Author: Wu Y, Wang C, He X, Mao L, Zhang L.
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Capital Normal University, 83 Xisanhuan North Rd., Beijing 100089, PR China. E-mail: lizhang@mail.cnu.edu.cn Correspondence should also be addressed to Yanhong Wu, Department of Psychology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Rd., Beijing 100879, PR China. wuyh@pku.edu.cn.
Conference/Journal: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci.
Date published: 2010 Mar 2
Other:
Word Count: 144
Previous transcultural neuroimaging studies have shown that the neural substrates of self-reflection can be shaped by different cultures. There are few studies, however, on the neural activity of self-reflection where religion is viewed as a form of cultural expression. The present study examined the self-processing of two Chinese ethnic groups (Han and Tibetan) to investigate the significant role of religion on the functional anatomy of self-representation. We replicated the previous results in Han participants with the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and left anterior cingulate cortex showing stronger activation in self-processing when compared with other-processing conditions. However, no typical self-reference pattern was identified in Tibetan participants on behavioral or neural levels. This could be explained by the minimal subjective sense of \'I-ness\' in Tibetan Buddhists. Our findings lend support to the presumed role of culture and religion in shaping the neural substrate of self.