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Cited by 294Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and MourningNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Functional Neuroanatomy of Grief: An fMRI Study

Gündel, Harald, O’Connor, Mary-Frances, Littrell, Lindsey, Fort, Carolyn, Lane, Richard D.·2003·American Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1946
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In this study the authors examined the functional neuroanatomy of grief, which to their knowledge has not been studied previously in functional neuroimaging research. METHOD: Grief was elicited in eight bereaved women through photographs of the deceased versus a stranger, combined with words specific to the death event versus neutral words. Use of both pictures and words resulted in a 2x2 factorial design. RESULTS: Three brain regions were independently activated by the picture and word factors: posterior cingulate cortex, medial/superior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. The two factors also activated distinct regions: for the picture factor, they were the cuneus, superior lingual gyrus, insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus; and for the word factor, they were the precuneus, precentral gyrus, midbrain, and vermis. The interaction of the two factors showed significant activation in the cerebellar vermis. CONCLUSIONS: Grief is mediated by a distributed neural network that subserves affect processing, mentalizing, episodic memory retrieval, processing of familiar faces, visual imagery, autonomic regulation, and modulation/coordination of these functions. This neural network may account for the unique, subjective quality of grief and provide new leads in understanding the health consequences of grief and the neurobiology of attachment.

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Crossref · 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1946

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Metadata

Authors
Gündel, H., O’Connor, M.-F., Littrell, L., Fort, C., & Lane, R. D.
Affiliations
  • TUM Klinikum (DE)
  • University of Arizona (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Published
2003-11-01
Volume
160
Issue
11
Pages
1946-1953
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1946
OpenAlex
W2107751666
Cited by
293
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 17
FWCI
15.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
grief, bereavement, functional neuroanatomy, posterior cingulate cortex, cerebellar vermis, medial frontal gyrus, mentalization, episodic memory retrieval, visual imagery, autonomic regulation, attachment
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Form Perception, Galvanic Skin Response, Grief, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Net, Object Attachment, Mental Recall, Semantics, Verbal Behavior, Visual Perception

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