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Shame is a self-conscious emotion that characterizes the life of all individuals. It arises when a moral violation occurs and the person is judged negatively by others for a way of being that does not correspond to the standards of society. Although over the years it has been widely treated from a theoretical point of view, there are few attempts in the literature to approach it scientifically by psychologists and neuroscientists. Using an integrated approach, based on neuroimaging, behavioral and neuropsychological investigations, in this thesis we aimed to investigate what are the cognitive mechanisms through which shame operates and what are its neural bases. After an initial theoretical introduction in which a novel model of shame functioning is proposed, two behavioral studies are presented in which an innovative experimental paradigm of shame elicitation has been validated and tested. Subsequently, the single-case of a patient with rare bilateral amygdala damage has been described. Since this region is notoriously crucial for emotional aspects, we tested the possibility that an amygdala injury could also lead to deficits in perception and recognition of shame. Afterward, to investigate if shame had its own specific neural activation map, a meta-analysis on functional studies in the literature that investigated the neural bases of shame and guilt (another self-conscious emotion) has been carried out. Finally, given the heterogeneity of the paradigms included in the meta-analysis, we run an fMRI study using our novel paradigm in order to detect shame neural signal. In general, by combining different methodologies, this work allowed us to approach shame from different perspectives, from simple elicitation and behavioral measurement to its neural basis. This has added a piece of knowledge in the field of affective neuroscience regarding a moral emotion (i.e. shame) that is fundamental to individual well-being within our society.

The purpose of this paper is to review some of the psychological and neural mechanisms behind mindfulness practice in order to explore the unique factors that account for its positive impact on emotional regulation and health. After reviewing the mechanisms of mindfulness and its effects on clinical populations we will consider how the practice of mindfulness contributes to the regulation of emotions. We argue that mindfulness has achieved effective outcomes in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and other psychopathologies through the contribution of mindfulness to emotional regulation. We consider the unique factors that mindfulness meditation brings to the process of emotion regulation that may account for its effectiveness. We review experimental evidence that points towards the unique effects of mindfulness specifically operating over and above the regulatory effects of cognitive reappraisal mechanisms. A neuroanatomical circuit that leads to mindful emotion regulation is also suggested. This paper thereby aims to contribute to proposed models of mindfulness for research and theory building by proposing a specific model for the unique psychological and neural processes involved in mindful detachment that account for the effects of mindfulness over and above the effects accounted for by other well-established emotional regulation processes such as cognitive reappraisal.