The relevance of neuroscience for the investigation of narcissism: A review of current studies.

During the last decades, empirical interest in narcissism has steeply increased, leading to controversial findings. Its investigation has been conducted predominantly with self-report measures, which could distort empirical findings on narcissism and its correlates due to narcissists’ need to maintain a positive and inflated self-view. In the present work, we summarize studies that use alternative research designs for the investigation of narcissism. First, we briefly describe studies examining psychophysiological correlates of narcissistic phenomena, such as hostility, empathic dysfunctions, and stress sensitivity. Then, we review current literature on the investigation of narcissism in a neuroscientific perspective, both in clinical and non clinical samples. Because studies in this field are very recent, we focus on those brain regions whose involvement in narcissistic functioning has received by now the strongest empirical support. In particular, we underline the role of the anterior insula and of the pre-frontal regions, discussing their implications in narcissistic dysfunctions, such as empathy deficits, emotion dysregulation, heightened sensitivity to rejection, and self-enhancing tendencies. Rather than considering brain activity as the cause of narcissism, our aim is to highlight the importance of personality neuroscience for the development of a more complete view over narcissism, due to the ability of brain research to dig into the emotional and cognitive mechanisms underlying personality functioning