Agency performance modulates resting-state variation in prefrontal brain regions

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Distinguishing self-generated actions from external events is crucial for social interaction.
• Impaired self-other attribution is linked to schizophrenia symptoms like hallucinations.
• Causally ambiguous situations present a universal challenge for self-other attribution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between resting-state functional brain connectivity and performance on a self-other attribution task.
• To explore individual differences in neural mechanisms underlying agency and self-other differentiation.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-five healthy adults underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
• Participants completed an attribution task involving tapping and listening to tones with varying self-other correspondence.
• Group independent component analysis (ICA) and dual regression were used to analyze fMRI data.

Main Results:

• Functional connectivity between prefrontal self-referential networks and regions processing external stimuli varied with attribution accuracy.
• Individual differences in connectivity modulated the ability to differentiate self-generated tones from externally-generated ones.
• Specific patterns of functional connectivity predicted performance in distinguishing self from other.

Conclusions:

• Resting-state functional connectivity, particularly involving prefrontal networks, is associated with self-other attribution performance.
• These findings highlight the neural basis of agency and the importance of prefrontal connectivity in differentiating self from other.
• The study provides insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the sense of agency.