NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Sep;31(9):1446-57. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20948.
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.
情感感知和学习的研究表明，奖赏线索会激活伏隔核（NAc）和内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC），而杏仁核的活动则受到奖赏和厌恶线索的情绪强度的调节。本研究旨在确定在叙事性情感意象过程中这些区域之间的功能激活和连接模式。使用事件相关 fMRI，我们研究了当参与者生动地想象愉快、中性和不愉快的场景时这些结构的激活情况。结果表明，愉快的意象选择性地激活了 NAc 和 mPFC，而杏仁核的活动在愉快和不愉快的意象中都增强了。NAc 和 mPFC 的活动均与想象场景的评定愉悦度相关，而杏仁核的活动则与评定的情绪唤醒度相关。无论愉悦度如何，NAc 和 mPFC 的功能连接在整个想象过程中都是明显的，而杏仁核与 NAc 和 mPFC 的相关激活则是特定于想象愉快场景的。这些发现为愉悦的文本驱动意象激活包括 NAc、mPFC 和杏仁核在内的核心奖赏回路提供了有力的证据。
