Neural Basis of Self-Esteem: Social Cognitive and Emotional Regulation Insights

Abstract

Abstract Self-esteem (SE) can significantly affect individual well-being and has been linked to various psychiatric conditions. SE involves cognitive and emotional regulation within a social context. Prior research focusing on young adults has indicated neural correlations in prefrontal cortex areas but presented inconsistent findings. Our study expanded this to a broader age range and covariated the influence of subthreshold depression, emphasizing the functional role of the dorsolateral (dlPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (vlPFC) in social cognition and emotional regulation of social exclusion. With resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses of 114 participants, we found that high SE correlated with stronger functional connectivity between the left dlPFC, anterior PFC, and posterior cerebellum and between the left dlPFC and right lingual gyrus. Associations between the right vlPFC and insula were robust, along with diminished connectivity between the left vlPFC, angular gyri, and thalamus. These results not only support our hypothesis regarding the dual role of SE, which is its social cognitive role in avoiding social exclusion and its emotional resilience in enduring such exclusion, but also suggest a potential link with rumination.