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Neural Basis of Dispositional Awe.
Fang Guan1,2,3, Yanhui Xiang4,5, Outong Chen1,2,3
1Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
|September 28, 2018
Summary
Dispositional awe, a tendency to experience awe, is linked to lower gray matter volume in brain regions controlling attention and self-regulation. This finding reveals the structural neural basis of individual differences in experiencing awe.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Awe is a positive emotion triggered by vast stimuli, distinct from common positive emotions.
- While the effects of awe experiences are studied, the neural underpinnings of dispositional awe remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of dispositional awe.
- To identify brain structures associated with individual differences in the tendency to experience awe.
Main Methods:
- Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze brain structure in 42 healthy young adults.
- The Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (DPES) measured individual levels of dispositional awe.
Main Results:
- A negative association was found between dispositional awe scores and regional gray matter volume (rGMV).
- This association was observed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), middle/posterior cingulate cortex (MCC/PCC), and middle temporal gyrus (MTG).
Conclusions:
- Individual differences in dispositional awe are associated with structural variations in brain regions crucial for attention, self-regulation, cognitive control, and social emotion.
- This study provides the first evidence for the structural neural basis of dispositional awe.
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