Need fulfillment and the modulation of medial prefrontal activity when judging remembered past, perceived present, and imagined future identities

Bibliographic Data

ID15411807
AuthorsStefano I Di Domenico (0000-0001-7137-7364, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Marc A Fournier (0000-0002-6439-346X, The Scarborough Hospital), Achala H Rodrigo (University of Toronto), Mengxi Dong (0000-0003-0354-1681, University of Toronto), Hasan Ayaz (0000-0001-5514-2741, University of Pennsylvania), Anthony C Ruocco (0000-0002-1942-7181, The Scarborough Hospital)
Year2017
Volume17
Issue3
Pages259-275
Publication date2017-05-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSelf and Identity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1529-8868 • E-ISSN: 1529-8876
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15298868.2017.1327452
OpenAlexW2612487569
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited36

People’s abilities to integrate temporally distant identities are known to be facilitated by the fulfillment of basic psychological needs. However, the neural systems that support the integrative functions of need fulfillment are not well understood. Neuroimaging studies indicate that the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) differentiates remembered past, perceived present, and imagined future identities, possibly on the basis of the self-relevance attributed to specific identity representations. Using optical neuroimaging, we examined the relationship between need fulfillment and activity within the MPFC when young adults (N = 110) made trait judgments about their past, present, and future identities. Participants reporting higher need fulfillment evidenced similarly high levels of activity in the right-MPFC across the conditions; in contrast, those reporting lower need fulfillment evidenced markedly reduced activity when judging past and future identities. Results thus suggest that, among people who experience higher need fulfillment, the MPFC processes temporally distant identities in a similarly self-relevant manner. These findings provide a new type of evidence of the relationship between need fulfillment and identity integration and provide future studies with a point of entry for further examining the neural basis of identity integration

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Identity (music · Neural correlates of consciousness · Neuroimaging · Perspective (graphical · Prefrontal cortex · Relevance (law · Trait · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Mental Health Research Topics · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology

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