EEG Correlates of Recognition of Self in Morphed Images: Association with Social Anxiety
摘要
Recognition of one’s own face is important for self-identification and is regarded as an indicator of self-awareness. Social anxiety is associated with a special focus on one’s own person. The aim of the present work was to investigate oscillatory responses associated with the processes of recognition/non-recognition of self in morphed images of faces and the links with social anxiety in these processes. A total of 48 volunteers (31 women) recognized themselves in morphed images of faces while EEG recordings were made using 128 electrodes. Recognition of self was associated with a greater increase in the θ rhythm in the time interval from 800 to 1500 msec than in the condition of non-recognition. Data on the relationship between the θ rhythm and attention and memory processes suggest that the increase in the θ rhythm may be associated with memory and attention processes in the perception of details, inconsistencies, and distortions of one’s own face. Social anxiety showed a positive association with the amplitude of the θ rhythm in the self-recognition condition, which may be related to the increased attention that socially anxious individuals focus on themselves and distortions of their own faces.