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The Emergent Self: How Distributed Neural Networks Support Self-Representation

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Handbook of Neurosociology

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

The self has been conceptualized and divided into two main aspects—the mental/psychological and the physical/embodied self. This chapter describes how simulation by the mirror neuron system (MNS) may underlie a multitude of cognitions that constitute the self, including embodied self-representation and the understanding of other’s actions, and how the default mode network (DMN) may represent aspects of the mental self, including autobiographical memory and self-knowledge. Interactions of the DMN and MNS may subserve the integration of self-relevant traits within the context of autobiographical memory as well as future action goals—positioning the self as a “center of gravity” of one’s private and social behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Istvan Molnar-Szakacs

  2. Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Istvan Molnar-Szakacs

  3. Psychiatry & Behavioral Science-Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Lucina Q. Uddin

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  1. Istvan Molnar-Szakacs
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  2. Lucina Q. Uddin
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Correspondence to Istvan Molnar-Szakacs .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    David D. Franks

  2. Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Jonathan H. Turner

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Molnar-Szakacs, I., Uddin, L.Q. (2013). The Emergent Self: How Distributed Neural Networks Support Self-Representation. In: Franks, D.D., Turner, J.H. (eds) Handbook of Neurosociology. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4473-8_13

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