Answered on October 25, 2024
The brain's storage and processing of contempt involve several neural substrates, primarily the amygdala, insula, and prefrontal cortex. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that the amygdala is significantly activated during the processing of contemptuous facial expressions, indicating its role in the emotional response to contempt.[1] Additionally, the insula, which is involved in the processing of disgust, also shows activation, suggesting some overlap in the neural circuits for contempt and disgust.[1-2]
Contempt is considered an inherently interpersonal emotion, often linked to feelings of moral superiority and social hierarchy. This is reflected in the activation of prefrontal areas, including the medial and inferior frontal gyri, which are associated with higher-order cognitive functions and social judgments.[2] The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the caudate nucleus are also involved, indicating their roles in the emotional and evaluative aspects of contempt.[1-2]
Moreover, sex differences have been observed in the neural activation patterns related to contempt. Men tend to show stronger activation in the medial frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus when processing contemptuous expressions, whereas women exhibit stronger responses to disgust.[2]
In summary, the brain stores and processes contempt through a network involving the amygdala, insula, prefrontal cortex, ACC, and caudate nucleus, with notable differences in activation patterns based on sex. This network reflects the complex interplay between emotional, cognitive, and social evaluative processes in the experience of contempt.

References

1.
Preferential Responses in Amygdala and Insula During Presentation of Facial Contempt and Disgust.

Sambataro F, Dimalta S, Di Giorgio A, et al.

The European Journal of Neuroscience. 2006;24(8):2355-62. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.05120.x.

Some authors consider contempt to be a basic emotion while others consider it a variant of disgust. The neural correlates of contempt have not so far been specifically contrasted with disgust. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural networks involved in the processing of facial contempt and disgust in 24 healthy subjects. Facial recognition of contempt was lower than that of disgust and of neutral faces. The imaging data indicated significant activity in the amygdala and in globus pallidus and putamen during processing of contemptuous faces. Bilateral insula and caudate nuclei and left as well as right inferior frontal gyrus were engaged during processing of disgusted faces. Moreover, direct comparisons of contempt vs. disgust yielded significantly different activations in the amygdala. On the other hand, disgusted faces elicited greater activation than contemptuous faces in the right insula and caudate. Our findings suggest preferential involvement of different neural substrates in the processing of facial emotional expressions of contempt and disgust.

2.
Sex Differences in Neural Activation to Facial Expressions Denoting Contempt and Disgust.

Aleman A, Swart M.

PloS One. 2008;3(11):e3622. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003622.

The facial expression of contempt has been regarded to communicate feelings of moral superiority. Contempt is an emotion that is closely related to disgust, but in contrast to disgust, contempt is inherently interpersonal and hierarchical. The aim of this study was twofold. First, to investigate the hypothesis of preferential amygdala responses to contempt expressions versus disgust. Second, to investigate whether, at a neural level, men would respond stronger to biological signals of interpersonal superiority (e.g., contempt) than women. We performed an experiment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in which participants watched facial expressions of contempt and disgust in addition to neutral expressions. The faces were presented as distractors in an oddball task in which participants had to react to one target face. Facial expressions of contempt and disgust activated a network of brain regions, including prefrontal areas (superior, middle and medial prefrontal gyrus), anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, parietal cortex, fusiform gyrus, occipital cortex, putamen and thalamus. Contemptuous faces did not elicit stronger amygdala activation than did disgusted expressions. To limit the number of statistical comparisons, we confined our analyses of sex differences to the frontal and temporal lobes. Men displayed stronger brain activation than women to facial expressions of contempt in the medial frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus. Conversely, women showed stronger neural responses than men to facial expressions of disgust. In addition, the effect of stimulus sex differed for men versus women. Specifically, women showed stronger responses to male contemptuous faces (as compared to female expressions), in the insula and middle frontal gyrus. Contempt has been conceptualized as signaling perceived moral violations of social hierarchy, whereas disgust would signal violations of physical purity. Thus, our results suggest a neural basis for sex differences in moral sensitivity regarding hierarchy on the one hand and physical purity on the other.