What about the “Self” is Processed in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex?

Brewer, Judson A.; Garrison, Kathleen A.; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00647

Cited by 229 publications

(209 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The deactivation of this important hub of the DMN has been related to effortless awareness (Garrison et al 2013a) and was also found deactivated in an fMRI study during focused attention meditation (Garrison et al 2013b). PCC deactivation reportedly reflects increased present-centered awareness, whereas PCC activation is related to being caught up in mental content and is associated with decreased attention (Brewer et al 2013). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Faber¹,

Lehmann²,

Gianotti

et al. 2014

Cogn Process

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Meditation is a self-induced and willfully initiated practice that alters the state of consciousness. The meditation practice of Zazen, like many other meditation practices, aims at disregarding intrusive thoughts while controlling body posture. It is an open monitoring meditation characterized by detached moment-to-moment awareness and reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference. Which brain areas differ in electric activity during Zazen compared to task-free resting? Since scalp electroencephalography (EEG) waveforms are reference-dependent, conclusions about the localization of active brain areas are ambiguous. Computing intracerebral source models from the scalp EEG data solves this problem. In the present study we applied source modeling using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to 58-channel scalp EEG data recorded from 15 experienced Zen meditators during Zazen and no-task resting. Zazen compared to no-task resting showed increased alpha-1 and alpha-2 frequency activity in an exclusively right-lateralized cluster extending from prefrontal areas including the insula to parts of the somatosensory and motor cortices and temporal areas. Zazen also showed decreased alpha and beta-2 activity in the left angular gyrus and decreased beta-1 and beta-2 activity in a large bilateral posterior cluster comprising the visual cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the parietal cortex. The results include parts of the default mode network and suggest enhanced automatic memory and emotion processing, reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference on a less judgmental, i.e., more detached moment-to-moment basis during Zazen compared to no-task resting. Computing intracerebral source models from the scalp EEG data solves this problem. In the present study we applied source modeling using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to 58-channel scalp EEG data recorded from 15 experienced Zen meditators during Zazen and no-task resting. Zazen compared to no-task resting showed increased alpha-1 and alpha-2 frequency activity in an exclusively right-lateralized cluster extending from prefrontal areas including the insula to parts of the somatosensory and motor cortices and temporal areas. Zazen also showed decreased alpha and beta-2 activity in the left angular gyrus and decreased beta-1 and beta-2 activity in a large bilateral posterior cluster comprising the visual cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the parietal cortex. The results include parts of the default mode network and suggest enhanced automatic memory and emotion processing, reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference on a less judgmental, i.e., more detached moment-to-moment basis during Zazen compared to no-task resting.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Faber¹,

Lehmann²,

Gianotti

et al. 2014

Cogn Process

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show abstract

“…First, a direct test of the impact of this pattern of altered DMN connectivity on self-referential cognitive processes was outside the scope of the current study. Nevertheless, there is a wealth of evidence suggesting that synchronization between the PCC and aMPFC occurs during tasks involving self-referential thought 73,74 . Second, following Andrews-Hanna et al 11 , we placed seeds only in the left hemisphere of the brain.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced Default Mode Connectivity in Adolescents With Conduct Disorder

Broulidakis

Fairchild

Sully

et al. 2016

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psych

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Objective: Conduct disorder (CD) is characterized by impulsive, aggressive, and antisocial behaviors that may be related to deficits in empathy and moral reasoning. The brain's default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in self-referential cognitive processes of this kind. Method:We examined connectivity between key nodes of the DMN in 29 male adolescents with CD and 29 age-and sex-matched typically-developing adolescents. We ensured that group differences in DMN connectivity were not explained by comorbidity with other disorders by systematically controlling for the effects of substance use disorders (SUDs), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, psychopathic traits, and other common mental health problems. Results:Only after adjusting for co-occurring ADHD symptoms, the group with CD showed hypo-connectivity between core DMN regions relative to typically-developing controls. ADHD symptoms themselves were associated with DMN hyperconnectivity. There was no effect of psychopathic traits on DMN connectivity in the group with CD, and the key results were unchanged when controlling for SUDs and other common mental health problems. Conclusion:Future research should directly investigate the possibility that the aberrant DMN connectivity observed in the current study contributes to CD-related deficits in empathy and moral reasoning, and examine self-referential cognitive processes in CD more generally.

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“…6 Apart from the above-mentioned cluster in the lingual gyrus, we also found another region, the precuneus, in which HC showed a higher response to faces as compared to SAD. Precuneus activity seems to be related to the sense of self 82 and the self-attribution of emotions, as compared to when emotions are attributed to others. 83 Moreover, abnormal activity and connectivity in precuneus has been reported in anxiety disorders, including SAD.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond emotions: A meta-analysis of neural response within face processing system in social anxiety

Gentili

Cristea

Angstadt

et al. 2015

Exp Biol Med (Maywood)

140

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Patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) experience anxiety and avoidance in face-to-face interactions. We performed a metaanalysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in SAD to provide a comprehensive understanding of the neural underpinnings of face perception in this disorder. To this purpose, we adopted an innovative approach, asking authors for unpublished data. This is a common procedure for behavioral meta-analyses, which, however has never been used in neuroimaging studies. We searched Pubmed with the key words ''Social Anxiety AND faces'' and ''Social Phobia AND faces.'' Then, we selected those fMRI studies for which we were able to obtain data for the comparison between SAD and healthy controls (HC) in a face perception task, either from the published papers or from the authors themselves. In this way, we obtained 23 studies (totaling 449 SAD and 424 HC individuals). We identified significant clusters in which faces evoked a higher response in SAD in bilateral amygdala, globus pallidus, superior temporal sulcus, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex. We also found a higher activity for HC in the lingual gyrus and in the posterior cingulate. Our findings show that altered neural response to face in SAD is not limited to emotional structures but involves a complex network. These results may have implications for the understanding of SAD pathophysiology, as they suggest that a dysfunctional face perception process may bias patient person-to-person interactions.

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What about the “Self” is Processed in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex?

Cited by 229 publications

References 54 publications

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Reduced Default Mode Connectivity in Adolescents With Conduct Disorder

Beyond emotions: A meta-analysis of neural response within face processing system in social anxiety

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