Neuronal noise to identity confusion - association between long-range temporal correlations in intrinsic EEG activity and subjective sense of identity

Abstract

The long-range temporal correlation (LRTC) in resting state intrinsic brain activity is known to be associated with temporal behavioral patterns, including decision making based on internal criteria such as self-knowledge. However, the association between the neuronal LRTC and the subjective sense of identity remained to be explored; in particular, whether our subjective sense of self across time arises from the temporal consistency of neural activity. The present study examined the relationship between the LRTC of resting state scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and a subjective sense of identity measured by the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI). Consistent with our prediction based on previous studies of neuronal-behavioral relationships, the frontocentral alpha LRTC correlated negatively with identity confusion. Moreover, from the descriptive analyses, centroparietal beta LRTC showed negative correlations with identity confusion, and frontal theta LRTC showed positive relationships with identity synthesis. These results suggest that more temporal consistency (reversely, less random noise) in intrinsic brain activity leads to less confused and better synthesized identity. Our data provide further evidence that the LRTC of the intrinsic brain activity might serve as a noise suppression mechanism at the psychological level.