A meta-analysis of the anterior cingulate contribution to social pain.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies (graded by design analogy, non-clinical).
PubMed 25140048 · doi:10.1093/scan/nsu110
What was done
The authors conducted a voxel-based meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examining the neural correlates of social pain (elicited by social threat, exclusion, rejection, loss, or negative evaluation). The analysis synthesized 46 published articles comprising 940 subjects to determine the specific recruitment of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) subdivisions, task-specific activation patterns, developmental differences (children vs. adults), and the effect of exclusion phase duration.
What was found
Significant activation likelihoods were identified in both ventral and dorsal ACC during social pain elicitation and self-reported distress. Self-reported distress preferentially recruited subgenual and pregenual ACC compared to general social pain contrasts. The Cyberball task engaged the anterior midcingulate cortex to a lesser extent than alternative experimental tasks. Children demonstrated greater subgenual activations than adults during social pain. Additionally, a ventro-dorsal gradient of ACC activation in Cyberball paradigms was related to the duration of exclusion phases. The abstract reports no numerical values, test statistics, or effect sizes.
Why it matters
This meta-analysis delineates the functional subdivisions of the anterior cingulate cortex in social pain processing, showing distinct contributions of ventral and dorsal regions rather than a uniform activation pattern.
Limits
The abstract provides no quantitative effect sizes, coordinates, or statistical metrics. Most included studies relied on a single experimental paradigm (Cyberball), potentially limiting generalizability to other forms of social pain. Potential publication bias and methodological heterogeneity across the primary fMRI studies were not detailed in the abstract.
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