Researchers at the University of California (United States) have managed to identify the part of the brain that goes into action when we feel shame . It is the anterior pregenual cingulate cortex , according to what the authors have made public at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology held in Hawaii.
In one experiment, 79 patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases were asked to sing the song My girl (1964), by the Temptations group, while their vital signs were measured and videotaped. They then made the subjects see themselves performing without the background music.
"In healthy people, seeing themselves singing generates a strong shame reaction," explains Virginia Sturm, a co-author of the study. According to Sturm, in these cases the blood pressure rises, the rate of the heartbeat increases and breathing is altered. However, people who have neurological damage to the frontal cortex respond with some indifference. In fact, the researchers found that the more deterioration of the tissue in this area of the brain, the less shame people felt when listening to their song .
Knowing which part of the brain is responsible for the ability to feel shame could help to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases early, as well as to develop new treatments.
