Li Lin, Liu Zhiyuan, Niu Huanghuang, Zheng Li, Cheng Xuemei, Sun Peng, Zhou Fanzhi Anita, Guo Xiuyan
School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, North Zhongshan Road 3663, Shanghai, 200062, SH, China.
National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Exp Brain Res. 2018 Mar;236(3):679-689. doi: 10.1007/s00221-017-5165-3. Epub 2018 Jan 3.
Responsibility is a necessary prerequisite in the experience of regret. The present fMRI study investigated the modulation of responsibility on the neural correlates of regret during a sequential risk-taking task. Participants were asked to open a series of boxes consecutively and decided when to stop. Each box contained a reward, except for one containing a devil to zero participant's gain in the trial. Once participants stopped, both collected gains and missed chances were revealed. We manipulated responsibility by setting two different contexts. In the Self (high responsibility) context, participants opened boxes and decided when to stop by themselves. In the Computer (low responsibility) context, a computer program opened boxes and decided when to stop for participants. Before each trial, participants were required to decide whether it would be a Self or a Computer context. Behaviorally, participants felt less regret (more relief) for gain outcome and more regret for the loss outcome in the high-responsibility context than low responsibility context. At the neural level, when experiencing a gain, high-responsibility trials were characterized by stronger activation in mPFC, pgACC, mOFC, and striatum with decreasing number of missed chances relative to low responsibility trials. When experiencing a loss, low responsibility trials were associated with stronger activation in dACC and bilateral insula than high-responsibility trials. Conversely, during a loss, high-responsibility trials showed more striatum activity than low responsibility trials. These results highlighted the sensitivity of the frontal region, striatum, and insula to changes in level of responsibility.
责任感是产生后悔情绪的必要前提。当前的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究调查了在连续冒险任务中，责任感对后悔相关神经关联的调节作用。参与者被要求依次打开一系列盒子，并决定何时停止。每个盒子都装有一份奖励，但有一个盒子装有“恶魔”，会使参与者在该试验中的收益归零。一旦参与者停止，已获得的收益和错过的机会都会显示出来。我们通过设置两种不同的情境来操纵责任感。在“自我”（高责任感）情境中，参与者自己打开盒子并决定何时停止。在“计算机”（低责任感）情境中，由计算机程序为参与者打开盒子并决定何时停止。在每次试验前，参与者需要决定这将是“自我”情境还是“计算机”情境。在行为层面上，与低责任感情境相比，参与者在高责任感情境中对收益结果的后悔感更少（解脱感更强），对损失结果的后悔感更多。在神经层面上，当体验到收益时，与低责任感试验相比，高责任感试验的特征是内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）、前扣带回膝下部分（pgACC）、内侧眶额皮质（mOFC）和纹状体的激活更强，且错过机会的数量减少。当体验到损失时，与高责任感试验相比，低责任感试验双侧前扣带回皮质（dACC）和脑岛的激活更强。相反，在损失期间，高责任感试验的纹状体活动比低责任感试验更多。这些结果突出了额叶区域、纹状体和脑岛对责任感水平变化的敏感性。
