Differences in the way certain brain regions communicate with each other may help explain why people with high levels of autistic traits feel more shame and less guilt than others, according to new research published in 2006. personality neuroscience.
Shame and guilt are both emotions that occur when we perceive wrongdoing, but they are different. Shame involves an overall negative evaluation of oneself as a person. This experience usually causes people to withdraw from social situations and avoid others. Guilt, on the other hand, focuses on specific actions or behaviors rather than the self as a whole and tends to motivate individuals to take responsibility and make amends.
Research shows that people with autism or higher levels of autistic traits (which are present in some parts of the general population) tend to feel shame and feel less guilt than people without autistic traits. This pattern may be related to known differences in social thinking, such as difficulty imagining what a situation looks like from another person’s perspective. However, the brain mechanisms behind this pattern have not previously been investigated using neuroimaging.
Savio WH Wong from the Chinese University of Hong Kong led a team investigating this gap in the literature. Researchers recruited 45 neurotypical young adults (adults without a diagnosis of autism) (20 women, mean age 22 years) in Hong Kong.
Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans while at rest and also completed questionnaires measuring their level of autistic traits (using the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire) and tendency to experience shame and guilt (using the Self-Conscious Emotions Test 3).
The researchers then took a data-driven approach to identify which brain regions showed connectivity patterns associated with shame and guilt, and then tested whether those connectivity patterns could statistically explain the association between autistic traits and these emotions.
The study found that an area at the very front of the brain called the right frontal pole exhibits connectivity patterns associated with both autistic traits and a tendency to feel shame and guilt.
Specifically, how strongly this region communicated with a group of regions known as cortical midline structures, areas of the brain deeply involved in self-reflection and understanding the minds of others, partially explained why people higher in autistic traits tended to experience more shame and feel more guilt. In particular, connectivity between the right frontal pole and an area called the precuneus was found to mediate both relationships.
The authors concluded, “These findings highlight the role of midline cortical structures as important neural substrates underlying the differential experience of negative self-conscious emotions among people with high levels of autistic traits.”
Please note some limitations. Because this study is cross-sectional and relies on resting-state scans, it cannot prove that these brain networks cause emotional differences, only that they are strongly related. Additionally, this study included only neurotypical individuals, and it is unclear whether the same pattern would appear in individuals diagnosed with autism.
The study, “Autistic traits and propensity toward shame and guilt: The mediating role of functional connectivity of midline cortical structures,” was authored by Isaac N. Ip, Hey Tou Chiu, Fiona NY Ching, Chun-Kit Law, Esther HL Tang, Clayton SF Ng, and Savio WH Wong.
