A social-cognitive neuroscience analysis of the self

Over the last several years, researchers have begun to appreciate the ways in which questions of interest to personality and social psychologists can be addressed with neuropyschological case material (e.g., Klein & Kihlstrom, 1998; Klein, Loftus, & Kihlstrom, 1996; Macrae, Bodenhausen, Schloerscheidt, & Milne, 1998). In this paper we show how a neuropsychological approach can contribute to our understanding of the mental representation of self. We first review some of the limitations of studies of self that rely on findings from normal participants, and show how these can be overcome by examining the performance of patients with neuropsychological impairments. We then present the case of patient D.B., who suffered profound amnesia as a result of anoxia following cardiac arrest, as an example of the way in which the study of neuropsychological syndromes can cast important new light on questions concerning the mental representation of self.