Healthy people favour information associated with themselves and they prioritise stimuli that generate positive valence. The effects of this self-prioritisation are pervasive in our decision making. Changes in self-representation are noted in a variety of neuropsychological disorders. However, our understanding of such changes is hampered by the lack of an objective model of these effects and by a failure to develop a neurobiological model that can account for why dysfunctional connectivity of a self-related neural circuit leads to mood disorders.
We will address these issues in a new model of integrative self that delineates (i) how multi-faceted self-prioritisations are assembled through the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an integrative hub in the brain, (ii) how different measures can be incorporated in our model for understanding individual variations, and (iii) how self-representation is constructed as a function of life experiences. In this pilot project, we will conduct proof-of-principle work to assess the first two elements of the model: analysing our ESRC dataset with AI/ML approaches, and a cohort study to test the sensitivity of our model in individuals with mood swings.