Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry
Open accessAbstract
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.
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- Authors
- Costa, V. D., Lang, P. J., Sabatinelli, D., Versace, F., & Bradley, M. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- Venue
- Human Brain Mapping
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-08-17
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1446-1457
- ISSN
- 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0193
- PMC
- PMC3620013
- OpenAlex
- W1967823058
- Cited by
- 202
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 6.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (P50 MH-72850, P50MH072850, F31MH080551)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- emotional imagery, narrative imagery, pleasure, emotional arousal, reward systems, nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, appetitive cues, functional connectivity, hedonic value, emotional intensity
- MeSH terms
- Arousal, Brain, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Evoked Potentials, Female, Humans, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Imagination, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Reward, Young Adult
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