Neural representations of self versus other: visual-spatial perspective taking and agency in a virtual ball-tossing game

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neural representations of self versus other: visual-spatial perspective taking and agency in a virtual ball-tossing game

AU - David, Nicole

AU - Bewernick, Bettina H

AU - Cohen, Michael X

AU - Newen, Albert

AU - Lux, Silke

AU - Fink, Gereon R

AU - Shah, N Jon

AU - Vogeley, Kai

PY - 2006/6

Y1 - 2006/6

N2 - Human self-consciousness relies on the ability to distinguish between oneself and others. We sought to explore the neural correlates involved in self-other representations by investigating two critical processes: perspective taking and agency. Although recent research has shed light on the neural processes underlying these phenomena, little is known about how they overlap or interact at the neural level. In a two-factorial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, participants played a ball-tossing game with two virtual characters ("avatars"). During an active/agency (ACT) task, subjects threw a ball to one of the avatars by pressing a button. During a passive/nonagency (PAS) task, they indicated which of the other avatars threw the ball. Both tasks were performed from a first-person perspective (1PP), in which subjects interacted from their own perspective, and a third-person perspective (3PP), in which subjects interacted from the perspective of an avatar with another location in space. fMRI analyses revealed overlapping activity in medial prefrontal regions associated with representations of one's own perspective and actions (1PP and ACT), and overlapping activity in temporal-occipital, premotor, and inferior frontal, as well as posterior parietal regions associated with representation of others' perspectives and actions (3PP and PAS). These findings provide evidence for distinct neural substrates underlying representations of the self and others and provide support for the idea that the medial prefrontal cortex crucially contributes to a neural basis of the self. The lack of a statistically significant interaction suggests that perspective taking and agency represent independent constituents of self-consciousness.

AB - Human self-consciousness relies on the ability to distinguish between oneself and others. We sought to explore the neural correlates involved in self-other representations by investigating two critical processes: perspective taking and agency. Although recent research has shed light on the neural processes underlying these phenomena, little is known about how they overlap or interact at the neural level. In a two-factorial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, participants played a ball-tossing game with two virtual characters ("avatars"). During an active/agency (ACT) task, subjects threw a ball to one of the avatars by pressing a button. During a passive/nonagency (PAS) task, they indicated which of the other avatars threw the ball. Both tasks were performed from a first-person perspective (1PP), in which subjects interacted from their own perspective, and a third-person perspective (3PP), in which subjects interacted from the perspective of an avatar with another location in space. fMRI analyses revealed overlapping activity in medial prefrontal regions associated with representations of one's own perspective and actions (1PP and ACT), and overlapping activity in temporal-occipital, premotor, and inferior frontal, as well as posterior parietal regions associated with representation of others' perspectives and actions (3PP and PAS). These findings provide evidence for distinct neural substrates underlying representations of the self and others and provide support for the idea that the medial prefrontal cortex crucially contributes to a neural basis of the self. The lack of a statistically significant interaction suggests that perspective taking and agency represent independent constituents of self-consciousness.

KW - Adult

KW - Brain Mapping

KW - Cerebral Cortex

KW - Consciousness

KW - Humans

KW - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

KW - Interpersonal Relations

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Oxygen

KW - Photic Stimulation

KW - Psychomotor Performance

KW - Reaction Time

KW - Self Concept

KW - Space Perception

U2 - 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.6.898

DO - 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.6.898

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 16839298

VL - 18

SP - 898

EP - 910

JO - J COGNITIVE NEUROSCI

JF - J COGNITIVE NEUROSCI

SN - 0898-929X

IS - 6

ER -