Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review

Coralie Bastin¹, Ben J Harrison¹, Christopher G Davey², Jorge Moll³, Sarah Whittle⁴

Affiliations

¹ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: swhittle@unimelb.edu.au.

PMID: 27687818
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.019

Review

Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review

Coralie Bastin et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016 Dec.

. 2016 Dec:71:455-471.

doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.019. Epub 2016 Sep 26.

Authors

Coralie Bastin¹, Ben J Harrison¹, Christopher G Davey², Jorge Moll³, Sarah Whittle⁴

Affiliations

¹ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: swhittle@unimelb.edu.au.

PMID: 27687818
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.019

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive summary of the current literature on the neurobiological underpinnings of the experience of the negative moral emotions: shame, embarrassment and guilt. PsycINFO, PubMed and MEDLINE were used to identify existing studies. Twenty-one functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography studies were reviewed. Although studies differed considerably in methodology, their findings highlight both shared and distinct patterns of brain structure/function associated with these emotions. Shame was more likely to be associated with activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and sensorimotor cortex; embarrassment was more likely to be associated with activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala; guilt was more likely to be associated with activity in ventral anterior cingulate cortex, posterior temporal regions and the precuneus. Although results point to some common and some distinct neural underpinnings of these emotions, further research is required to replicate findings.

Keywords: Embarrassment; Guilt; MRI; Negative moral emotions; Neuroimaging; PET; Shame; fMRI.

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Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review

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Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review

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