Medial Prefrontal Cortex And Self-Referential Mental Activity Raichle PNAS 2001
<p>Feb 18, 2008 4:24 PM
 
as David Ingvar first
posited (18, 76), it might imply a <b>continuous ‘‘simulation of
behavior,’’ an inner rehearsal as well as an optimization of
cognitive and behavioral serial programs for the individual’s
future. Tulving and colleagues have extended this thinking in
their work on episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness
(for recent review see ref. 22). We would propose that dorsal
MPFC participates in the processing of such representations that
embody aspects of the self, particularly the temporally extended
‘‘narrative’’ (19) or ‘‘autobiographical’’ (20) self.</b>
Emerging is an expanded view of the neural instantiation of
the multifaceted ‘‘self.’’ In our previous work (2), we have
suggested that the default state of the brain instantiates functions
that are integral to the self, and may be available or unavailable
to awareness. These include surveillance of the internal and
external environments and some assessment of salience of
stimuli for the individual. We believe that the ventral MPFC
contributes to the latter. However, this obviously represents a
very incomplete view of the self. As Ingvar noted, ‘‘the brain
cannot produce normal conscious awareness without the ‘self’
having a ‘total’ somehow simultaneous access to the information
in the neuronal systems subserving the experience of a past, a
present, and a future’’ (18). Here we believe that dorsal MPFC
is particularly important. We recognize, however, that the neural
instantiation of the self in all its dimensions is likely to be widely
distributed.</p>