The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Medial Prefrontal Activity Predicts Memory for Self
Abstract
The ability to remember the past depends on cognitive operations that are recruited when information is initially encountered. In the current experiment, we investigated neural processes that subserve the memorability of a fundamental class of social information: self-knowledge. Participants evaluated the extent to which a series of personality characteristics were self-descriptive. Brain activation was measured using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and contrasted based on: (i) whether each word was later remembered or forgotten; and (ii) whether or not each item was judged to be self-relevant. Results revealed that activity in medial prefrontal cortex predicted both subsequent memory performance and judgements of self-relevance. These findings extend current understanding of the nature and functioning of human memory.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Critically, this vMPFC region also has been observed repeatedly during tasks that require participants to introspect about their own mental experiences (15-18)”
From Repetition suppression of ventromedial prefrontal activity during judgments of self and others (2008) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Consistent with earlier studies (15-18), a single region was obtained from the random effects contrast of self > other trials located in vMPFC (Fig. 1).”
From Repetition suppression of ventromedial prefrontal activity during judgments of self and others (2008) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Using two different sets of contrasts, we identified ROIs in vMPFC that, consistent with earlier studies of self-reference (15-18), responded preferentially during trials that required introspection about one's own mental characteristics.”
From Repetition suppression of ventromedial prefrontal activity during judgments of self and others (2008) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Macrae et al. [2004] found remembered items induced activation in dmPFC, lateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus when compared to forgotten items”
From Oxytocin blurs the self-other distinction during trait judgments and reduces medial prefrontal cortex responses: Oxytocin Blurs Self-Other Distinction (2016) · cites this paper as Macrae et al., 2004
In the citing paper
“while the self-descriptive versus nonselfdescriptive contrast revealed activation in the dmPFC during the retrieval of visually presented self-and nonselfrelated adjectives describing personality traits [Macrae et al., 2004].”
From Oxytocin blurs the self-other distinction during trait judgments and reduces medial prefrontal cortex responses: Oxytocin Blurs Self-Other Distinction (2016) · cites this paper as Macrae et al., 2004
Citations
Cites
A default mode of brain function
Raichle, M. E., MacLeod, A. M., Snyder, A. Z., Powers, W. J., Gusnard, D. A., & Shulman, G. L. (2001) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.98.2.676 · Cited by 12,190
Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain
Talairach, J., & Tournoux, P. (1988) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 11,798
Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: A general linear approach
Friston, K. J., Holmes, A. P., Worsley, K. J., Poline, J. ‐., Frith, C. D., & Frackowiak, R. S. J. (1994) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.460020402 · Cited by 9,688
Levels of processing: A framework for memory research
Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972) · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(72)80001-x · Cited by 9,566
Conflict monitoring and cognitive control
Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.624 · Cited by 7,351
Memory and the hippocampus: A synthesis from findings with rats, monkeys, and humans.
Squire, L. R. (1992) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.99.2.195 · Cited by 5,376
Depth of Processing and the Retention of Words in Episodic Memory
Craik, F. I. M., & Tulving, E. (1975) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268 · Cited by 4,121
The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system
Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.107.2.261 · Cited by 4,089
Searching for a baseline: Functional imaging and the resting human brain
Gusnard, D. A., & Raichle, M. E. (2001) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/35094500 · Cited by 3,371
Gusnard, D. A., Akbudak, E., Shulman, G. L., & Raichle, M. E. (2001) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.071043098 · Cited by 2,997
Cohen, J., MacWhinney, B., Flatt, M., & Provost, J. (1993) · Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers · doi:10.3758/bf03204507 · Cited by 2,802
Event-Related fMRI: Characterizing Differential Responses
Friston, K. J., Fletcher, P. C., Josephs, O., Holmes, A., Rugg, M. D., & Turner, R. (1998) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.1997.0306 · Cited by 2,017
Common blood flow changes across visual tasks: II. Decreases in cerebral cortex
Shulman, G. L., Fiez, J. A., Corbetta, M., Buckner, R. L., Miezin, F. M., Raichle, M. E., & Petersen, S. E. (1997) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.1997.9.5.648 · Cited by 1,890
Self-reference and the encoding of personal information.
Rogers, T. B., Kuiper, N. A., & Kirker, W. S. (1977) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.35.9.677 · Cited by 1,871
Likableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words.
Anderson, N. H. (1968) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0025907 · Cited by 1,668
Building Memories: Remembering and Forgetting of Verbal Experiences as Predicted by Brain Activity
Wagner, A. D., Schacter, D. L., Rotte, M., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Dale, A. M., Rosen, B. R., & Buckner, R. L. (1998) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.281.5380.1188 · Cited by 1,644
Finding the self? An event-related fMRI study
Kelley, W. M., Macrae, C. N., Wyland, C. L., Caglar, S., Inati, S., & Heatherton, T. F. (2002) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/08989290260138672 · Cited by 1,606 · cited 2×
“A network of brain regions were active when participants were asked to evaluate whether personality traits were self-descriptive, replicating most of the regions observed in earlier work using a similar experimental paradigm (Kelley et al., 2002).”
