Self-prioritization is supported by interactions between large-scale brain networks

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Resting-state fMRI shows the default mode network (DMN) is crucial for self-referential processing.
• DMN functional connectivity is observed during tasks involving self-prioritization (SPE) in perception and decision-making.
• Uncertainty exists regarding whether SPE relies solely on the DMN or involves multiple networks, and if it's a unique network component or related to effects like emotion prioritization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether self-prioritization (SPE) depends solely on the default mode network (DMN) or involves multiple brain networks.
• To determine if SPE is associated with a unique interconnected network component or can be explained by related effects like emotion prioritization.
• To identify and compare topological clusters of networks involved in self- and emotion prioritization.

Main Methods:

• Employed network-based statistics to analyze topological clusters of brain networks.
• Utilized an associative-matching task to generate self- and emotion prioritization effects.
• Validated findings on a separate dataset.

Main Results:

• Self-prioritization (SPE) modulated by emotion is supported by a unique network component involving the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) part of the DMN, frontoparietal network (FPN), and insular salience network (SN).
• This critical interaction between DMN, FPN, and SN emerged from focal connectivity, highlighting their importance for SPE.
• Prioritization of happy emotion involved SN, FPN, and MPFC; sad emotion involved DMN, dorsal attention network (DAN), and visual medial network (VMN).

Conclusions:

• The interaction between the DMN, FPN, and SN is critical for cognitive operations underlying self-prioritization (SPE) when modulated by emotion.
• Different emotional states (happy vs. sad) engage distinct network configurations for prioritization.
• Findings contribute to understanding the neural basis of social cognition and self-referential processing.