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Research Article
Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry
Article first published online: 2 FEB 2010
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20948
Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Costa, V. D., Lang, P. J., Sabatinelli, D., Versace, F. and Bradley, M. M. (2010), Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry. Human Brain Mapping, 31: 1446–1457. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20948
Publication History
- Issue published online: 17 AUG 2010
- Article first published online: 2 FEB 2010
- Manuscript Accepted: 19 OCT 2009
- Manuscript Revised: 4 SEP 2009
- Manuscript Received: 17 JUN 2009
Funded by
- National Institute of Mental Health. Grant Number: P50 MH 72850 [to the Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL]
- National Institute of Mental Health. Grant Number: F31 MH080551
Keywords:
- liking;
- mental imagery;
- mesocorticolimbic;
- script-driven imagery;
- psychophysiological interaction;
- ventral striatum;
- ventral medial prefrontal cortex
Abstract
Research on emotional perception and learning indicates appetitive cues engage nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas amygdala activity is modulated by the emotional intensity of appetitive and aversive cues. This study sought to determine patterns of functional activation and connectivity among these regions during narrative emotional imagery. Using event-related fMRI, we investigate activation of these structures when participants vividly imagine pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant scenes. Results indicate that pleasant imagery selectively activates NAc and mPFC, whereas amygdala activation was enhanced during both pleasant and unpleasant imagery. NAc and mPFC activity were each correlated with the rated pleasure of the imagined scenes, while amygdala activity was correlated with rated emotional arousal. Functional connectivity of NAc and mPFC was evident throughout imagery, regardless of hedonic content, while correlated activation of the amygdala with NAc and mPFC was specific to imagining pleasant scenes. These findings provide strong evidence that pleasurable text-driven imagery engages a core appetitive circuit, including NAc, mPFC, and the amygdala. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.