The Link between Social Cognition and Self-referential Thought in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Mitchell, Jason P.; Banaji, Mahzarin R.; Macrae, C. Neil

doi:10.1162/0898929055002418

Cited by 806Action Observation and SynchronizationChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentEmbodied and Extended Cognition

The Link between Social Cognition and Self-referential Thought in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

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Mitchell, Jason P., Banaji, Mahzarin R., Macrae, C. Neil·2005·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

DOI 10.1162/0898929055002418

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Abstract

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in seemingly disparate cognitive functions, such as understanding the minds of other people and processing information about the self. This functional overlap would be expected if humans use their own experiences to infer the mental states of others, a basic postulate of simulation theory. Neural activity was measured while participants attended to either the mental or physical aspects of a series of other people. To permit a test of simulation theory's prediction that inferences based on self-reflection should only be made for similar others, targets were subsequently rated for their degree of similarity to self. Parametric analyses revealed a region of the ventral mPFC—previously implicated in self-referencing tasks—in which activity correlated with perceived self/other similarity, but only for mentalizing trials. These results suggest that self-reflection may be used to infer the mental states of others when they are sufficiently similar to self.

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Mentalizing about similar versus dissimilar others is associated with a distinct division of labor in medial prefrontal cortex: a dorsal aspect for dissimilar others and a more ventral aspect (vMPFC) for similar others.
“Specifically, a dorsal aspect of the medial prefrontal cortex has been associated with mentalizing about people perceived to be dissimilar from oneself, whereas a more ventral aspect of medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) has been linked to mentalizing about those perceived to be similar.”
From Repetition suppression of ventromedial prefrontal activity during judgments of self and others (2008) · cites this paper as [10]
The observed dissociation between the functional neuroanatomy associated with mentalizing about similar and dissimilar others joins several other recent observations that likewise suggest that the cognitive processes deployed during mentalizing will vary as a function of exactly whose mental states one is attempting to infer (10, 11).
“The observed dissociation between the functional neuroanatomy associated with mentalizing about similar and dissimilar others joins several other recent observations that likewise suggest that the cognitive processes deployed during mentalizing will vary as a function of exactly whose mental states one is attempting to infer (10, 11).”
From Repetition suppression of ventromedial prefrontal activity during judgments of self and others (2008) · cites this paper as [10]
Activity in vMPFC could be associated specifically with person-focused attribution.
“One possibility is that activity in vMPFC, which responded more during unambiguous inferences about preferences than during unambiguous inferences about beliefs (P < 0.02), could be associated specifically with person-focused attribution (Mitchell et al. 2005).”
From Mentalizing under Uncertainty: Dissociated Neural Responses to Ambiguous and Unambiguous Mental State Inferences (2010) · cites this paper as Mitchell et al. 2005

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Authors: Mitchell, J. P., Banaji, M. R., & Macrae, C. N.
Affiliations: Dartmouth College (US)
Harvard University (US)
ORCID: Mitchell, Jason P.
Banaji, Mahzarin R.
Macrae, C. Neil
Venue: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Publisher: MIT Press - Journals
Published: 2005-08-01
Volume: 17
Issue: 8
Pages: 1306-1315
ISSN: 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
1530-8898
DOI: 10.1162/0898929055002418
OpenAlex: W2147594037
Cited by: 806
References: 74
Citations by year: 2026: 8 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 57
FWCI: 53.03
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
nrs.harvard.edu
Licence: cc-by
Locations: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
Keywords: medial prefrontal cortex, social cognition, self-referential processing, simulation theory, mentalization, theory of mind, self-other similarity, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, self-reflection
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Adult, Cognition, Face, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Neurological, Self Concept, Social Perception, Echo-Planar Imaging, Prefrontal Cortex

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The Link between Social Cognition and Self-referential Thought in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

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