Mapping universal and culturally specific moral brain: An SDM meta-analysis of neural correlates in shame and guilt across East Asian and Western contexts

Shame and guilt are moral emotions that promote individual interests and maintain social norms. Previous studies suggested that these emotions are universal but that their specific experience and underlying neural mechanisms may be culturally influenced. However, little is known about the cross-cultural neural mechanisms of these emotions, including their commonalities and differences. Understanding these mechanisms may elucidate the evolutionary significance of these emotions and clarify how culture influences them. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of 62 neuroimaging studies to identify the neural correlates of shame and guilt across East Asian cultures (EAC) and Western cultures (WC) using seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images (SDM-PSI). We found that shame and guilt shared brain locations with significant activation in the middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and insula regardless of cultural background. However, we also observed differences in the brain activation patterns between the two cultures. Shame elicited stronger activation in the MCC in EAC than in WC. Guilt elicited stronger activation in areas related to theory of mind, such as the temporal pole and precuneus, in WC than in EAC. These results indicate that, although shame and guilt share similar neural mechanisms, the cultural contexts can modulate the activation patterns of the relevant brain regions. These findings provide insights into the universal and culturally specific neural mechanisms underlying shame and guilt. We hope that this study helps to promote mutual respect among people from different cultures and understand what we have in common as well as how and why we differ.