This concept comprises experiences of ownership, of first person perspective, and of a long-term unity of beliefs and attitudes.
[1] Thomas Metzinger advanced the theory in his 1993 book Subjekt und Selbstmodell (Subject and self-model).
It is the property of phenomenal selfhood that plays the most important role in creating the fictional self and the first person perspective.
[3] The first-person perspective can be non-conceptual and is autonomously active due to the constant reception of perceptual information by the brain.
The brain, specifically the brainstem and hypothalamus, processes this information into representational content, namely linguistic reflections.
Individuals with autism are thought to be impaired in assigning mental states to other people, an ability that probably codevelops with long-term unity of self.