Oxford Centre for Computational Neuroscience, Oxford, UK. via e-mail:
J Cogn Neurosci. 2010 May;22(5):1069-82. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21231.
Decision-making about affective value may occur after the reward value of a stimulus is represented and may involve different brain areas to those involved in decision-making about the physical properties of stimuli, such as intensity. In an fMRI study, we delivered two odors separated by a delay, with instructions on different trials to decide which odor was more pleasant or more intense or to rate the pleasantness and intensity of the second odor without making a decision. The fMRI signals in the medial prefrontal cortex area 10 (medial PFC) and in regions to which it projects, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula, were higher when decisions were being made compared with ratings, implicating these regions in decision-making. Decision-making about affective value was related to larger signals in the dorsal part of medial area 10 and the agranular insula, whereas decisions about intensity were related to larger activations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dorsolateral PFC), ventral premotor cortex, and anterior insula. For comparison, the mid orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) had activations related not to decision-making but to subjective pleasantness ratings, providing a continuous representation of affective value. In contrast, areas such as medial area 10 and the ACC are implicated in reaching a decision in which a binary outcome is produced.
关于情感价值的决策可能发生在刺激的奖励价值被表示之后，并且可能涉及与决策刺激的物理属性（例如强度）不同的脑区。在 fMRI 研究中，我们在延迟后传递两种气味，并在不同的试验中指示决定哪种气味更令人愉悦或更强烈，或者在不做出决定的情况下对第二种气味的愉悦度和强度进行评分。与评分相比，内侧前额叶皮层区域 10（medial PFC）和其投射的区域（包括前扣带皮层（ACC）和岛叶）中的 fMRI 信号在进行决策时更高，这表明这些区域参与了决策。关于情感价值的决策与内侧区域 10 的背侧部分和无颗粒岛叶中的更大信号相关，而关于强度的决策与背外侧前额叶皮层（dorsolateral PFC）、腹侧运动前皮层和前岛叶中的更大激活相关。相比之下，中眶额皮层（OFC）的激活与决策制定无关，而是与主观愉悦度评分相关，提供了情感价值的连续表示。相比之下，内侧区域 10 和 ACC 等区域涉及做出产生二元结果的决策。
