Electrophysiological correlates of self-specific prediction errors in the human brain
Alejandra Sel1, Rachel Harding1, Manos Tsakiris1
1Lab of Action & Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University London, Egham Surrey, TW20 0EX London, UK.
Neuroimage
|October 13, 2015
Summary
The brain uses prediction error systems to process self-images, showing a bias towards self-recognition. Deviant self-images trigger a visual mismatch response, indicating violations of expected patterns.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Self-awareness is crucial for social interaction, involving the ability to distinguish self from others.
- The brain's predictive coding framework suggests sensory processing relies on predicting future events based on contextual regularities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the brain's processing of self-face and self-body images is explained by prediction error systems.
- To explore the neural mechanisms underlying self-bias in visual perception.
Main Methods:
- Evoked cortical responses were measured using electroencephalography (EEG) while participants viewed sequences of self and other images.
- Deviant images were introduced to violate expected sequences, allowing for the measurement of prediction errors.
- Source localization was used to identify the brain regions involved in processing self-related visual stimuli.
Main Results:
- Deviant self-images, unlike deviant images of others, elicited a visual mismatch response (vMMR).
- The amplitude of the vMMR was proportional to the degree of deviance from the self-image.
- Source localization revealed involvement of visual, sensorimotor, and limbic areas in response to self-image violations.
Conclusions:
- Self-processing can be explained by the brain's prediction error system, highlighting a self-bias in visual processing.
- These findings support predictive coding models of self-processing and self-awareness.
