For a coherent and meaningful life, conscious self-representation is mandatory. Such explicit ''autonoetic consciousness'' is thought to emerge by retrieval of memory of personally experienced events (''episodic memory''). During episodic retrieval, functional imaging studies consistently show differential activity in medial prefrontal and medial parietal cortices. With positron-emission tomography, we here show that these medial regions are functionally connected and interact with lateral regions that are activated according to the degree of self-reference. During retrieval of previous judgments of Oneself, Best Friend, and the Danish Queen, activation increased in the left lateral temporal cortex and decreased in the right inferior parietal region with decreasing self-reference. Functionally, the former region was preferentially connected to medial prefrontal cortex, the latter to medial parietal. The medial parietal region may, then, be conceived of as a nodal structure in self-representation, functionally connected to both the right parietal and the medial prefrontal cortices. To determine whether medial parietal cortex in this network is essential for episodic memory retrieval with self-representation, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation over the region to transiently disturb neuronal circuitry. There was a decrease in the efficiency of retrieval of previous judgment of mental Self compared with retrieval of judgment of Other with transcranial magnetic stimulation at a latency of 160 ms, confirming the hypothesis. This network is strikingly similar to the network of the resting conscious state, suggesting that self-monitoring is a core function in resting consciousness.A ll subjective experience may be seen as self-conscious in the weak sense that there is something it feels like for the subject to have that experience. We may at times be selfconscious in a deep way, for example, when we are engaged in figuring out who we are and what we are going to do with our lives, a distinctly human experience giving organization, meaning, and structure to life. In its absence, our representation of ourselves and our world becomes kaleidoscopic and our life chaotic (1).Such explicit ''autonoetic consciousness'' is thought to emerge by retrieval of memory of personally experienced events (episodic memory) (2, 3). The cerebral activation pattern of episodic memory retrieval differs from that of semantic retrieval (retrieval of common knowledge by ''familiarity''): e.g., activation of medial parietal cortex is characteristic of the former and activation of left lateral temporal lobe is characteristic of the latter (4). First, we hypothesize that the cerebral activity pattern of retrieval of previous judgments of a person is determined not only by the episodic retrieval nature of the task, but also by the degree of self-reference of the judgment to be retrieved. Second, we hypothesize that the regions activated by retrieval of judgment of the mental Self are functionally interacting. This network would give a distinc...

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OBJECTIVES. This study investigated the influence of psychosocial stress, maternal schooling, social support, psychological well-being, alcohol, and smoking on intrauterine growth retardation and premature delivery. METHODS. At a Copenhagen university hospital, 2432 pregnant women completed a questionnaire on general health, psychosocial stressors, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS. In 212 cases (8.7%) the women delivered prematurely. Preterm delivery as associated with psychosocial stress (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.14 for each 1-point increase on the psychosocial stressor 5-point scale and 1.92 for the whole scale) and poor school education (adjusted OR=2.62 for 7-9 years of schooling, 1.91 for 10 years, and 1.0 for 11-13 years). In 152 cases (6.3%), infants had a birthweight below the 10th percentile. Intrauterine growth retardation was associated with smoking, daily drinking, school education, and social network variables. In a multiple logistic regression model, intrauterine growth retardation was associated with smoking habits (adjusted OR=2.40 for 0-9 cigarettes daily, 2.68 for 10-15 daily, and 2.88 for more than 15 daily). CONCLUSIONS. Psychosocial stressors and limited duration of schooling appeared to influence preterm delivery. Smoking habits influenced intrauterine growth retardation.

Our results strongly support the hypothesis that there is a molecular basis for phenotypic heterogeneity in phenylketonuria. The establishment of genotype will therefore aid in the prediction of biochemical and clinical phenotypes in patients with this disease.