Vicario Carmelo M, Rafal Robert D, Avenanti Alessio
Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.
Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.
Cortex. 2015 Apr;65:139-48. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2014.12.017. Epub 2015 Jan 24.
Evidence suggests that monetary reward and affective experiences induce activity in the cortical motor system. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether counterfactual thinking related to wrong choices that lead to monetary loss and regret affects motor excitability. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex, we measured corticospinal excitability of 2 groups of healthy humans asked to actively guess the winning key among two possible alternatives (choice group); or passively assist to monetary outcomes randomly selected by the computer program (follow group). Results document a selective increment of the corticospinal excitability when a monetary loss outcome followed the key selection (i.e., in the choice group). On the other hand, no change in corticospinal excitability was found when participants passively assisted to a monetary loss randomly selected by the computer program (i.e., follow group). These findings suggest that counterfactual thinking and the negative emotional experiences arising from choices causing monetary loss--i.e., "I would have won instead of lost money if I'd made a different choice"--are mapped in the motor system.
有证据表明，金钱奖励和情感体验会诱发皮质运动系统的活动。然而，与导致金钱损失和后悔的错误选择相关的反事实思维是否会影响运动兴奋性尚不清楚。我们使用经颅磁刺激（TMS）对运动皮层进行刺激，测量了两组健康人的皮质脊髓兴奋性。其中一组被要求在两个可能的选项中主动猜测获胜的按键（选择组）；另一组则被动地接受计算机程序随机选择的金钱结果（跟随组）。结果表明，当按键选择后出现金钱损失结果时（即选择组），皮质脊髓兴奋性有选择性地增加。另一方面，当参与者被动接受计算机程序随机选择的金钱损失时（即跟随组），未发现皮质脊髓兴奋性有变化。这些发现表明，反事实思维以及因导致金钱损失的选择而产生的负面情绪体验——即“如果我做出不同的选择，我就会赢而不是输钱”——会在运动系统中体现出来。
