feedback and levels of self-esteem and suggests that activity in this region is affected by self-esteem levels also when individuals are engaged in self-referencing and self-evaluation. Future studies should investigate whether these associations are affected differently based on valence of self-evaluations.