Medial prefrontal activity differentiates self from close others.

A key question in psychology and neuroscience is the extent to which the neural representation of others is incorporated with, or is distinct from, our concept of self. Recent neuroimaging research has emphasized the importance of a region in the medial prefrontal cortex [MPFC; Brodmann's area (BA) 10] when performing self-referent tasks. Specifically, previous studies have reported selective MPFC recruitment when making judgments about the self relative to a familiar but personally unknown other.

Separating sustained from transient aspects of cognitive control during thought suppression.

Cognitive theories of how people regulate their thoughts have suggested the involvement of two control processes that occur over different time courses. These cognitive accounts parallel recent neural models of executive control, which suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) mediates sustained changes in the allocation of control processes, whereas the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) relays a transient need for additional control. Combining these cognitive and neural models of control, we used recently developed analysis techniques to distinguish transient from sustained changes in brain activation while subjects attempted to suppress an unwanted thought.

An fMRI investigation of the impact of interracial contact on executive function.

We investigated whether individual differences in racial bias among white participants predict the recruitment, and potential depletion, of executive attentional resources during contact with black individuals. White individuals completed an unobtrusive measure of racial bias, then interacted with a black individual, and finally completed an ostensibly unrelated Stroop color-naming test. In a separate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session, subjects were presented with unfamiliar black male faces, and the activity of brain regions thought to be critical to executive control was assessed.

Neural correlates of thought suppression.

The present report used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural correlates of thought suppression. Subjects were imaged while alternately (i) attempting to suppress a particular thought, (ii) attempting to suppress all thoughts, or (iii) thinking freely about any thought. Suppression of a particular thought, when compared to the free-thought control condition, revealed greater activation in the anterior cingulate.