自我概念清晰性是个体对自我概念了解的清楚程度,受自我威胁的影响.杏仁核是威胁信息加工的重要脑区,该区域的异常在特质焦虑等焦虑个体中均有所体现.虽然,目前缺乏杏仁核与自我概念清晰性之间关系的直接证据,但是通过研究特质焦虑-杏仁核-自我概念清晰性的关系,或许可以有助于进一步理解二者之间的关系.本研究基于体素的形态学分析(VBM)技术,在研究杏仁核与特质焦虑关系的基础上,探讨杏仁核对自我概念清晰性的预测作用.结果表明,特质焦虑和自我概念清晰性呈显著负相关;VBM分析发现,基底外侧杏仁核的区域灰质体积与特质焦虑显著正相关,而且该区域可以显著预测个体的自我概念清晰性水平.这些结果共同说明,随着杏仁核体积的增大,个体更易于受到自我威胁的影响,进而表现出较低的自我概念清晰性.
Self-concept clarity (SCC) refers to the degree to which individual has clearly defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable self-concept. Given that individuals attempt to define themselves positively, SCC is also regarded as the degree of individuals seeing themselves in positive and consistent ways. According to previous studies, SCC is mainly influenced by negative daily events, such as setbacks in daily personally valued goals, social rejection and inappropriate social comparison. Because the favorable views about ourselves are questioned, contradicted, impugned, mocked, or challenged by this daily events, SCC is influenced by self-threat, which is a very important and common threat in our daily life (such as mental threat and physical threat). Thus, the brain regions which are involved in self-threat processing, such as amygdala, might predict the level of SCC. Therefore, in the present study, the predictability of amygdala to SCC was investigated by using voxel-based morphology (VBM). According to the perspective of uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety, anxious individuals have defection in threat processing, which was related to abnormal structure in amygdala. Thus, we might learn about the relationship the brain regions related to threat processing in amygdala by analyzing the relationship between anxiety and amygdala among anxious individuals, which might be helpful for us to investigate the predictability of amygdala to SCC furthefly. Trait anxiety is a stable disposition related to frequent and/or intense state anxiety. Considering that trait anxiety is very common and easy-operation, the predictability of amygdala to SCC was investigated based on analyzing the relationship between trait anxiety and amygdala. In addition, although amygdala is very important in threat processing, such as lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), anterior insula (AI), hippocampi, para hippocampal gyrus and anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) had also b