Neuropsychology and the self-concept
1Department of Neurology, New York University Medical Center, New York, USA.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
|March 23, 1999
Summary
Neuropsychological findings reveal the self emerges early in object realization, extending into imagery and perception. Brain injury can erode the self across modalities, highlighting its categorical and relational nature.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- The biological underpinnings of the self are complex and not fully understood.
- Previous research has explored the self through various theoretical and empirical lenses.
- Neuropsychological findings offer a unique perspective on the self's neural correlates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the biological basis of the self using neuropsychological data from focal brain injury.
- To understand how the self develops and is represented in the brain.
- To explore the relationship between self-concept, cognition, and emotional processing.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of neuropsychological findings in patients with focal brain injury.
- Examination of the self's deposition during object realization.
- Correlation of self-erosion patterns with perceptual modality disruptions.
Main Results:
- The self is established early in object realization, integrating private imagery and external perception.
- Disruptions in this process lead to a cross-modal erosion of the self.
- The self is identified as a categorical, relational entity gaining autonomy through complete cognitive actualization.
Conclusions:
- The self's autonomy is contingent upon the completeness of cognitive derivation.
- The preliminary neural locus of the self involves a holistic phase preceding perceptual individuation.
- Limbic system involvement is suggested in the self-concept's development, linking to feeling, history, and immediate experience.
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