Decoding individual differences in self-prioritization from the resting-state functional connectome

Abstract

Although the self has traditionally been viewed as a higher-order mental function by most theoretical frameworks, recent research advocates a fundamental self hypothesis, viewing the self as a baseline function of the brain embedded within its spontaneous activities. This hypothesis has been behaviorally established by observed self-biased effects, but its neural embeddedness remains uncorroborated. To provide a test, we investigated the association between spontaneous neural connectivity and robust self-prioritization in a perceptual matching task using task-irrelevant functional magnetic resonance imaging in 348 participants. By decoding whole-brain connectivity patterns, the support vector regression model successfully predicted the magnitude of behavioral self-prioritization, supporting the fundamental self hypothesis. The functional connectivity among default mode, cognitive control, and salience networks served as prominent neuromarkers of self-biased behavior. We further proposed a fundamental self-network model that portrays the brain mechanisms by which the self emerges internally and regulates responses to the external environment.

Externally provided rewards increase internal preference, but not as much as preferred ones without extrinsic rewards

“…However, the mechanisms underlying SIV in the IDM remain unclear. The recently proposed fundamental self-hypothesis [48,49,50,51,52,53,54] is considered relevant. This postulates that the self is a fundamental brain function that precedes and controls cognitive functions, such as perception, emotion, and reward, which has been proposed in studies of spontaneous brain activity [49,50,51] and the self-prioritization effect (SPE) [48,52,53,54] .…”

“…The recently proposed fundamental self-hypothesis [48,49,50,51,52,53,54] is considered relevant. This postulates that the self is a fundamental brain function that precedes and controls cognitive functions, such as perception, emotion, and reward, which has been proposed in studies of spontaneous brain activity [49,50,51] and the self-prioritization effect (SPE) [48,52,53,54] . In this hypothesis, the self is embedded in spontaneous brain activity, and when a stimulus appears, the default mode network (DMN), which is responsible for processing self-associated stimuli, interacts with a task-related network to influence cognitive processing.…”

Self as a prior: The malleability of Bayesian multisensory integration to social salience

“…This is just one example of how self‐relevance can automatically influence information processing in a multisensory context. By investigating the effects of self‐relevance on multisensory integration, we gain a better understanding of how the self serves as an anchor/reference of accessing the external world, which has significant implications for various fields, including social cognition, neuroscience, and self‐related mental and brain disorders (Liu et al, 2022; Noel et al, 2018; Northoff, 2016; Sui et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2023).…”