Regions of the MPFC differentially tuned to social and nonsocial affective evaluation

The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) reliably activates in social cognition and reward tasks. This study locates distinct areas for each. Participants made evaluative (positive/negative) or social (person/not a person) judgments of pictured positive or negative people and objects in a slow event-related design. Activity in an anterior rostral region (arMPFC) was significantly greater for positive than for negative persons but did not show a valence effect for objects, and this was true regardless of the judgment task. This suggests that the arMPFC is tuned to social valence. Interestingly, however, no regions of the MPFC were found to be responsive to social information independently of valence. A region-of-interest analysis of the paraanterior cingulate cortex (pACC), previously implicated in reward processing, demonstrated sensitivity to the valence of all stimuli, whether persons or objects, across tasks. Affective evaluation may be a general function of the MPFC, with some regions being tuned to more specific domains of information (e.g., social) than are others.     

Ventromedial prefrontal-subcortical systems and the generation of affective meaning

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) comprises a set of interconnected regions that integrate information from affective sensory and social cues, long-term memory, and representations of the 'self'. Alhough the vmPFC is implicated in a variety of seemingly disparate processes, these processes are organized around a common theme. The vmPFC is not necessary for affective responses per se, but is critical when affective responses are shaped by conceptual information about specific outcomes. The vmPFC thus functions as a hub that links concepts with brainstem systems capable of coordinating organism-wide emotional behavior, a process we describe in terms of the generation of affective meaning, and which could explain the common role played by the vmPFC in a range of experimental paradigms.     

得失情境下第三方惩罚决策差异的神经机制：基于rTMS的研究

本研究应用低频rTMS技术,通过在第三方惩罚（研究1）及第三方惩罚和第三方补偿（恢复性惩罚）并存的情况下（研究2）,对个体双侧vmPFC功能进行抑制,探索vmPFC在得失情境下第三方惩罚决策中的作用。研究1结果表明,rTMS抑制右侧vmPFC功能将降低损失情境下的第三方惩罚,收益情境下未发生改变。研究2得到与研究1一致的结果,且第三方惩罚减少程度更大,第三方补偿并未发生改变。这些结果强调了vmPFC与第三方惩罚紧密相关,在第三方判断得失情境的影响时起关键作用。     

Decision making in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): Anterior cingulate cortex signals loss aversion but not the infrequency of risky choices

The inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (IFG/AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are key regions involved in risk appraisal during decision making, but accounts of how these regions contribute to decision making under risk remain contested. To help clarify the roles of these and other related regions, we used a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (Lejuez et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8, 75-84, 2002) to distinguish between decision-making and feedback-related processes when participants decided to pursue a gain as the probability of loss increased parametrically. Specifically, we set out to test whether the ACC and IFG/AI regions correspond to loss aversion at the time of decision making in a way that is not confounded with either reward-seeking or infrequency effects. When participants chose to discontinue inflating the balloon (win option), we observed greater ACC and mainly bilateral IFG/AI activity at the time of decision as the probability of explosion increased, consistent with increased loss aversion but inconsistent with an infrequency effect. In contrast, we found robust vmPFC activity when participants chose to continue inflating the balloon (risky option), consistent with reward seeking. However, in the cingulate and in mainly bilateral IFG regions, blood-oxygenation-level-dependent activation decreased when participants chose to inflate the balloon as the probability of explosion increased, findings that are consistent with a reduced loss aversion signal. Our results highlight the existence of distinct reward-seeking and loss-averse signals during decision making, as well as the importance of distinguishing between decision and feedback signals.     

Stimulus and response conflict processing during perceptual decision making

Encoding and dealing with conflicting information is essential for successful decision making in a complex environment. In the present fMRI study, stimulus conflict and response conflict are contrasted in the context of a perceptual decision-making dot-motion discrimination task. Stimulus conflict was manipulated by varying dot-motion coherence along task-relevant and task-irrelevant dimensions. Response conflict was manipulated by varying whether or not competing stimulus dimensions provided evidence for the same or different responses. The right inferior frontal gyrus was involved specifically in the resolution of stimulus conflict, whereas the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was shown to be sensitive to response conflict. Additionally, two regions that have been linked to perceptual decision making with dot-motion stimuli in monkey physiology studies were differentially engaged by stimulus conflict and response conflict. The middle temporal area, previously linked to processing of motion, was strongly affected by the presence of stimulus conflict. On the other hand, the superior parietal lobe, previously associated with accumulation of evidence for a response, was affected by the presence of response conflict. These results shed light on the neural mechanisms that support decision making in the presence of conflict, a cognitive operation fundamental to both basic survival and high-level cognition.     

