Visual and Interoceptive EEG Signatures Reveal the Interaction Between Facial and Creator Identities in Self-Processing

Background: Understanding how humans perceive and represent themselves is central to cognitive neuroscience. Although self-face processing is well characterized, how distinct dimensions of the self, such as facial and creator identities, are neurally integrated remains largely unknown. Heartbeat-related self-expression and its underlying neural interactions remain unexplored. Methods: We simultaneously recorded EEG and ECG signals from 32 art students while they viewed self- and other-created portraits (of self and other). Results: The results revealed distinct processing pathways for facial identity and creator identity, while both self-related stimuli elicited special neural responses. Furthermore, their interaction emerged in early visual evoked potentials (188–344 ms) and late heartbeat-evoked potentials (344–596 ms). Conclusions: These findings indicate that the self is modulated by visual and interoceptive signals, offering new insights into the neural mechanisms of selfhood in artistic practice.