Comprehensive neural networks for guilty feelings in young adults

Seishu Nakagawa; Hikaru Takeuchi; Yasuyuki Taki; Rui Nouchi; Atsushi Sekiguchi; Yuka Kotozaki; Carlos Makoto Miyauchi; Kunio Iizuka; Ryoichi Yokoyama; Takamitsu Shinada; Yuki Yamamoto; Sugiko Hanawa; Tsuyoshi Araki; Hiroshi Hashizume; Keiko Kunitoki; Yuko Sassa; Ryuta Kawashima

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.004

Comprehensive neural networks for guilty feelings in young adults

Neuroimage. 2015 Jan 15:105:248-56. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.004. Epub 2014 Nov 8.

Authors

Seishu Nakagawa¹, Hikaru Takeuchi², Yasuyuki Taki³, Rui Nouchi⁴, Atsushi Sekiguchi⁵, Yuka Kotozaki⁶, Carlos Makoto Miyauchi⁷, Kunio Iizuka⁸, Ryoichi Yokoyama⁹, Takamitsu Shinada¹⁰, Yuki Yamamoto¹⁰, Sugiko Hanawa¹⁰, Tsuyoshi Araki⁶, Hiroshi Hashizume², Keiko Kunitoki¹¹, Yuko Sassa², Ryuta Kawashima¹²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Electronic address: seishu@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.
² Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
³ Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ Human and Social Response Research Division, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁶ Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁷ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁸ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
⁹ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
¹¹ Faculty of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
¹² Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

PMID: 25462799
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.004

Abstract

Feelings of guilt are associated with widespread self and social cognitions, e.g., empathy, moral reasoning, and punishment. Neural correlates directly related to the degree of feelings of guilt have not been detected, probably due to the small numbers of subjects, whereas there are growing numbers of neuroimaging studies of feelings of guilt. We hypothesized that the neural networks for guilty feelings are widespread and include the insula, inferior parietal lobule (IPL), amygdala, subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which are essential for cognitions of guilt. We investigated the association between regional gray matter density (rGMD) and feelings of guilt in 764 healthy young students (422 males, 342 females; 20.7 ± 1.8 years) using magnetic resonance imaging and the guilty feeling scale (GFS) for the younger generation which comprises interpersonal situation (IPS) and rule-breaking situation (RBS) scores. Both the IPS and RBS were negatively related to the rGMD in the right posterior insula (PI). The IPS scores were negatively correlated with rGMD in the left anterior insula (AI), right IPL, and vmPFC using small volume correction. A post hoc analysis performed on the significant clusters identified through these analyses revealed that rGMD activity in the right IPL showed a significant negative association with the empathy quotient. These findings at the whole-brain level are the widespread comprehensive neural network regions for guilty feelings. Interestingly, the novel finding in this study is that the PI was implicated as a common region for feelings of guilt with interaction between the IPS and RBS. Additionally, the neural networks including the IPL were associated with empathy and with regions implicated in moral reasoning (AI and vmPFC), and punishment (AI).

Keywords: Comprehensive neural networks; Empathy; Guilty feeling; Interpersonal situation; Posterior insula; Regional gray matter density (rGMD); Rule-breaking situation; Voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cerebrum / anatomy & histology*
Cerebrum / physiology
Empathy / physiology*
Female
Guilt*
Humans
Interpersonal Relations*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Nerve Net / anatomy & histology*
Nerve Net / physiology
Social Behavior*
Young Adult