title: Neural pathways of embarrassment and their modulation by social anxiety.
abstract: While being in the center of attention and exposed to other's evaluations humans are prone to experience embarrassment. To characterize the neural underpinnings of such aversive moments, we induced genuine experiences of embarrassment during person-group interactions in a functional neuroimaging study. Using a mock-up scenario with three confederates, we examined how the presence of an audience affected physiological and neural responses and the reported emotional experiences of failures and achievements. The results indicated that publicity induced activations in mentalizing areas and failures led to activations in arousal processing systems. Mentalizing activity as well as attention towards the audience were increased in socially anxious participants. The converging integration of information from mentalizing areas and arousal processing systems within the ventral anterior insula and amygdala forms the neural pathways of embarrassment. Targeting these neural markers of embarrassment in the (para-)limbic system provides new perspectives for developing treatment strategies for social anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Social Neuroscience Lab | SNL, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Straße 8, D-35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Müller-Pinzler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713 AW Groningen, The Netherlands.|Social Brain Laboratory, The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy for the Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gazzola
authors.affiliation: Social Brain Laboratory, The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy for the Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keysers
authors.affiliation: Department of Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Schützenstr. 49, D-35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.affiliation: Department of Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Schützenstr. 49, D-35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Straße 8, D-35033 Marburg, Germany.|Department of Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Schützenstr. 49, D-35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frässle
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Physics of Cognitive Processes, TU Chemnitz, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Einhäuser
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Social Neuroscience Lab | SNL, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Social Neuroscience Lab | SNL, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krach
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011680:Pupil / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Embarrassment; Limbic system; Mentalizing; Publicity; Social anxiety; Social immersion