Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 69, Issue 11, 1 June 2011, Pages 1019-1025
Biological Psychiatry

Review
Is Our Self Nothing but Reward?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.12.014Get rights and content

Neuroscience has increasingly explored the neural mechanisms underlying our sense of self. Recent studies have demonstrated the recruitment of regions like the ventral tegmental area, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the ventral striatum to self-specific stimuli—regions typically associated with reward-related processing. This raises the question of whether there is a relationship between self and reward and, if so, how these different fields can be linked. Three relationship models that aim to explore the relationship between self and reward are discussed here: integration, segregation, and parallel processing. Their pros and cons are reviewed in light of the most recent findings. The conclusion is that both the fields of self and reward may benefit from increased interaction. This interaction may help to fill in some of the missing pieces regarding reward-related processing, as well as illuminate how brain function can bring forward the philosophical concept and psychological reality of self.

Section snippets

Reward-Self Relationship Models

Before discussing the reward-self relationship models, it is important to note that the terms reward and self are used here in a very basic sense (compared with the various uses within their respective fields; for examples in the field of reward, see [14, 15, 16, 17]). One core component of reward is value assignment, meaning that an external stimulus is assigned specific relevance or importance for the organism (18, 19). Similarly, although there are numerous aspects of the self (e.g.,

Conclusions

The discussion of different possible models revealed that self and reward can neither be considered identical (i.e., integration model) nor clearly separate identities (i.e., segregation model). Instead, their relationship seems to be rather complex with multiple interactions across a continuum that may be evident neurally, psychologically, and conceptually. Unfortunately, these results remain tentative, given that the focus on comparisons of self- and nonself-specific stimuli has generated

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