Cited by 2,346Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorEmotions and Moral Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 789 of the 799 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 27 of the 126 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

The brain basis of emotion: A meta-analytic review

Open access
Lindquist, Kristen A., Wager, Tor D., Kober, Hedy, Bliss-Moreau, Eliza, Barrett, Lisa Feldman·2012·Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Abstract

Researchers have wondered how the brain creates emotions since the early days of psychological science. With a surge of studies in affective neuroscience in recent decades, scientists are poised to answer this question. In this target article, we present a meta-analytic summary of the neuroimaging literature on human emotion. We compare the locationist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories consistently and specifically correspond to distinct brain regions) with the psychological constructionist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories are constructed of more general brain networks not specific to those categories) to better understand the brain basis of emotion. We review both locationist and psychological constructionist hypotheses of brain-emotion correspondence and report meta-analytic findings bearing on these hypotheses. Overall, we found little evidence that discrete emotion categories can be consistently and specifically localized to distinct brain regions. Instead, we found evidence that is consistent with a psychological constructionist approach to the mind: A set of interacting brain regions commonly involved in basic psychological operations of both an emotional and non-emotional nature are active during emotion experience and perception across a range of discrete emotion categories.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0140525x11000446

Cites

789 of 789 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

72 Own result · 58 Own interpretation · 25 No full text of the sources · 13 Sources not found · 12 Not checked yet · 8 Partly supported · 6 Supported · 6 Supported so far · 5 No basis given · 4 Own method · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 1 references — free account

Show all 134 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 32
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 47
75 of 75
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Core affect is not psychologically meaningful unless it is attached to an object; it is made meaningful via a second basic psychological operation.

    “We assume that core affect is not psychologically meaningful unless it is attached to an object; it is made meaningful via a second basic psychological operation, which we describe next.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The instances of any emotion category (e.g., anger) that are created from affective feelings do not have strong statistical regularities in the real world or firm natural category boundaries.

    “Emotion words are essential to our model because we assume that the instances of any emotion category (e.g., anger) that are created from affective feelings do not have strong statistical regularities in the real world or firm natural category boundaries (for a discussion of the empirical evidence, see Barrett 2006a; 2009; Barrett et al. 2007a).”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The psychological function of individual brain regions is determined, in part, by the network of brain regions it is firing with.

    “As in the neural context hypothesis, it assumes that the psychological function of individual brain regions is determined, in part, by the network of brain regions it is firing with (McIntosh 2004).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The contrasts in the database that assessed fear perception and disgust experience tended to use visual stimuli that were novel or unfamiliar to participants.

    “because contrasts in our database that assessed the perception of fear and experience of disgust tended to use visual stimuli that are novel or unfamiliar to participants.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    In a psychological construction approach, a given dedicated circuit for a specific behavioral adaptation will be active across a range of emotion categories, and different dedicated circuits within the periaqueductal gray will be active within instances of a single emotion category depending on which behavioral adaptation is more relevant for the immediate context.

    “In a psychological construction approach, the assumption is that a given dedicated circuit for a specific behavioral adaptation (e.g., withdrawal) will be active across a range of emotion categories (e.g., a person can withdraw in instances of both fear and anger), and different dedicated circuits within the PAG (e.g., fight, flight) will be active within instances of a single emotion category”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Humans do many things during instances of anger, such as yelling, hitting, remaining still, and smiling.

    “Humans (like other mammals) do many things during instances of anger, for example. Sometimes humans yell, sometimes they hit, sometimes they remain very still, and sometimes they smile.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The periaqueductal gray is necessary for motivated action patterns in animals.

    “The PAG is necessary for motivated action patterns in animals”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Animals produce actions in a way that maximizes their outcome in a specific context.

    “Animals produce actions in a way to maximize their outcome in a specific context.”
8 of 8

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 799 references

Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Tomkins, 1963, Affect imagery consciousness: Vol. 2: The negative affects
  2. Wager, 2008, Handbook of emotions
  3. Moriguchi, 2010, Differential hemodynamic response in affective circuitry with aging: Novely, valence and arousal, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23
  4. Cacioppo, 2000, Handbook of emotions, 173
  5. Rozin, 2008, The handbook of emotions, 757
  6. Gendron M. , Lindquist K. A. , Wager T. D. , Bliss-Moreau E. , Kober H. & Barrett L. F. (in preparation) Seeing with feeling: A meta-analytic review of visual cortex activity in emotion.
  7. Clore, 2008, Handbook of emotions, 628
  8. 10.1037/a0019017 · DOI · Paper page
  9. James, 1890, Principles of psychology
  10. de Bruin, 1990, Social behavior in the prefrontal cortex, Progress in Brain Research, 85, 495

Cited by

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Items 1,101–1,200 of 2,346

Metadata

Authors
Lindquist, K. A., Wager, T. D., Kober, H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • Northeastern University (US)
Venue
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Published
2012-05-23
Volume
35
Issue
3
Pages
121-143
ISSN
  • 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-1825
OpenAlex
W2105931454
Cited by
2,320
References
799
Citations by year
2026: 117 · 2025: 185 · 2024: 147 · 2023: 124 · 2022: 175 · 2021: 193 · 2020: 215 · 2019: 219 · 2018: 155 · 2017: 173 · 2016: 155 · 2015: 149 · 2014: 160 · 2013: 97 · 2012: 38
FWCI
11.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0631637)
  • Harvard University
  • National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
  • National Institutes of Health (DP1OD003312)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG030311, R01AG030311)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH076136)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024986)
  • National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (IRC2MD004767-01)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
brain networks, emotion categories, emotion perception, emotional experience, affective neuroscience, neuroimaging of emotion
MeSH terms
Brain, Emotions, Humans, Radiography, Neuroimaging

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