Neural correlates of believing

Beliefs provide a fundamental cognitive basis for human behavior. But how the brain believes remains a mystery. We investigated the neural underpinnings of believing by scanning healthy adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging when they made yes/no responses to the questions whether they believe or think that a trait adjective describes themselves or a celebrity. We found that, relative to thinking, believing was characterized with better memory of self-related adjectives. Moreover, believing (vs. thinking) was associated with stronger activations in the left anterior insula/inferior frontal cortex, stronger functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and left occipital cortex during judgments of one's own personality traits, and stronger intrinsic connectivity between the left occipital cortex and the left anterior insula/inferior frontal cortex. Our findings shed new light on the neurocognitive processes that characterize believing as a mental process in healthy adults.