TY - JOUR
T1 - Face-specific and domain-general characteristics of cortical responses during self-recognition
AU - Sugiura, Motoaki
AU - Sassa, Yuko
AU - Jeong, Hyeonjeong
AU - Horie, Kaoru
AU - Sato, Shigeru
AU - Kawashima, Ryuta
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Atsushi Sekiguchi, Keisuke Wakusawa, and Wataru Suzuki for helpful suggestions regarding the manuscript. This study was supported by the JST/RISTEX, JST/CREST, a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (KAKENHI 18680026) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), and the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program (MEXT), “A Strategic Research and Education Center for an Integrated Approach to Language and Cognition” (Tohoku University).
Copyright:
Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008/8/1
Y1 - 2008/8/1
N2 - The ability of visual self-recognition in animals and infants is considered a hallmark of the domain-general cognitive representation of the self, which also underpins higher social ability. Cortical regions activated during self-face recognition in human adults have been accordingly expected to play the domain-general role in self-processing. However, there is no evidence of the involvement of this network in non-face domains. We compared cortical responses during face and name recognition of self, a friend, and an unfamiliar person, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Recognition of the self-face activated the right inferior frontal, precentral, supramarginal, and bilateral ventral occipitotemporal regions, consistent with previous findings, whereas these regions did not show self-specific activation during name recognition. During both face and name recognitions, increased activation for the friend and unfamiliar person than for the self was observed in the bilateral temporoparietal regions, and higher activation for the self and friend than for the unfamiliar person was observed in the medial cortical structures. These results suggest that the role of the self-specific networks during face recognition is not domain-general, but rather face-specific, and that the medial cortical structures, which are also implicated in self-referential processes, are not relevant to self-other distinction during face or name recognition. Instead, the reduced temporoparietal activation is a domain-general characteristic of the cortical response during self-recognition, which may reflect suppression of an automatic preparatory process for social interaction, possibly paralleling the disappearance of social behavior to the mirrored self-image at the emergence of self-recognition in animals and infants.
AB - The ability of visual self-recognition in animals and infants is considered a hallmark of the domain-general cognitive representation of the self, which also underpins higher social ability. Cortical regions activated during self-face recognition in human adults have been accordingly expected to play the domain-general role in self-processing. However, there is no evidence of the involvement of this network in non-face domains. We compared cortical responses during face and name recognition of self, a friend, and an unfamiliar person, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Recognition of the self-face activated the right inferior frontal, precentral, supramarginal, and bilateral ventral occipitotemporal regions, consistent with previous findings, whereas these regions did not show self-specific activation during name recognition. During both face and name recognitions, increased activation for the friend and unfamiliar person than for the self was observed in the bilateral temporoparietal regions, and higher activation for the self and friend than for the unfamiliar person was observed in the medial cortical structures. These results suggest that the role of the self-specific networks during face recognition is not domain-general, but rather face-specific, and that the medial cortical structures, which are also implicated in self-referential processes, are not relevant to self-other distinction during face or name recognition. Instead, the reduced temporoparietal activation is a domain-general characteristic of the cortical response during self-recognition, which may reflect suppression of an automatic preparatory process for social interaction, possibly paralleling the disappearance of social behavior to the mirrored self-image at the emergence of self-recognition in animals and infants.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.03.054
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.03.054
M3 - Article
C2 - 18501639
AN - SCOPUS:45849118693
VL - 42
SP - 414
EP - 422
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
SN - 1053-8119
IS - 1
ER -