Cortical responses to self and others

The extrastriate body area (EBA) is one among the multiple, functionally specialized regions of the human visual cortex exhibiting modulation by body-related stimuli. Here we investigate whether activation patterns differ for the perception of one's own body and the bodies of others. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify body-related brain areas and to see how these areas differentiate between images of one's own body and those of others in the absence of facial or motion cues. Whole brain explorative group-level analysis identified body-related blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal enhancement in five regions of the right and in one region of the left hemisphere (right: in the extrastriate visual and parietal cortex and in the precentral gyrus, left: in the extrastriate visual cortex). General linear model group-level random effects analysis of the self-other contrast revealed self-related responses in the extrastriate and parietal regions in the right hemisphere but also in the right middle frontal gyrus. These results suggest the existence of a cortical network for the extraction of body-related information and another cortical network for the extraction of self-related body information. The two networks partially overlap in the right superior and inferior parietal cortices, but are clearly segregated in the extrastriate visual cortex and in the middle frontal gyrus. In addition, we report that the classical EBA is only involved in the analysis of body-related information but not in the assignment of body identity. The latter appears to be accomplished by a network in right hemisphere comprising the fusiform body area, regions of the superior parietal lobe, the inferior parietal cortex, and the middle frontal gyrus.