Loading...
Some evidence suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex plays a role in recognizing social competitive emotions. To explore its role in envy and gloating, researchers used simple cognitive and affective tasks, based on cartoons used in child psychology, to compare ability to recognize the emotions of others. Subjects were 48 patients with brain lesions in different locations (ventromedial, dorsolateral, mixed, superior parietal, inferior parietal, and mesial temporal) and 35 healthy controls. Envy was considered negative (the person experiencing it feels bad), and gloating was considered positive (the person experiencing it feels good).
Patients with right ventromedial lesions had difficulty recognizing both envy and gloating. Lesions…