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Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Advance Access published online on July 20, 2009
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, doi:10.1093/scan/nsp027
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© The Author (2009). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Neural substrates of self-referential processing in Chinese Buddhists

Shihui Han, Xiaosi Gu, Lihua Mao, Jianqiao Ge, Gang Wang and Yina Ma

Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China

Our recent work showed that self-trait judgment is associated with increased activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) in non-religious Chinese, but in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in Chinese Christians. The current work further investigated neural substrates of self-referential processing in Chinese Buddhists. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we scanned 14 Chinese Buddhists, while they conducted trait judgments of the self, Zhu Rongji (the former Chinese premier), Sakyamuni (the Buddhist leader) and Jesus (the Christian leader). We found that, relative to Zhu Rongji judgment, self-judgment in Buddhist participants failed to generate increased activation in the VMPFC but induced increased activations in the DMPFC/rostral anterior cingulate cortex, midcingulate and the left frontal/insular cortex. Self-judgment was also associated with decreased functional connectivity between the DMPFC and posterior parietal cortex compared with Zhu Rongji judgment. The results suggest that Buddhist doctrine of No-self results in weakened neural coding of stimulus self-relatedness in the VMPFC, but enhanced evaluative processes of self-referential stimuli in the DMPFC. Moreover, self-referential processing in Buddhists is characterized by monitoring the conflict between the doctrine of No-self and self-focus thinking during self-trait judgment.

Keywords: self; Buddhist; fMRI; medial prefrontal cortex; midcingulate

Correspondence should be addressed to Shihui Han, Department of Psychology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China. E-mail: shan{at}pku.edu.cn.

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project 30630025, 30828012).

Received February 17, 2009. Accepted June 21, 2009.


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