Neurofunctional characterization of early prefrontal processes contributing to interpersonal guilt
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Neurofunctional characterization of early prefrontal processes contributing to interpersonal guilt Jose Sánchez-García 1 & Javier Espuny 1 & David Hernández-Gutiérrez 1 & Pili Casado 1,2 & Francisco Muñoz 1,2 & Laura Jiménez-Ortega 1,2 & Sabela Fondevila 1,2 & Manuel Martín-Loeches 1,2
# The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2019
Abstract Guilt is a social emotion that plays a central role in promoting prosocial behavior. Despite its relevance, it remains poorly understood. The present study aimed to fill this gap by verifying and characterizing a frontal negative fluctuation of the eventrelated brain potentials (ERP) emerging in conditions of interpersonal guilt. Paired participants would earn money if both performed correctly a dot estimation task (both right); otherwise, both would lose a similar amount (self wrong, partner wrong, and both wrong conditions). The reported feeling of guilt was noticeable in the self wrong condition, which yielded a frontal negativity between 300 and 500 ms after the onset of performance feedback. The amplitude of this fluctuation, however, did not correlate with the amount of guilt reported by the participants, whereas both these values did so with standard measures of empathy. Neither anxiety (trait or state) nor arousal (skin conductance response) seemed to relate to this negativity. A neural source (LORETA) analysis established its generators in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region linked to guilt in fMRI studies but also, importantly, to empathy. The frontal negative fluctuation thus might reflect empathic processes contributing to achieve feelings of interpersonal guilt. Keywords Interpersonal guilt . Frontal negativity . LORETA . ERP . Medial prefrontal cortex . Empathy The study of interpersonal guilt has recently gained interest because of its social significance. Social emotions influence our daily lives, and guilt plays a major role in bringing the group together and rejoining bonds. Guilt—along with shame, embarrassment, and pride (Lewis, 2000)—is one of the social and self-conscious emotions that appears when someone feels responsible for harming or negatively affecting another person when a different action might have avoided the situation. As a moral and prosocial emotion, it protects social relationships by punishing interpersonal wrongdoings, and promoting and rebalancing behavior (Amodio, Devine, & Harmon-Jones, 2007; Haidt, 2003). Moreover, it also acts as a marker for future partner behaviors in a clear prosocial focus as it prevents people from committing wrongful actions (Chang, Smith, Dufwenberg, & Sanfey, 2011). Its absence is manifest
* Jose Sánchez-García [email protected] 1
Center for Human Evolution and Behavior ISCIII–UCM, Madrid, Spain
2
Psychobiology and Methods in Behavioral Sciences Department, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
in psychopaths, who behave abnormally and immorally and feel no remorse about those they hurt (Kiehl, 2006). Guilt is based on self-agency and, when our actions affect another individual, empathy is
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