SynthesisSocial cognitive and affective neuroscience2013
The social evaluation of faces: a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies.
Synthesis in Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A neuroimaging meta-analysis on social impression formation of stable characteristics.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Pooled it
- Seeking the "Beauty Center" in the Brain: A Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies of Beautiful Human Faces and Visual Art.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Building the bodily self-awareness: Evidence for the convergence between interoceptive and exteroceptive information in a multilevel kernel density analysis study.Human brain mapping · 2020Pooled it
- Dysconnectivity of Multiple Brain Networks in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis of Resting-State Functional Connectivity.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Beyond emotions: A meta-analysis of neural response within face processing system in social anxiety.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2016Pooled it
- The Role of the Amygdala in Facial Trustworthiness Processing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of fMRI Studies.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Trial
- Neuroaesthetics: Evolutionary Thinking in Facial Aesthetic Medicine.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2026Review
- Perception of facial trustworthiness in mild cognitive impairment.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Neural responses to virtual avatars are shaped by user preference and personality traits.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The asymmetry system properties of the visual system: Evidence from serial face processing.Journal of vision · 2025Article
- Biographical information influences on facial attractiveness judgment.Brain imaging and behavior · 2025Article
- A Narrative Scoping Review of Neuroaesthetics and Objective Understanding of Human Appearance.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Potential for the medial prefrontal cortex to link mentalizing and attachment schemas.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Review
- Robust memory of face moral values is encoded in the human caudate tail: a simultaneous EEG-fMRI study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Atypical neural encoding of faces in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Neurobiological sensitivity to popular peers moderates daily links between social media use and affect.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2024Article
- Multimodal investigations of emotional face processing and social trait judgment of faces.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Review
- On the relationship between the social brain, social connectedness, and wellbeing.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Toddler-mother attachment moderates adolescents' behavioral and neural evaluation of trustworthiness.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Neuroscience research on the social evaluation of faces has accumulated over the last decade, yielding divergent results. We used a meta-analytic technique, multi-level kernel density analysis (MKDA), to analyze 29 neuroimaging studies on face evaluation. Across negative face evaluations, we observed the most consistent activations in bilateral amygdala. Across positive face evaluations, we observed the most consistent activations in medial prefrontal cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), left caudate and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Based on additional analyses comparing linear and non-linear responses, we propose a ventral/dorsal dissociation within the amygdala, wherein separate populations of neurons code for face valence and intensity, respectively. Finally, we argue that some of the differences between studies are attributable to differences in the typicality of face stimuli. Specifically, extremely attractive faces are more likely to elicit responses in NAcc/caudate and mOFC.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.