ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.

Sec. Perception Science

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1588567

This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Neural Mechanisms of Sensory-Cognitive Associations: Bridging Sensory Perception and Higher Cognitive FunctionsView all 6 articles

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

Provisionally accepted
Morio AkiMorio Aki1Mami ShibataMami Shibata1Yoshihisa FujitaYoshihisa Fujita1Michael SpantiosMichael Spantios1Kei KobayashiKei Kobayashi1Tsukasa UenoTsukasa Ueno1,2Takashi MiyagiTakashi Miyagi1Sayaka YoshimuraSayaka Yoshimura3,4,5Naoya OishiNaoya Oishi6Toshiya MuraiToshiya Murai1Hironobu FujiwaraHironobu Fujiwara1,7,8*
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyōto, Japan
  • 2Integrated Clinical Education Center, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan
  • 3Advanced Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
  • 4Organization for Promoting Neurodevelopmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Kyōto, Japan
  • 5Department of Developmental Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan
  • 6Human Brain Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyōto, Japan
  • 7Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society Team, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Tokyo, Japan
  • 8The General Research Division, Osaka University Research Center on Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues, Kyoto, Japan

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Introduction: 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 covariates, and examined the influence of subthreshold depression, emphasizing the functional role of the dorsolateral (dlPFC) , ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (vlPFC) and cerebellum in social cognition and emotional regulation of social exclusion. Methods: We conducted restingstate functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses on 114 participants to investigate the neural cor relates of self-esteem. Results: We found that high SE correlated with robust functional connectivity between the left dlPFC and posterior cerebellum. Associations between the left dlPFC and right lingual gyrus, the right vlPFC and insula were FDR-survived, along with diminished connectivity between the left vlPFC, angular gyri, and thalamus. Discussion: These results not only support our hypothesis regarding the dual role of SE-which includes its social cognitive role in avoiding social exclusion and its emotional resilience in enduring such exclusion-but also suggest a potential link with rumination.

Keywords: self-esteem, Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging, Cerebellum, dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, ventrolateral prefrontal cortices

Received: 06 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Aki, Shibata, Fujita, Spantios, Kobayashi, Ueno, Miyagi, Yoshimura, Oishi, Murai and Fujiwara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hironobu Fujiwara, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8315, Kyōto, Japan

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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