What the Social Brain Sciences Can Tell Us About the Self

Authors: Todd F. Heatherton; C. Neil Macrae; William M. Kelley

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 13, Number 5, October 2004 , pp. 190-193(4)

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Abstract:

Social brain science is an emerging interdisciplinary field that encompasses researchers who use the approaches of evolutionary psychology, social cognition, and especially neuroscience to study human social nature. The advent of brain imaging and other cognitive neuroscience methods has provided researchers with new tools to explore the social mind. We describe how these methods can be used to explore the perplexing question of self, for example, resolving long-standing debates regarding theories of self-referential memory and providing novel insights into other aspects of self.

Keywords: self; self-referential memory; self-recognition; fMRI; prefrontal cortex

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00305.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College

Publication date: 2004-10-01