A network for self-transcendence derived from patients with brain lesions

Self-transcendence, the shift of experience away from the self toward others, nature, or broader meaning, is a key aspect of human psychology, but its neural basis was unclear. By applying lesion network mapping to 88 neurosurgical patients assessed before and after surgery for trait self-transcendence, a distributed brain network was identified whose disruption alters this capacity. This network overlapped with the default mode network and frontoparietal control subnetworks. Posterior midline regions were the most stable correlates of increased self-transcendence after lesions. The findings suggest that posterior midline hubs constrain, while brainstem and anterior midline regions facilitate, self-transcendent experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Self-transcendence, the reorientation of experience away from the self toward others, nature, or broader meaning, is a fundamental dimension of human psychology, yet its causal neural architecture remains poorly understood. Here we applied lesion network mapping to 88 neurosurgical patients with pre- and post-operative assessments of trait self-transcendence to identify the distributed brain network whose disruption alters this capacity. The resulting network showed significant spatial correspondence with the default mode network and, at a finer parcellation level, with frontoparietal control subnetworks. Leave-one-out analyses identified posterior midline regions as the most stable correlates of increased self-transcendence following brain lesions. Independent validation against fMRI meta-analyses of self-referential processing, compassion, and ketamine administration, alongside a neuromodulation target previously shown to modulate the sense of self, converged on a consistent model. These findings provide causal evidence for a network architecture in which posterior midline hubs constrain, and brainstem and anterior midline regions facilitate, self-transcendent experience.