- Recent evidence from neuropsychological
patients with focalized lesions and functional
brain imaging studies indicate that processing
of self is distinguishable from processing of
information about others (e.g., recognizing a
familiar face). Here, we conduct an
effectlocation meta-analysis (Fox et al., 1998)
of 9 functional neuroimaging studies of
self-face recognition. The evidence provides
support for a right-dominated, but largely
bilaterally distributed model for self-face
processing. Four areas are consistently
activated: the left fusiform gyrus, bilateral
middle and inferior frontal gyri, and right
precuneus. The evidence is interpreted in light
of a developing model of self-face recognition
as part of a larger social cognitive stream of
processing.
-
- That non-human species are able to recognize
themselves in a mirror was first shown
convincingly by Gallup (1970). Using the now
classic mark test, he anesthetized chimpanzees
andmarked them with odorless dye. Their
subsequent inspection of the marked areaswhile
in the presence of a mirror, but not in absence
of a mirror, demonstrated that chimpanzees could
learn the capacity to recognize theirownmirror
self-reflection (Gallup, 1970). Since then,
mirror self-recognition has been convincingly
demonstrated in bonobos and orangutans (Suarez
and Gallup, 1981; Walraven et al., 1995), while
reports that gorillas (Patterson and Cohn,
1994), bottlenose dolphins (Reiss and Marino,
2001) and Asian elephants (Plotnik et al., 2006)
pass the test are more controversial.
-
- Gallup (1982) suggested that the ability of
an animal to recognize itself reveals something
important about the way an animal thinks. Gallup
postulated that the ability to recognize
yourself is essentially the ability to become
the object of one's own attention. He
hypothesized that this ability led to the
capacity for introspection about oneself, and
that this is the cognitive foundation of our
ability to infer the mental states of others,
referred to as theory of mind (see also, Keenan
et al., 2003a; 2003b). The model suggests that
individuals construct mental models of
themselves and use these to infer the mental
experiences of others. The species that exhibit
mirror self-recognition have interesting
commonalities. All but the orangutan live in
highly complex social groups (Dunbar, 1998), and
in the case of the primates, they have highly
developed frontal lobes (Semendeferi et al.,
1997a). Gallup (1998) suggested that since the
frontal lobes are the most recently evolved part
of the brain, they may be a required substrate
for the capacity to engage in
self-processing.
-
- A distributed self&endash;other network? The
frontal lobes are developing rapidly between the
first and third years of life (Thatcher 1999;
Semendeferi 1999), which is the period in which
children are also developing the capacities to
represent self and other (see Amsterdam, 1972;
Lewis, 2003). This has led to suggestions of a
frontal lobe localization theory of
self-awareness and theory of mind (Frith and
Frith, 1998; Gallup, 1982; Keenan et al., 2000,
2003a, 2003b; Stuss and Anderson, 2004).
Additionally, the frontal cortex/prefrontal
cortex (PFC) appears to be the most recently
evolved portion of the neocortex (Rakic, 1995)
and is a highly intricate multimodal
information-processing center (Gibson, 2002).
Neuropsychologists have known for decades that
damage to the PFC in humans (and animals) will
produce drastic changes in personality and
behavior (Weinberger, 1993). It is interesting
to note that among non-human primates,
chimpanzees, one of three non-human species who
show evidence of selfrecognition and
self-awareness, have the most developed frontal
cortex (Semendeferi et al., 1997b). In contrast,
the gorilla, the outlier species that has not
clearly shown evidence for mirror
self-recognition or theory of mind, appears to
have the least developed frontal lobes
(Semendeferi, 1999) and may also be the least
lateralized (LeMay and Geschwind, 1975).
-
- The frontal lobes may thus be a necessary
substrate for the capacity to engage in
self-processing (Gallup, 1998). However, several
substrates besides the frontal lobes are
involved in self-referential processing. For
instance, recent evidence has shown that the
inferior parietal lobes and left anterior
temporal lobe may also be involved in self-face
recognition (Platek et al., 2006). Similarly,
the cortical midline structures such as the
precuneus and cingulated gyrus appear to be
involved in self-referent information processing
and discriminating between self- and
other-descriptive words/phrases (Fossati et al.,
2003, 2004; Kelley et al., 2002; Lou et al.,
2004; Macrae et al., 2004; Northoff and
Bermpohl, 2004; Seger et al., 2004). The medial
parietal lobes, posterior cingulate and
precuneus have also been associated with
autobiographical memory retrieval (Maddock et
al., 2001), engaging in self-generated actions
and self-monitoring (Blakemore et al., 1998),
self-reference in morphed faces (Platek et al.,
2008), and discriminating between theory of mind
stories and "physical" stories (Fletcher et al.,
1995; see also Vogely et al., 2001). This again
suggests a major role for midline cortical
structures in the capacity to be self-aware.
Keenan et al., (2003a, 2003b) summarize a number
of neuropsychological studies, which show both
right hemispheric lateralization and
localization of self-recognition in the
prefrontal cortex (see also Feinberg, 2000).
There is also the suggestion that
self&endash;other processing is subserved by
processes associated with mirroring others'
action&emdash;the so-called mirror neuron system
(Gallese et al., 2004; Iacoboni, 2004; Decety
and Chaminade, 2003), localized to the left
inferior frontal lobe and left inferior parietal
lobe (see also Uddin et al., 2005).
-
-
- Discussion
-
- Investigating self-referential processing
continues to be a high priority in social and
affective neuroscience. Intrinsic importance
attaches to the notion of the self to nearly all
cognitive processing. Further interest derives
from the hypothesized role of self-referential
processing in the development of theory of mind
(Gallup, 1982; Keenan et al., 2003a; 2003b). The
evidence to support this idea encompasses
neuroanatomical and behavioral data from
non-human primates, as well as from patient
populations (e.g., patients with autism and
schizophrenia), in which sufferers are impaired
on both selfreferential processing and theory of
mind tasks.
-
- The relative importance of the left and
right hemisphere has been debated extensively in
the literature. While the right hemisphere
appears to play a larger role, extensive
bilateral activation is clearly present and
important. The evidence reviewed here indicates
that the brain possesses a relatively
encapsulated information-processing system for
evaluating self-referential facial stimuli,
involving the left fusiform gyrus, bilateral
middle and inferior frontal gyri, and right
precuneus. These findings are not meant to
suggest that these loci constitute a neural
module for self-face processing, as each of
these substrates is involved in processing other
types of information. However, the evidence
suggests that these substrates may play an
important role in processing self versus other
in the facial domain.
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