Neural network involved in self-judgment in young and elderly adults

Master of advanced studies dissertation (2008)

Self-reflection across time: cortical midline structures differentiate between present and past selves

in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (2008), 3(3), 244-252

The processing of personal changes across time and the ability to differentiate between representations of present and past selves are crucial for developing a mature sense of identity. In this study, we ... [more ▼]

The processing of personal changes across time and the ability to differentiate between representations of present and past selves are crucial for developing a mature sense of identity. In this study, we explored the neural correlates of self-reflection across time using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). College undergraduates were asked to reflect on their own psychological characteristics and those of an intimate other, for both the present time period (i.e. at college) and a past time period (i.e. high school years) that involved significant personal changes. Cortical midline structures (CMS) were commonly recruited by the four reflective tasks (reflecting on the present self, past self, present other and past other), relative to a control condition (making valence judgments). More importantly, however, the degree of activity in CMS also varied significantly according to the target of reflection, with the ventral and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex being more recruited when reflecting on the present self than when reflecting on the past self or when reflecting on the other person. These findings suggest that CMS may contribute to differentiate between representations of present and past selves. [less ▲]

Controlled memory processes : functional interaction of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex involved in self evaluation in human

Conference (2007, December 14)

Exploration of the neuronal substrates of Directed Forgetting with fMRI

Conference (2007, June 01)

Exploration des processus d'inhibition dans le paradigme d'oubli dirigé.

Master's dissertation (2006)

Self-face does not capture attention: an inattentional blindness study

Poster (2006)

It has been shown previously that some categories of stimuli are more likely to capture attention under condition of inattention compared to others. This is the case of faces and auto-referential material ... [more ▼]

It has been shown previously that some categories of stimuli are more likely to capture attention under condition of inattention compared to others. This is the case of faces and auto-referential material (e.g., the subject’s own name) in the inattentional blindness paradigm (Mack & Rock, 1998). However, stimuli combining these two properties have never been assessed. Yet it could be that the own face, because it is both a face and a self-referential stimulus, is more prone to attract attention compared to other faces. On the contrary, it could be that the identity and the familiarity of faces are not relevant factors because any face attracts attention by itself and all faces are equally distractive. Moreover, most of previous studies have used schematic unrealistic stimuli. Here, we tested these two opposite hypotheses in a first experiment using photographic stimuli and results showed that the own face does not attract attention compared to another highly familiar face or to an unknown face. Nevertheless, it appears that the own face was still better recognized compared to the others. A second experiment was aimed at verifying whether faces attract attention more than other objects with the same realistic photographic stimuli than used in experiment 1. Results confirmed previous findings that faces are more resistant to inattentional blindness than other objects. Our study suggests that a face by itself attracts attention compared to other objects whatever its familiarity or its identity. These results challenge the view that auto-referential material benefits from specific attentional processes. [less ▲]