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•Less than 1 % of empirical articles on narcissism have addressed its neural basis.•We decoded various forms of narcissism from spontaneous neural oscillations.•Distinct neural oscillatory patterns for agentic versus communal narcissism.•Distinct neural oscillatory patterns for admirative versus rivalrous narcissism.•Vulnerable narcissism negatively related to fast and slow wave frequency bands. There is a substantial knowledge gap in the narcissism literature: <1 % of the nearly 12,000 articles on narcissism have addressed its neural basis. To help fill this gap, we asked whether the multifacetedness of narcissism could be decoded from spontaneous neural oscillations. We attempted to do so by applying a machine learning approach (multivariate pattern analysis) to the resting-state EEG data of 162 participants who also completed a comprehensive battery of narcissism scales assessing agentic, admirative, rivalrous, communal, and vulnerable forms. Consistent with the agency-communion model of narcissism, agentic and communal forms of grandiose narcissism were reflected in distinct, non-overlapping patterns of spontaneous neural oscillations. Furthermore, consistent with a narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept model of narcissism, we observed largely non-overlapping patterns of spontaneous neural oscillations for admirative and rivalrous forms of narcissism. Vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with power across fast and slow wave frequency bands. Taken together, the results suggest that the diverse forms of narcissism can be reliably predicted from spontaneous neural oscillations. The findings contribute to the burgeoning field of personality neuroscience.

The current study tested competing predictions regarding the effect of mortality salience on delay discounting. One prediction, based on evolutionary considerations, was that reminders of death increase the value of the present. Another prediction, based in part on construal level theory, was that reminders of death increase the value of the future. One-hundred eighteen participants thought about personal mortality or a control topic and then completed an inter-temporal choice task pitting the chance to gain $50 now against increasingly attractive rewards three months later. Consistent with the hypothesis inspired by construal theory, participants in the mortality salience condition traded $50 now for $66.67 in three months, whereas participants in the dental pain salience condition required $72.84 in three months in lieu of $50 now. Thus, participants in the mortality salience condition discounted future monetary gains less than other participants, suggesting that thoughts of death may increase the subjective value of the future.

•Behaviorally people assigned less positivity to the authentic (vs. presented) self.•P1 showed a preference for threatening information about the presented self.•N170 showed a preference for favorable information about the presented self.•People engaged in more elaborate processing about the authentic self later (LPP).•Though authenticity is aligned with positivity, it still allows room for negativity. Authenticity has captivated scholars. But what is it? An emerging view considers it exaggerated favorability (self-enhancement), whereas traditional views regard it as self-accuracy and self-consistency. We tested these theoretical views by contrasting the authentic self with the presented self, a highly desirable representation. Behaviorally, participants ascribed less positivity to the authentic self: They endorsed more negative traits and were faster to admit having them; also, they endorsed fewer positive traits and were slower to admit having them. Neurally, participants manifested preferential processing of threatening information (P1), followed by preferential processing of favorable information (N170), about the presented self (than authentic self), indicating its brittleness. At a later stage (LPP), participants engaged in more elaborate processing of threatening and favorable information about the authentic self, indicating its subjective importance. Authenticity, albeit mostly positive, allows room for negativity.

Self-regulation enables individuals to guide their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a purposeful manner. Self-regulation is thus crucial for goal-directed behavior and contributes to many consequential outcomes in life including physical health, psychological well-being, ethical decision making, and strong interpersonal relationships. Neuroscientific research has revealed that the prefrontal cortex plays a central role in self-regulation, specifically by exerting top-down control over subcortical regions involved in reward (e.g., striatum) and emotion (e.g., amygdala). To orient readers, we first offer a methodological overview of tDCS and then review experiments using non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (especially transcranial direct current stimulation) to target prefrontal brain regions implicated in self-regulation. We focus on brain stimulation studies of self-regulatory behavior across three broad domains of response: persistence, delay behavior, and impulse control. We suggest that stimulating the prefrontal cortex promotes successful self-regulation by altering the balance in activity between the prefrontal cortex and subcortical regions involved in emotion and reward processing.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating condition that affects approximately 1% of the population. Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia typically exhibit positive (e.g., hallucinations) and negative symptoms (e.g., anhedonia) and impairments in cognitive function. Given the limitations of antipsychotic medication and psychotherapy in fully treating psychosis symptomatology, there has been increasing interest in other interventions such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique, that is safe, cost-effective, and widely accessible. Here, we discuss treatment studies that seek to improve symptoms and cognitive performance in schizophrenia using tDCS. Currently within the literature, there is support for reductions in positive symptoms such as hallucinations after receiving tDCS. Further, studies indicate that tDCS can improve cognitive functioning, which is an area of investigation that is sorely needed, as it is unclear which types of interventions may be useful in ameliorating cognitive deficits among this group. Taken together, the evidence suggests that tDCS holds promise in improving symptoms and cognition. To that end, tDCS has critical clinical implications for this population.

