Neural mechanisms involved in the detection of our first name: a combined ERPs and PET study [An article from: Neuropsychologia]

This digital document is a journal article from Neuropsychologia, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In everyday social interactions, hearing our own first name captures our attention and gives rise to a sense of self-awareness, since it is one of the most socially self related stimulus. In the present study, we combined ERPs and PET scan methods to explore the cerebral mechanisms underlying the detection of our own name. While categorical analyses of PET data failed to reveal significant results, we found that the amplitude of the P3 component, elicited when hearing one's own name, correlates with regional cerebral blood changes in right superior temporal sulcus, precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex. Additionally, the latter was more correlated to the P3 obtained for the subject's name compared to that obtained for other first names. These results suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex plays the most prominent role in self-processing.