Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.

Previous studies showed that the understanding of others' basic emotional experiences is based on a "resonant" mechanism, i.e., on the reactivation, in the observer's brain, of the cerebral areas associated with those experiences. The present study aimed to investigate whether th...

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Main Authors: Nicola Canessa, Matteo Motterlini, Cinzia Di Dio, Daniela Perani, Paola Scifo, Stefano F Cappa, Giacomo Rizzolatti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2009-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2756584?pdf=render
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author Nicola Canessa
Matteo Motterlini
Cinzia Di Dio
Daniela Perani
Paola Scifo
Stefano F Cappa
Giacomo Rizzolatti
author_facet Nicola Canessa
Matteo Motterlini
Cinzia Di Dio
Daniela Perani
Paola Scifo
Stefano F Cappa
Giacomo Rizzolatti
author_sort Nicola Canessa
collection DOAJ
description Previous studies showed that the understanding of others' basic emotional experiences is based on a "resonant" mechanism, i.e., on the reactivation, in the observer's brain, of the cerebral areas associated with those experiences. The present study aimed to investigate whether the same neural mechanism is activated both when experiencing and attending complex, cognitively-generated, emotions. A gambling task and functional-Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging (fMRI) were used to test this hypothesis using regret, the negative cognitively-based emotion resulting from an unfavorable counterfactual comparison between the outcomes of chosen and discarded options. Do the same brain structures that mediate the experience of regret become active in the observation of situations eliciting regret in another individual? Here we show that observing the regretful outcomes of someone else's choices activates the same regions that are activated during a first-person experience of regret, i.e. the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus. These results extend the possible role of a mirror-like mechanism beyond basic emotions.
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spelling doaj.art-82d7154319c74b579c5c378ef76f80522022-12-22T00:43:34ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032009-01-01410e740210.1371/journal.pone.0007402Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.Nicola CanessaMatteo MotterliniCinzia Di DioDaniela PeraniPaola ScifoStefano F CappaGiacomo RizzolattiPrevious studies showed that the understanding of others' basic emotional experiences is based on a "resonant" mechanism, i.e., on the reactivation, in the observer's brain, of the cerebral areas associated with those experiences. The present study aimed to investigate whether the same neural mechanism is activated both when experiencing and attending complex, cognitively-generated, emotions. A gambling task and functional-Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging (fMRI) were used to test this hypothesis using regret, the negative cognitively-based emotion resulting from an unfavorable counterfactual comparison between the outcomes of chosen and discarded options. Do the same brain structures that mediate the experience of regret become active in the observation of situations eliciting regret in another individual? Here we show that observing the regretful outcomes of someone else's choices activates the same regions that are activated during a first-person experience of regret, i.e. the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus. These results extend the possible role of a mirror-like mechanism beyond basic emotions.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2756584?pdf=render
spellingShingle Nicola Canessa
Matteo Motterlini
Cinzia Di Dio
Daniela Perani
Paola Scifo
Stefano F Cappa
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
PLoS ONE
title Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
title_full Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
title_fullStr Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
title_full_unstemmed Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
title_short Understanding others' regret: a FMRI study.
title_sort understanding others regret a fmri study
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2756584?pdf=render
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