Becoming the King in the North: identification with fictional characters is associated with greater self–other neural overlap

Abstract During narrative experiences, identification with a fictional character can alter one’s attitudes and self-beliefs to be more similar to those of the character. The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is a brain region that shows increased activity when introspecting about the self but also when thinking of close friends. Here, we test whether identification with fictional characters is associated with increased neural overlap between self and fictional others. Nineteen fans of the HBO series Game of Thrones performed trait evaluations for the self, 9 real-world friends and 9 fictional characters during functional neuroimaging. Overall, the participants showed a larger response in the vMPFC for self compared to friends and fictional others. However, among the participants higher in trait identification, we observed a greater neural overlap in the vMPFC between self and fictional characters. Moreover, the magnitude of this association was greater for the character that participants reported feeling closest to/liked the most as compared to those they felt least close to/liked the least. These results suggest that identification with fictional characters leads people to incorporate these characters into their self-concept: the greater the immersion into experiences of ‘becoming’ characters, the more accessing knowledge about characters resembles accessing knowledge about the self.

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The thickness of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) predicts the self-prioritization effect (SPE) on the interaction between spatial reference frames and spatial domains

10.21203/rs.3.rs-970699/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jie Huang ◽

Xiaoyu Tang ◽

Aijun Wang ◽

Ming Zhang

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Reference Frames ◽

The Self ◽

Spatial Reference ◽

Spatial Reference Frames ◽

Near Space ◽

Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Space Processing ◽

Spatial Domains ◽

Egocentric Representation

Abstract Neuropsychological studies have demonstrated that the preferential processing of near-space and egocentric representation is associated with the self-prioritization effect (SPE). However, relatively little is known concerning whether the SPE is superior to the representation of egocentric frames or near-space processing in the interaction between spatial reference frames and spatial domains. The present study adopted the variant of the shape-label matching task (i.e., color-label) to establish an SPE, combined with a spatial reference frame judgment task, to examine how the SPE leads to preferential processing of near-space or egocentric representations. Surface-based morphometry analysis was also adopted to extract the cortical thickness of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to examine whether it could predict differences in the SPE at the behavioral level. The results showed a significant SPE, manifested as the response of self-associated color being faster than that of stranger-associated color. Additionally, the SPE showed a preference for near-space processing, followed by egocentric representation. More importantly, the thickness of the vmPFC could predict the difference in the SPE on reference frames, particularly in the left frontal pole cortex and bilateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex. These findings indicated that the SPE showed a prior entry effect for information at the spatial level relative to the reference frame level, providing evidence to support the structural significance of the self-processing region. The present study also further clarified the priority in SPE processing and role of the SPE within the real spatial domain.

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REM sleep, hippocampus, and memory processing: Insights from functional neuroimaging studies

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x13001441 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 36 (6) ◽

pp. 629-630 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Victor I. Spoormaker ◽

Michael Czisch ◽

Florian Holsboer

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Rem Sleep ◽

Functional Neuroimaging ◽

Memory Encoding ◽

Rem Sleep Deprivation ◽

Memory Processing ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Memory Traces ◽

Increased Activity

AbstractNeuroimaging studies show that episodic memory encoding is associated with increased activity in hippocampus and lateral prefrontal cortex; however, the latter structure shows decreased activity in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Together with few episodic memory traces in REM sleep, and REM sleep deprivation affecting hippocampus-independent emotional processes, this argues for generic information processing in REM sleep rather than linking episodic memory traces.

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Functional MRI reveals evidence of a self-positivity bias in the medial prefrontal cortex during the comprehension of social vignettes

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsz035 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 613-621 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eric C Fields ◽

Kirsten Weber ◽

Benjamin Stillerman ◽

Nathaniel Delaney-Busch ◽

Gina R Kuperberg

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Functional Mri ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Social Neuroscience ◽

The Self ◽

Self Concept ◽

Positivity Bias ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Related Potentials

Abstract A large literature in social neuroscience has associated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) with the processing of self-related information. However, only recently have social neuroscience studies begun to consider the large behavioral literature showing a strong self-positivity bias, and these studies have mostly focused on its correlates during self-related judgments and decision-making. We carried out a functional MRI (fMRI) study to ask whether the mPFC would show effects of the self-positivity bias in a paradigm that probed participants’ self-concept without any requirement of explicit self-judgment. We presented social vignettes that were either self-relevant or non-self-relevant with a neutral, positive or negative outcome described in the second sentence. In previous work using event-related potentials, this paradigm has shown evidence of a self-positivity bias that influences early stages of semantically processing incoming stimuli. In the present fMRI study, we found evidence for this bias within the mPFC: an interaction between self-relevance and valence, with only positive scenarios showing a self vs other effect within the mPFC. We suggest that the mPFC may play a role in maintaining a positively biased self-concept and discuss the implications of these findings for the social neuroscience of the self and the role of the mPFC.

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Self-concept test generalisability: Self-description questionnaire- I and the perception of ability scale for students

The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist ◽

10.1017/s0816512200027863 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 70-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ian Hay ◽

Adrian F. Ashman ◽

Christina E. van Kraayenoord

Keyword(s):

School Psychology ◽

Normative Data ◽

The Self ◽

Self Concept ◽

Similar Distribution ◽

Theoretical Construct ◽

Significant Issue ◽

The North ◽

American Students ◽

Similar Distribution Pattern

AbstractThe validity of standardised ossessment instruments and their normative data is a significant issue in school psychology. Consequently, this study of 515 coeducational Queensland Year 5 students investigated the generalisability and robustness of the norms of two contemporary self-concept instruments, the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I; Marsh, 1988) and the Perception of Ability Scale for Students (PASS; Boersma & Chapman, 1992). Both tests have received praise for their theoretical construct but have been criticised for the regionalisation of their norming populations.The results of this study demonstrated that the Queensland students had higher mean PASS self-concept scores than the North American students used in the norming of all the PASS scales. For the SDQ- I, a similar distribution pattern was shown for Queensland students and SDQ-I norming sample, with the exception of small variability with Reading and Mothematics self-concepts scales. Issues associated with interpreting and reporting of assessment results and with the assessment responsibilities of educational psychologists and counsellors are discussed.

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