How one thinks about or conceptualizes a goal has important consequences for the motivational features of goal pursuit. Two experiments tested the hypothesis, inspired by work on meaning in life, action identification theory, and expectancy-value theory, that high-level construal of an academic goal should enhance motivation to pursue that goal. In each experiment, we manipulated high-level versus low-level construal of an academic goal and assessed several variables related to the goal: the perceived meaningfulness of the goal, motivation to pursue the goal, and goal self-concordance. Supporting the hypothesis, individuals who thought about their academic goal in a high-level manner viewed their goal as more meaningful, reported being more motivated to pursue the goal, and reported the goal to be more self-concordant. Implications and future directions are discussed.

[...]the authors present a series of clinical cases with little significant effects in improving the symptoms associated with Tourette's syndrome. In this case, the authors demonstrated a specific neurophysiological effect (detectable by both EEG and fNIRS) of the tACS applied over the motor circuits involved in the chosen task within the parietal areas. [...]the choice of the experimental task proves to be increasingly relevant in evaluating the effect of specific transcranial stimulation protocols both in experimental and in applicative settings. [...]it describes the role of tDCS in enhancing motor learning, with reference to bimanual coordination tasks. A further demonstration of how transcranial stimulation has differential effects according to the experimental setting but also according to the individual features. [...]three reviews showed that transcranial stimulation can be used to study psychological constructs such as agency, goal-oriented behavior, and creativity.

Abstract Negative self-descriptive information can be threatening to the self. This may depend, however, on the self-representation for which the information is relevant. We focused on two self-presentations, the authentic self and the presented self. In particular, we examined how the authentic and presented selves are influenced by emotional self-descriptiveness. Participants (N = 147) completed a self-referent emotional Stroop task while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. They viewed in coloured text positive or negative traits exemplifying the authentic self (‘I am genuinely honest’), the presented self (‘I am outwardly honest’), or control (‘It is clearly honest’). Colour naming latency was slower to negative (vs. positive) traits for the presented self and control. Colour naming latency was faster to negative (vs. positive) traits for the authentic self. Event-related potentials indicated that at both early (P1) and later (P3) stages of attentional processing, the authentic self exhibited comparable amplitudes to negative and positive traits. However, P1 was larger for negative, and P3 was larger for positive, traits for the presented self. Taken together, the findings highlight that the presented self is more pursuant of positivity, whereas the authentic self is more tolerant of negativity.

Abstract The reward responsivity hypothesis of self-control proposes that irrespective of self-control success, exercising self-control is aversive and engenders negative affect. To countermand this discomfort, reward-seeking behavior may be amplified after bouts of self-control, bringing individuals back to a mildly positive baseline state. Previous studies indicated that effort—an integral component of self-control—can increase reward responsivity. We sought to test and extend the reward responsivity hypothesis by asking if exercising self-control increases a neural marker of reward responsivity [Reward Positivity (RewP)] differentially for hedonic rewards or eudaimonic rewards. We instructed participants (N = 114) to complete a speeded reaction time task where they exercised self-control (incongruent Stroop trials) or not (congruent Stroop trials) and then had the opportunity to win money for themselves (hedonic rewards) or a charity (eudaimonic rewards) while electroencephalography was recorded. Consistent with the reward responsivity hypothesis, participants evinced a larger RewP after exercising self-control (vs. not exercising self-control). Participants also showed a larger RewP for hedonic over eudaimonic rewards. Self-control and reward type did not interactively modulate RewP, suggesting that self-control increases reward responsivity in a domain-general manner. The findings provide a neurophysiological mechanism for the reward responsivity hypothesis of self-control and promise to revitalize the relevant literature.

Exercising self-control can be phenomenologically aversive. Insofar as individuals strive to maintain a positive emotional state, one consequence of exercising self-control may thus be a temporarily tuning toward or amplification of reward-related impulses (perhaps arising to countermand the aversive feelings that stem from self-control). Reward-relevant after-effects are relatively underappreciated in self-control research. In the current paper, we review theory and research pertaining to the idea that exercising self-control increases reward responsivity. First, we review theoretical models of self-control focusing on the relationship between control systems and reward systems. Second, we review behavioral studies regarding the effects of exercising self-control on subsequent reactivity to food, money, drugs, and positive emotional images. Third, we review findings from functional neuroimaging and electroencephalographic research pertaining to the reward responsivity hypothesis. We then call for additional research to integrate how, when, and under what circumstances self-control exertion influences reward processing. Such an endeavor will help to advance research and theory on self-control by offering a more precise characterization of the dynamic interactions between control systems and reward systems.