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Cited by 76Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesMemory Processes and InfluencesMemory and Neural Mechanisms

Formation of global self-beliefs in the human brain

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Rouault, Marion, Fleming, Stephen M.·2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.2003094117PMC PMC7959580
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Abstract

Significance: Momentary feelings of confidence accompany many of our actions and decisions. In addition to such “local” feelings of confidence, we also construct “global” confidence estimates about our skills and abilities (global self-performance estimates or SPEs). Distorted SPEs may have a pervasive impact on motivation and self-evaluation, for instance affecting estimates of our competitiveness at work or in a sports team. Here, we found that components of a brain network previously implicated in the tracking of local confidence was additionally modulated by SPE level, whereas ventral striatum tracked SPEs irrespective of confidence. Our findings of a neurocognitive basis for global SPEs lay the groundwork for understanding how distorted SPEs arise in educational and clinical settings.

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  • vmPFC and precuneus integrate local confidence over longer timescales to track aggregate self-performance.

    “Global confidence was informed by local confidence fluctuations during the previous block, and using fMRI, it was found that vmPFC and precuneus integrate local confidence over longer timescales to track aggregate self-performance (Rouault & Fleming 2020, Wittmann et al. 2016).”

    From Metacognition and Confidence: A Review and Synthesis (2024) · cites this paper as Rouault & Fleming 2020

    The Results section, “Local Confidence Activity Sensitive to Global SPEs,” reports that vmPFC and precuneus activity tracked local confidence differently depending on global self-performance estimates. The Discussion offers accumulation of local confidence across a block as one possible interpretation, not an established finding that these regions integrate it over longer timescales. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rouault, M., & Fleming, S. M.
Affiliations
Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
Corresponding author
Rouault, Marion
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2020-10-15
Volume
117
Issue
44
Pages
27268-27276
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2003094117
PMC
PMC7959580
OpenAlex
W3092949476
Cited by
76
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8
FWCI
4.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (203147/Z/16/Z)
  • Wellcome Trust and Royal Society (206648/Z/17/Z)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
metacognition, self-confidence, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, ventral striatum, frontoparietal network, task difficulty, self-assessment
MeSH terms
Metacognition, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Judgment, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Psychomotor Performance, Self Concept, Prefrontal Cortex, Ventral Striatum

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