BackgroundResultSelf-citationMemory, amnesia, and the hippocampal system
(1994) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-5148 · Cited by 1,533
The self-reference effect in memory: A meta-analysis
Symons, C. S., & Johnson, B. T. (1997) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.371 · Cited by 1,361 · cited 2×
“These findings are noteworthy as the additional recruitment of these frontal regions, particularly MPFC, may explain the general memory enhancement that is afforded to materials that trigger self-referential mental activity (Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
BackgroundMaking Memories: Brain Activity that Predicts How Well Visual Experience Will Be Remembered
Brewer, J. B., Zhao, Z., Desmond, J. E., Glover, G. H., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (1998) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.281.5380.1185 · Cited by 1,108
An Integrated Software Suite for Surface-based Analyses of Cerebral Cortex
Essen, D. C. V., Drury, H. A., Dickson, J., Harwell, J., Hanlon, D., & Anderson, C. H. (2001) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1136/jamia.2001.0080443 · Cited by 1,100
Cognitive and neural mechanisms of emotional memory
Hamann, S. (2001) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01707-1 · Cited by 1,010
Amygdala activity related to enhanced memory for pleasant and aversive stimuli
Hamann, S. B., Ely, T. D., Grafton, S. T., & Kilts, C. D. (1999) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/6404 · Cited by 941
Neural correlates of self-reflection
Johnson, S. C. (2002) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awf181 · Cited by 930
Amygdala activity at encoding correlated with long-term, free recall of emotional information.
Cahill, L. F., Haier, R. J., Fallon, J., Alkire, M. T., Tang, C. Y., Keator, D., Wu, J. C., & McGaugh, J. L. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.15.8016 · Cited by 928
Demb, J. B., Desmond, J., Wagner, A., Vaidya, C. J., Glover, G. H., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (1995) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.15-09-05870.1995 · Cited by 911
Henson, R. N. A., Rugg, M. D., Shallice, T., Josephs, O., & Dolan, R. J. (1999) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.19-10-03962.1999 · Cited by 835
Kelley, W. M., Miezin, F. M., McDermott, K. B., Buckner, R. L., Raichle, M. E., Cohen, N. J., Ollinger, J. M., Akbudak, E., Conturo, T. E., Snyder, A. Z., et al. (1998) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80474-2 · Cited by 823
Memory and Working-with-Memory: A Component Process Model Based on Modules and Central Systems
Moscovitch, M. (1992) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.1992.4.3.257 · Cited by 822
(1995) · Cited by 734
Canli, T., Zhao, Z., Brewer, J., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Cahill, L. (2000) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.20-19-j0004.2000 · Cited by 697 · cited 3×
“Thus, in much the same way that amygdala activation enhances the memorability of emotional information (Hamann et al., 1999; Canli et al., 2000; Erk et al., 2003), and left and right prefrontal activation the memorability of verbal (Wagner et al.”
BackgroundNeuroanatomical correlates of encoding in episodic memory: levels of processing effect.
Kapur, S., Craik, F. I. M., Tulving, E., Wilson, A. A., Houle, S., & Brown, G. M. (1994) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.91.6.2008 · Cited by 642
Reliability and validity of some handedness questionnaire items
Raczkowski, D., Kalat, J. W., & Nebes, R. D. (1974) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/0028-3932(74)90025-6 · Cited by 611
In search of the self: a positron emission tomography study
Craik, F. I. M., Moroz, T. M., Moscovitch, M., Stuss, D. T., Winocur, G., Tulving, E., & Kapur, S. (1999) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00102 · Cited by 600
Prefrontal–Temporal Circuitry for Episodic Encoding and Subsequent Memory
Kirchhoff, B. A., Wagner, A. D., Maril, A., & Stern, C. E. (2000) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.20-16-06173.2000 · Cited by 536
Separating Processes within a Trial in Event-Related Functional MRI
Ollinger, J. M., Corbetta, M., & Shulman, G. L. (2001) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2000.0711 · Cited by 445
Otten, L. J. (2001) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/124.2.399 · Cited by 412
P300 and Recall in an Incidental Memory Paradigm
Fabiani, M., Karis, D., & Donchin, E. (1986) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1986.tb00636.x · Cited by 411
Dissociating prefrontal and hippocampal function in episodic memory encoding
Dolan, R. J., & Fletcher, P. C. (1997) · Nature · doi:10.1038/41561 · Cited by 410
Separating Processes within a Trial in Event-Related Functional MRI
Ollinger, J. M., Shulman, G. L., & Corbetta, M. (2001) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2000.0710 · Cited by 381
Elaboration, organization, and the self-reference effect in memory.
