[Looking at the self under the microscope of cognitive neurosciences: from self-consciousness to consciousness of others].

Abstract

Cognitive neurosciences are interested in the concept of self, resulting from two muddled aspects. This concept relates to both a set of personal complex and multidimensional mental representations about ourselves and the flow of self-consciousness which is associated. It grounds individual identity and is related to the subjectivity of the personal experiences, at the core of continuity over the time. The existence of others seems essential in the construction of self mental representations; that is why the concept of self is strongly related to the theory of mind (ToM). ToM corresponds to the capacity to infer representations or mental states to others. Even if self and ToM researches are often carried out in two distinct fields, it seems like these two concepts share common processes. Recent imaging studies comfort this idea. Activations in a common neuronal network (principally median prefrontal cortex and precuneus) were found during the realization of self or ToM tasks. Thus, our capacity to represent our thoughts and others' one coud have a similar cerebral origin. Self-consciousness and consciousness of others could then be considered as a bidirectional interaction at the very bases of both individual identity and the other's knowledge, which regulate behavior and social interactions.