Cited by 830Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesAction Observation and SynchronizationFace Recognition and Perception

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A Meta-analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Self- and Other Judgments Reveals a Spatial Gradient for Mentalizing in Medial Prefrontal Cortex

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Denny, Bryan T., Kober, Hedy, Wager, Tor D., Ochsner, Kevin N.·2012·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

Abstract

The distinction between processes used to perceive and understand the self and others has received considerable attention in psychology and neuroscience. Brain findings highlight a role for various regions, in particular the medial PFC (mPFC), in supporting judgments about both the self and others. We performed a meta-analysis of 107 neuroimaging studies of self- and other-related judgments using multilevel kernel density analysis [Kober, H., & Wager, T. D. Meta-analyses of neuroimaging data. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews, 1, 293–300, 2010]. We sought to determine what brain regions are reliably involved in each judgment type and, in particular, what the spatial and functional organization of mPFC is with respect to them. Relative to nonmentalizing judgments, both self- and other judgments were associated with activity in mPFC, ranging from ventral to dorsal extents, as well as common activation of the left TPJ and posterior cingulate. A direct comparison between self- and other judgments revealed that ventral mPFC as well as left ventrolateral PFC and left insula were more frequently activated by self-related judgments, whereas dorsal mPFC, in addition to bilateral TPJ and cuneus, was more frequently activated by other-related judgments. Logistic regression analyses revealed that ventral and dorsal mPFC lay at opposite ends of a functional gradient: The z coordinates reported in individual studies predicted whether the study involved self- or other-related judgments, which were associated with increasingly ventral or dorsal portions of mPFC, respectively. These results argue for a distributed rather than localizationist account of mPFC organization and support an emerging view on the functional heterogeneity of mPFC.

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TL;DR

This meta-analysis of 107 functional neuroimaging studies found that self- and other-related judgments share medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), left temporoparietal junction, and posterior cingulate activity, but differ in mPFC subregions. A logistic regression showed a dorsal–ventral spatial gradient in mPFC, with increasingly ventral activation associated with self judgments and increasingly dorsal activation associated with other judgments.

Key findings

  • Across 107 published reports and 307 contrasts, both Self>Baseline and Other>Baseline involved broad mPFC activation from ventral to dorsal extents, plus common activation in left temporoparietal junction, posterior cingulate, and left middle temporal gyrus/superior temporal sulcus.
  • Direct Self>Other comparisons activated vmPFC, including left rostral BA 10, anterior paracingulate cortex (BA 32), left ventrolateral PFC, left anterior and mid-insula, left dorsal caudate, thalamus, and left temporal pole; Other>Self activated bilateral dmPFC, bilateral TPJ, and cuneus.
  • Logistic regression within mPFC used 47 Self contrasts and 43 Other contrasts from 33 and 34 studies, respectively; z coordinate significantly predicted Self vs. Other contrast status, while x and y coordinates did not. The scatterplot relating estimated self proportions to z coordinate showed r = −0.71, p < 0.01.
  • The authors interpret the results as supporting a distributed gradient rather than discrete, localizationist modules for self- and other-related processing in mPFC.

Methods

  • Literature search covered January 1995–February 2008 and included healthy, unmedicated adults, PET or fMRI, image subtraction, and Talairach/MNI coordinates; this yielded 107 reports and 307 contrasts, with 74 Self, 76 Other, and 24 Baseline contrasts drawn from 48, 48, and 19 studies, respectively.
  • Multilevel Kernel Density Analysis (MKDA) registered peaks to MNI space, convolved them with a 10-mm spherical kernel, created Comparison Indicator Maps, weighted by square root of sample size, and thresholded with 5,000 Monte Carlo iterations at p < .05 FWE-corrected.
  • A binary logistic regression predicted self vs. other activation status from MNI x, y, and z coordinates within an independently defined mPFC boundary (|x| < 25, y > 15, z > −5).

Limitations

  • Stated: the relatively small number of studies within each Self/Other × judgment-type condition meant that differences between types of mental state judgments were not the focus; future work may test whether the gradient is specific to certain judgment types.
  • Stated: 29 studies were coded but did not contribute contrasts because of the conservative coding algorithm, and contrasts reflecting both Self and Other judgments were excluded.
  • Evident: as a coordinate-based meta-analysis, it relies on reported significant activation foci and cannot directly assess individual-study effect sizes, within-study variability, or the full range of mentalizing task designs.

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Crossref · 10.1162/jocn_a_00233

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    The null hypothesis for the Monte Carlo simulation was a uniform random distribution of peaks within each comparison in gray matter in the standard brain.

    “The null hypothesis was a uniform random distribution of peaks within each comparison in gray matter in the standard brain.”
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Metadata

Authors
Denny, B. T., Kober, H., Wager, T. D., & Ochsner, K. N.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • 2Yale University
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
Venue
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Published
2012-08-01
Volume
24
Issue
8
Pages
1742-1752
ISSN
  • 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-8898
OpenAlex
W2121677155
Cited by
830
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 49 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 66 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 73 · 2016: 66 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 43 · 2012: 9
FWCI
3.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Neurosciences Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R21 MH528021, R01MH076137, R21MH082308)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD069178)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Keywords
self-other judgment, mentalization, medial prefrontal cortex, functional heterogeneity, anterior temporal pole, posterior cingulate cortex, insula, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, self-referential processing
MeSH terms
Humans, Self Concept, Prefrontal Cortex, Theory of Mind, Functional Neuroimaging

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