Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Biology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Julian Paul Keenan

Committee Member

Christos Suriano

Committee Member

Ruth Propper

Abstract

Narcissism is typically characterized by extreme self-focus, lack of empathy for others, and emotional regulation deficits. Grandiose narcissism has been linked to an increased desire for fame, while vulnerable narcissism has been linked to an increase in celebrity worship. While there is a lack of research concerning the neural correlates of desire for fame and celebrity worship, narcissism has been correlated with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in various studies. The current study aimed to identify relationships between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, fame appeal, celebrity attitudes, need to belong, and self-esteem using six scales. We also targeted the mPFC with excitatory (10 Hz) and inhibitory (1 Hz) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in a healthy control cohort to determine if the mPFC is a possible neural correlate of these phenomena. We found no statistical significance in the difference in responses to the six scales based on TMS condition, and we also found no significant correlations between scales. Therefore, these results suggest that the mPFC may not play a role in narcissism, desire for fame, or celebrity worship suggesting that other brain regions may be responsible for modification of these phenomena.

File Format

PDF

Download

Share

COinS