You Know Yourself Best: How Self-Cognition Affects Working Memory

Overview

Self-cognition (the awareness of one’s thoughts, identity, and mental processes) plays a vital role in cognitive functions such as attention and working memory. While research has identified self-referential processing in the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, the direct relationship between self-cognition and working memory remains unclear. This study investigates how manipulating self-cognition through linguistic stimulus affects cognitive performance and brain activity using mobile electroencephalography (EEG).Participants (ages 14–19) completed N-back and reverse number recall tasks before and after hearing a deterrent phrase designed to suppress self-cognition. EEG data were collected using an Emotiv X headset, with analyses focusing on alpha, beta, and theta frequency bands. Following exposure to a deterrent phrase, task accuracy decreased by 15%, and recall length dropped by two digits. EEG results showed increased alpha power and reduced mean amplitude (p < 0.05), reflecting decreased attentional engagement and cortical activation.These findings provide behavioral and neurophysiological evidence that language altering self-cognition can impair working memory and focus. By integrating mobile EEG with cognitive paradigms, this study shows that subtle linguistic cues can influence neural processing in real-world contexts, offering insight into education, attention, and mental health.

Competition history

• AJAS 2026 Category not listed

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