Default Network is Associated with Wise Advising from the 2nd- but not the 3rd- Person Perspective

Abstract Providing advice to others is an important component of wisdom. We conducted a study to test the hypothesis that the Default Mode Network (DMN) is associated with wisdom when advising from a self-referential perspective. This is due to the involvement of the DMN in reflecting on personal life experiences. Altogether, 52 healthy Chinese adults provided advice on various life dilemmas using a second- or third-person perspective after receiving a resting-state functional MRI scan. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured in regions of the DMN and the whole brain during resting states. Moreover, trained raters rated the participants' advice on three wisdom subcomponents (i.e., metacognitive humility (MH), meta-level flexibility, and perspective-taking). The results showed that participants felt a significantly smaller psychological distance from the second- than the third-person perspective when advising protagonists on life dilemmas. Relatedly, the rostral ACC was significantly more associated with MH when advising from the second-person perspective, while the dorsal ACC was more associated with MH from the third-person perspective. The precuneus and calcarine showed significantly greater association with perspective-taking from the second- than the third-person perspective. Therefore, wise advising from distinct perspectives and psychological distances may be differentiated in the brain.