"When you think of yourself...certain areas in the brain are becoming active, as opposed to when you see or think of someone else."

-Julian Keenan

We may not always like what we see in the mirror, but how many of us actually think about how we recognize our own reflection? It seems like a simple question, and the answer obviously lies in the brain. But Julian Keenan of Psychology wants to find out if there is a particular brain area that gives rise to our sense of who we are.

Keenan got hooked on this research five years ago when he started working with Gordon Gallow, developer of the mirror self-recognition test. According to Keenan, only three species -- humans, orangutans and chimps -- are capable of self-recognition. He recently discussed his research and invites pet owners from Montclair State to test his theory. "Hold a mirror up to your cat or dog," he said, "and I guarantee it will not recognize its own image."

Q: How can you tell when a species is capable of self-recognition?
A: The main method we use is the mirror self-recognition test, which has been in existence for 30 years with unbelievably consistent findings. So far it's been 100-percent reliable. Humans, chimpanzees and orangutans are the only species that recognize themselves. Smart animals such as monkeys can't recognize themselves in a mirror. They actually attack their reflection thinking it's another monkey. I became fascinated with this phenomenon because there's rarely such a clear break between species. Researchers have put monkeys in front of a mirror for thousands of hours and still there is no recognition.

Q: Why?
A: I and a lot of my colleagues think they lack a sense of self. They don't understand that they are individual entities. We do. We can put ourselves in the future or in the past. We can visualize our commute tomorrow and can recall our commute from this morning. We think these lower-level animals do not possess a sense of self so they're not able to put themselves backward or forward in time.

Q: How do apes react when they see their reflection?
A: They initially attack the mirror thinking it's another ape. Once they realize it's a reflection -- for some it takes a couple days, for others a couple hours -- they use the mirror as a tool to groom parts of the body they can't normally see. The first area they go for is the mouth. They'll look inside it and stick their fingers in. Then they'll look at genital and anal regions, and behind the ears. They behave in ways that aren't possible without a mirror. Things we take for granted they will do, like splash water and paint on their faces to see what that looks like in a mirror.

Q: What role does technology play in your research?
A: We first use the case study to look at people who have lost the ability to recognize their own face following brain trauma and examine the area of the brain that has been disrupted. From there we step up to functional imaging technology such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to observe the brain in action. For example, when you think of yourself, see your own face or hear your own voice, certain areas in the brain become active, as opposed to when you see or think of someone else. So we put people inside an FMRI and show them their own face versus a series of celebrity faces.

Q: Based on the FMRI results, where did brain activity occur in self-recognition?
A: In the frontal region on the right side of the brain. The frontal region is significant because it's involved in executive and emotional processing, and in higher order cognition. Personality traits also are located in this area of the brain. We've found that there is a right hemisphere dominance in self-tasks as well. For example, people suffering from right hemisphere damage think their own arm belongs to somebody else. Another disorder that comes with right hemisphere damage is paralysis of the left side of the body, but people with problem deny that anything is wrong with them.

Q: In what direction would you like to take your research?
A: We would like to use this technology to look at whether chimps activate the same brain areas for self-recognition as humans. We should see the same pattern, and confirmation will be that we don't see it in monkeys. This is an underrepresented field, and neurologists don't tend to look at an individual's self-awareness. If more neurologists or neuropsychologists engage in this research, perhaps we can better understand self-recognition.

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