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The narcissistic self and its psychological and neural correlates: an exploratory fMRI study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2010

Y. Fan ,
C. Wonneberger ,
B. Enzi ,
M. de Greck ,
C. Ulrich ,
C. Tempelmann ,
B. Bogerts ,
S. Doering  and
G. Northoff
Y. Fan
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany Cluster of Excellence ‘Language of Emotion’ and Dahlem Institute for Neuroimaging of Emotion, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
C. Wonneberger
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
B. Enzi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
M. de Greck
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China
C. Ulrich
Affiliation:
Department of Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Fachklinikum Uchtspringe, Germany
C. Tempelmann
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
B. Bogerts
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
S. Doering
Affiliation:
Psychosomatics in Dentistry, Department of Prosthodontics and Material Sciences, University of Muenster, Germany Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Muenster, Germany Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, Austria
G. Northoff*
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr G. Northoff, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P.C., Research Unit Director, Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Canada Research Chair, The Michael Smith Chair, ELJB-CIHR, Royal Ottawa Healthcare Group, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, 1145 Carling Avenue, Room 6435, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7K4, Canada. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

The concept of narcissism has been much researched in psychoanalysis and especially in self psychology. One of the hallmarks of narcissism is altered emotion, including decreased affective resonance (e.g. empathy) with others, the neural underpinnings of which remain unclear. The aim of our exploratory study was to investigate the psychological and neural correlates of empathy in two groups of healthy subjects with high and low narcissistic personality trait. We hypothesized that high narcissistic subjects would show a differential activity pattern in regions such as the anterior insula that are typically associated with empathy.

Method

A sample of 34 non-clinical subjects was divided into high (n=11) and low (n=11) narcissistic groups according to the 66th and 33rd percentiles of their scores on the Narcissism Inventory (NI). Combining the psychological, behavioral and neuronal [i.e. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)] measurements of empathy, we compared the high and low narcissistic groups of subjects.

Results

High narcissistic subjects showed higher scores on the Symptom Checklist-90 – Revised (SCL-90-R) and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) when compared to low narcissistic subjects. High narcissistic subjects also showed significantly decreased deactivation during empathy, especially in the right anterior insula.

Conclusions

Psychological and neuroimaging data indicate respectively higher degrees of alexithymia and lower deactivation during empathy in the insula in high narcissistic subjects. Taken together, our preliminary findings demonstrate, for the first time, psychological and neuronal correlates of narcissism in non-clinical subjects. This might stipulate both novel psychodynamic conceptualization and future psychological–neuronal investigation of narcissism.

Keywords

EmpathyfMRInarcissismright anterior insulaself
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 8 , August 2011 , pp. 1641 - 1650
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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