Different brain structures related to self- and external-agency attribution: a brief review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Several neuroimaging studies have consistently shown activations of areas surrounding the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) during tasks exploring the sense of agency. Beyond TPJ, activations in different structures, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC), the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), the insula and the precuneus have been reported. Moreover, a possible dissociation between self- and external-agency attribution has been suggested. To test the hypothesis of distinct neural correlates for self- and external-agency attribution a quantitative meta-analysis, based on activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method, across 15 PET and fMRI studies (228 subjects) was conducted. Results show converging activations including the TPJ, pre-SMA, precuneus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) in external-agency, while insula activation was related to self-agency. We discuss these findings, highlighting the role of the insula, and calling for the use of alternative paradigms such as intentional binding and interactive imitation to study agency.

The Insula Mediates Access to Awareness of Visual Stimuli Presented Synchronously to the Heartbeat

“…The anterior insula has been implicated in temporal processing (Craig, 2009a;Wiener et al, 2010), which has been suggested to relate to its role in integrating internal interoceptive temporal cues with external signals (Wittmann, 2009;Wittmann et al, 2010). Indeed, the anterior insula has been activated in studies investigating temporal synchrony (Bushara et al, 2001) and the sense of agency and error monitoring that require matching exteroceptive sensory signals with self-generated actions (Menon et al, 2001;Klein et al, 2007;Karnath and Baier, 2010;Sperduti et al, 2011;Klein et al, 2013). Therefore, it is possible that the observed increased anterior insular activation by asynchronous cardio-visual stimuli reflects sensitivity to the temporal disparity between the visual stimulus and the cardiac frequency regardless of predictive mechanisms.…”

Grey matter alterations in patients with depersonalization disorder: a voxel-based morphometry study

“…In a recent meta-analysis, the homologous area in the right hemisphere has been associated with the disruption of the sense of self-agency and an external attribution of the action effect. 57 In conjunction, this region could potentially be involved in the hyperregulation of affect and agency as suggested by recent models of trauma-related dissociation. 7 The detected increase in grey matter volume in the right postcentral and superior temporal gyri is particularly interesting, as this part of the primary somatosensory cortex (Brodmann area [BA] 3) receives thalamocortical projections from the sensory input fields and is involved in the processing of proprioception and body ownership.…”

Inter-individual variability in metacognitive ability for visuomotor performance and underlying brain structures

“…Specifically, we hypothesized that metacognitive abilities would reflect differences in gray matter volume (GMV) in prefrontal cortical areas such as BA10, as previously shown in perceptive tasks (Fleming et al, 2010;Miele, Wager, Mitchell, & Metcalfe, 2011), but also in other areas such as the anterior insula and parietal reach regions (PRR), given previous accounts suggesting a key role of these areas in the sense of agency (Farrer et al, 2003(Farrer et al, , 2004Karnath & Baier, 2010a;Karnath, Baier, & Nagele, 2005;Sperduti, Delaveau, Fossati, & Nadel, 2011) and motor awareness (Assal, Schwartz, & Vuilleumier, 2007;Desmurget & Sirigu, 2009;Sirigu et al, 2004). Indeed, the sense of agency is thought to be intimately linked to self-monitoring processes (Frith, Rees, & Friston, 1998) and considered as an implicit form of metacognition (see for a detailed discussion Chambon, Filevich, and Haggard (2014)), because both subjective agency and metacognition share mechanistic features associated with the ability to evaluate the success or quality of one's own task performance.…”