The uncertain brain: A co-ordinate based meta-analysis of the neural signatures supporting uncertainty during different contexts

HighlightsReports a co‐ordinate based meta‐analyses of 87 human fMRI studies on uncertainty.Identified three distinct uncertain contexts: basic, learning, and decision‐making.All identified uncertain contexts shared engagement of the insula.Each identified uncertain context displayed discrete neural signatures. &NA; Uncertainty is often inevitable in everyday life and can be both stressful and exciting. Given its relevance to psychopathology and wellbeing, recent research has begun to address the brain basis of uncertainty. In the current review we examined whether there are discrete and shared neural signatures for different uncertain contexts. From the literature we identified three broad categories of uncertainty currently empirically studied using functional MRI (fMRI): basic threat and reward uncertainty, decision‐making under uncertainty, and associative learning under uncertainty. We examined the neural basis of each category by using a coordinate based meta‐analysis, where brain activation foci from previously published fMRI experiments were drawn together (1998–2017; 87 studies). The analyses revealed shared and discrete patterns of neural activation for uncertainty, such as the insula and amygdala, depending on the category. Such findings will have relevance for researchers attempting to conceptualise uncertainty, as well as clinical researchers examining the neural basis of uncertainty in relation to psychopathology.