Cited by 1,135Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Functional neuroanatomy of emotions: A meta-analysis

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MURPHY, F. C., NIMMO-SMITH, I., LAWRENCE, A. D.·2003·Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

Abstract

The application of functional neuroimaging to the study of human emotion has yielded valuable data; however, the conclusions that may be drawn from any one study are limited. We applied novel statistical techniques to the meta-analysis of 106 PET and fMRI studies of human emotion and tested predictions made by key neuroscientific models. The results demonstrated partial support for asymmetry accounts. Greater left-sided activity was observed for approach emotions, whereas neural activity associated with negative/withdrawal emotions was symmetrical. Support was also found for affect program emotion accounts. The activation distributions associated with fear, disgust, and anger differed significantly. These emotions were most consistently associated in activity in regions associated with selective processing deficits when damaged: the amygdala, the insula and globus pallidus, and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, respectively. In contrast, the distributions for happiness and sadness did not differ. These findings are considered in the context of conceptualizations of the neural correlates of human emotion.

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  • The anterior cingulate cortex-sadness hypothesis derives support from prior meta-analyses of the neuroimaging literature.

    “The ACC-sadness hypothesis, similarly to the OFC-anger hypothesis, derives support from prior meta-analyses of the neuroimaging literature (e.g., Murphy et al. 2003; Phan et al. 2002).”

    From The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review (2012) · cites this paper as Murphy et al. 2003

  • Information regarding different emotions is also represented in embodied somatotopic format.

    “The distinct BSMs are in line with the evidence from brain imaging and behavioral studies, highlighting categorical structure of emotion systems and neural circuits supporting emotional processing (15,16) and suggest that information regarding different emotions is also represented in embodied somatotopic format.”

    From Bodily maps of emotions (2014) · cites this paper as [16]

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  1. MacLean, P. D. (1993). Cerebral evolution of emotion. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 67-83). New York: Guilford.
  2. Mills, C. K. (1912). The cortical representation of emotion, with a discussion of some points in the general nervous system mechanism of expression in its relation to organic nervous disease and insanity. Proceedings of the American Medico-Psychological Association, 19, 297-300.
  3. Morris, J. S., Büchel, C., & Dolan, R. J. (2001). Parallel neural re-ant and unpleasant olfactory, visual, and auditory stimuli: A positron emission tomography study. Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 7752-7759.
  4. Schneirla, T. (1959). An evolutionary and developmental theory of biphasic processes underlying approach and withdrawal. In M. Jones (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 1-42). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
  5. Sprengelmeyer,R., Young, A. W., Schroeder,U., Grossenbacher, P. G., Federlein, J., Büttner, T., & Przuntek, H. (1999). Know- ing no fear. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 266, 2451-2456.

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Authors
MURPHY, F. C., NIMMO-SMITH, I., & LAWRENCE, A. D.
Affiliations
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
Corresponding author
MURPHY, F. C.
Venue
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
Published
2003-09-01
Volume
3
Issue
3
Pages
207-233
ISSN
  • 1530-7026 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-135X
OpenAlex
W1969227269
Cited by
1,135
References
232
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 63
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
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 › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
neural correlates of emotion, hemispheric lateralization, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness, amygdala, insula, globus pallidus, orbitofrontal cortex
MeSH terms
Brain, Brain Mapping, Dominance, Cerebral, Emotions, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Neurological, Neuroanatomy, Oxygen Radioisotopes, Tomography, Emission-Computed

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