Prefrontal-Dependent and Gender-Specific Modulation of Guilt Emotion on Human Early Visual Perception

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Negative emotions influence visual perception, but guilt's role remains understudied.
• Basic emotions like fear are well-researched, unlike complex moral emotions such as guilt.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether guilt, a moral emotion, modulates visual perception.
• To examine the Ebbinghaus illusion strength after inducing guilt.

Main Methods:

• A dot estimation task was used to induce guilt.
• The Ebbinghaus illusion was measured to assess visual perception changes.
• Victim face images were used to elicit guilt.

Main Results:

• Guilt significantly strengthened the Ebbinghaus illusion in female participants with same-gender partners.
• The observed effect was reversed when the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was disrupted.
• Gender-specific and prefrontal cortex-dependent modulation of visual perception by guilt was observed.

Conclusions:

• Guilt can sculpt early visual perception in a gender-specific manner.
• The left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in guilt-modulated visual perception.
• Findings broaden understanding of guilt and have implications for neuropsychiatric disorders.