Klein, S. B., & Kihlstrom, J. F. (1986) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037//0096-3445.115.1.26 · Cited by 329
Ingvar, D. H. (2009) · Acta Neurologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1979.tb02947.x · Cited by 322
Material-specific lateralization of prefrontal activation during episodic encoding and retrieval
Wagner, A. D., Poldrack, R. A., Eldridge, L. L., Desmond, J. E., Glover, G. H., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (1998) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199811160-00026 · Cited by 321
Emotional context modulates subsequent memory effect
Erk, S., Kiefer, M., Grothe, J., Wunderlich, A. P., Spitzer, M., & Walter, H. (2003) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(02)00015-0 · Cited by 278
Dissociable Human Perirhinal, Hippocampal, and Parahippocampal Roles during Verbal Encoding
Strange, B. A., Otten, L. J., Josephs, O., Rugg, M. D., & Dolan, R. J. (2002) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.22-02-00523.2002 · Cited by 229
Task-dependency of the Neural Correlates of Episodic Encoding as Measured by fMRI
Otten, L. J. (2001) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/11.12.1150 · Cited by 216
The self as a memory system: Powerful, but ordinary.
Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.1.41 · Cited by 203
Encoding Processes during Retrieval Tasks
Buckner, R. L., Wheeler, M. E., & Sheridan, M. A. (2001) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/08989290151137430 · Cited by 202
Paller, K. A. (1990) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037//0278-7393.16.6.1021 · Cited by 197
Davachi, L., Maril, A., & Wagner, A. D. (2001) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/089892901753294356 · Cited by 194
The role of the left prefrontal cortex in verbal processing
Kapur, S., Rose, R., Liddle, P. F., Zipursky, R. B., Brown, G. M., Stuss, D. T., Houle, S., & Tulving, E. (1994) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199410270-00051 · Cited by 182
Neural Correlates of Successful Encoding Identified Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Reber, P. J., Siwiec, R. M., Gitleman, D. R., Parrish, T. B., Mesulam, M. M., & Paller, K. A. (2002) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.22-21-09541.2002 · Cited by 133
Neural correlates of verbal memory encoding during semantic and structural processing tasks
Baker, J. T., Sanders, A. L., Maccotta, L., & Buckner, R. L. (2001) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200105080-00039 · Cited by 120
Electrophysiological correlates of memory encoding are task-dependent
Otten, L. J., & Rugg, M. D. (2001) · Cognitive Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0926-6410(01)00015-5 · Cited by 100
The effects of self-reference versus other reference on the recall of traits and nouns
Maki, R. H., & McCaul, K. D. (1985) · Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society · doi:10.3758/bf03329817 · Cited by 74
Broca's region subserves imagery of motion: A combined cytoarchitectonic and fMRI study
Binkofski, F., Amunts, K., Stephan, K. M., Posse, S., Schormann, T., Freund, H.-J., Zilles, K., & Seitz, R. J. (2000) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/1097-0193(200012)11:4
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x · Cited by 5,172
“…frontal gyrus and/or anterior cingulate cortex) and posterior medial cortex (posterior cingulate cortex and/or precuneus; see Johnson et al., 2006; Macrae, Moran, Heatherton, Banfield, & Kelley, 2004; Ochsner et al., 2005, for reviews of findings focusing on medial frontal areas and see Cavanna &…”
BackgroundMeeting of minds: the medial frontal cortex and social cognition
Amodio, D. M., & Frith, C. D. (2006) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1884 · Cited by 3,782
“gave their subjects a surprise recognition test of trait words, some of which subjects previously judged according to their self-relevanc”
BackgroundHölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611419671 · Cited by 3,024
Self-referential processing in our brain—A meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self
Northoff, G., Heinzel, A., de Greck, M., Bermpohl, F., Dobrowolny, H., & Panksepp, J. (2006) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.12.002 · Cited by 2,792
“…on own vs. other's personality/physical traits Mental Lou et al. (2004) PET 13 Retrieval of personality trait adjectives Self vs. other Visual Macrae et al. (2004) fMRI 22 Personality adjectives Self vs. non-self descriptive/remember vs. forgotten Visual Ochsner et al. (2004) fMRI 24…”
BackgroundSocial Cognitive Neuroscience: A Review of Core Processes
Lieberman, M. D. (2007) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085654 · Cited by 2,010
“In addition, in two studies (Fossati et al. 2004, Macrae et al. 2004) that examined the effects of self-referential encoding on memory , it was observed that greater MPFC activity during self-referential encoding is associated with better memory performance for this information (for an analogous…”
Metadata
- Authors
- Macrae, C. N.
- Affiliations
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Macrae, C. N.
- ORCID
- Macrae, C. N.
- Venue
- Cerebral Cortex
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2004-04-14
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 647-654
- ISSN
- 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2199
- OpenAlex
- W2096259174
- Cited by
- 581
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 13.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH66720, R21MH066720)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- medial prefrontal cortex, self-knowledge, self-relevance, personality traits, social memory, memory encoding, self-referential processing, event-related fMRI
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Ego, Evoked Potentials, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Self Concept, Statistics as Topic, Prefrontal Cortex
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review