Face processing in depersonalization: an fMRI study of the unfamiliar self

Sarah Ketay; Holly K Hamilton; Brian W Haas; Daphne Simeon

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.02.003

Face processing in depersonalization: an fMRI study of the unfamiliar self

Psychiatry Res. 2014 Apr 30;222(1-2):107-10. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.02.003. Epub 2014 Feb 14.

Authors

Sarah Ketay¹, Holly K Hamilton², Brian W Haas³, Daphne Simeon⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117, USA. Electronic address: ketay@hartford.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Abstract

Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is characterized by a core sense of unfamiliarity. Nine DPD participants and 10 healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing self and unfamiliar faces. Compared with control subjects, the DPD group exhibited significantly greater activation in several brain regions in response to self vs. stranger faces. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: Depersonalization; Self; Unfamiliarity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Brain / physiopathology*
Brain Mapping
Depersonalization / physiopathology*
Face*
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Male
Middle Aged
Recognition, Psychology / physiology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

UL1 TR000067/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States