PMID- 19242539
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20090428
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 4
IP  - 2
DP  - 2009
TI  - Activation of anterior insula during self-reflection.
PG  - e4618
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0004618 [doi]
LID - e4618
AB  - BACKGROUND: Functional neuroimaging studies have suggested activation of midline 
      frontoparietal brain regions to be at the core of self-related processes. 
      However, although some studies reported involvement of the insula, little 
      attention has been paid to this region as forming part of the "self"-network. 
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging 
      (fMRI), we aimed at replicating and extending previous studies by scanning 
      subjects whilst reflecting upon their own personal qualities as compared to those 
      of an acquaintance. A third condition with statements about general knowledge was 
      used to control for attention, semantic processing and decision making processes. 
      The results showed a significant effect of task in brain activity, consistent 
      with previous findings, by which both person conditions recruited a common set of 
      medial prefrontal and posterior regions, yet significant differences between self 
      and other were found in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the anterior 
      cingulate cortex (ACC). Notably, significant neural activation in the left 
      anterior insula was observed as uniquely associated with self-reflection. 
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results provide further evidence for the specific 
      recruitment of anterior MPFC and ACC regions for self-related processing, and 
      highlight a role for the insula in self-reflection. As the insula is closely 
      connected with ascending internal body signals, this may indicate that the 
      accumulation of changes in affective states that might be implied in 
      self-processing may contribute to our sense of self.
FAU - Modinos, Gemma
AU  - Modinos G
AD  - BCN Neuroimaging Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. 
      g.modinos@med.umcg.nl
FAU - Ormel, Johan
AU  - Ormel J
FAU - Aleman, Andre
AU  - Aleman A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20090226
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
SB  - IM
MH  - Attention
MH  - Brain Mapping
MH  - Cerebral Cortex/*physiology
MH  - Decision Making
MH  - Humans
MH  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MH  - Prefrontal Cortex/physiology
MH  - *Self Concept
MH  - Semantics
PMC - PMC2643476
COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2009/02/27 09:00
MHDA- 2009/04/29 09:00
PMCR- 2009/02/26
CRDT- 2009/02/27 09:00
PHST- 2008/11/28 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2009/02/02 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2009/02/27 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2009/02/27 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2009/04/29 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2009/02/26 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 08-PONE-RA-07529R1 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0004618 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2009;4(2):e4618. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004618. Epub 2009 Feb 26.