Electrophysiological measures reveal the role of anterior cingulate cortex in learning from unreliable feedback

Although a growing number of studies have investigated the neural mechanisms of reinforcement learning, it remains unclear how the brain responds to feedback that is unreliable. A recent theory proposes that the reward positivity (RewP) component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) and frontal midline theta (FMT) power reflect separate feedback-related processing functions of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In the present study, the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from participants as they engaged in a time estimation task in which feedback reliability was manipulated across conditions. After each response, they received a cue that indicated that the following feedback stimulus was 100%, 75%, or 50% reliable. The results showed that participants’ time estimates adjusted linearly according to the feedback reliability. Moreover, presentation of the cue indicating 100% reliability elicited a larger RewP-like ERP component than the other cues did, and feedback presentation elicited a RewP of approximately equal amplitude for all of the three reliability conditions. By contrast, FMT power elicited by negative feedback decreased linearly from the 100% condition to 75% and 50% condition, and only FMT power predicted behavioral adjustments on the following trials. In addition, an analysis of Beta power and cross-frequency coupling (CFC) of Beta power with FMT phase suggested that Beta-FMT communication modulated motor areas for the purpose of adjusting behavior. We interpreted these findings in terms of the hierarchical reinforcement learning account of ACC, in which the RewP and FMT are proposed to reflect reward processing and control functions of ACC, respectively.     

Manipulating self-efficacy in the exercise environment in women: influences on affective responses.

Self-efficacy was experimentally manipulated in an exercise context, and its effect on affective responses was examined. College women (N = 46) were randomly assigned to a high- or low-efficacy condition, and efficacy expectations were manipulated by means of bogus feedback and graphs depicting contrived normative data. The manipulation successfully influenced affective responses, with participants in the high-efficacy group reporting more positive and less negative affect than did the low-efficacy group. Efficacy was significantly related to feeling-state responses during and after activity but only in the high-efficacy condition. The results suggest that self-efficacy can be manipulated and that these changes are related to the affective experience associated with exercise. Such findings may have important implications for the roles played by self-efficacy and affect in exercise adherence.     

Emotion and information search in tactical decision-making: Moderator effects of feedback

Information search during decision-making may be influenced both by selective attention and by the criterion used for ceasing to search. When the items searched are themselves emotive, the affective state of the decision-maker may bias these search processes. If an automatic selective attention bias operates, it may produce mood-congruent effects irrespective of context; e.g., negative affect may focus attention on negative items of information. An alternative possibility, suggested by the mood-as-input model, is that the influence of affect on search may depend on how decision-makers understand their emotions within a given context. The present study tested predictions derived from relevant theories of affective bias, using feedback as a means to generate a context of success or failure. Hundred and sixty participants were required to access positive and negative items of information in choosing between different routes for a search-and-rescue mission. Outcomes of choices were manipulated experimentally, so that in one condition participants received mostly positive feedback, and in a second condition participants received mostly negative feedback. Results showed that the feedback manipulation influenced affect, but there was considerable variation in affective state within each condition. Associations between affect and information search were moderated by feedback condition. For example, positive affect was associated with more frequent sampling of positive information in the negative feedback condition, but the association reversed when feedback was positive. Findings were consistent with the mood-as-input hypothesis, but not with an automatic selective attention bias. Context may influence how the decision-maker interprets their affective state.     

爱荷华博弈任务(IGT)与决策的认知神经机制

爱荷华博弈任务(IGT)是一项检查情感性决策机制的常用实验范式。据此, Damasio等人提出了躯体标记假设(SMH)解释情绪影响决策的神经生理机制。近期, 大量研究在IGT究竟是模糊决策还是风险决策、与情绪和认知的关系、与工作记忆和陈述性记忆的关系以及IGT的神经网络与分子遗传机制等方面积累了丰富资料。结果显示, IGT加工的早期由模糊决策主导, 情绪性躯体信号对引导决策选项的偏好可能起关键作用, 后期则倾向是一种风险决策, 认知评价和预期对选项偏向逐渐占优势; IGT与工作记忆的加工成分有相互重叠, 也需陈述性记忆的参与; IGT的加工不仅依赖于杏仁核、腹内侧前额皮层、眶额皮层等组成的情绪脑网络的活动, 还与背外侧前额皮层、海马、腹侧纹状体、岛叶皮层、辅助运动前区、扣带回皮层等许多脑区的活动有关; COMT和5-HTT的基因多态性会调节IGT相关的决策加工。总之, IGT是一项需要多重神经系统协同活动的决策加工任务, 且模糊与风险决策可能具有不同的遗传基础。     

亲社会行为中的从众效应

亲社会行为是社会关系的润滑剂, 从众心理会影响亲社会行为的出现。亲社会从众行为包括利他从众、公平偏好从众、信任从众、慷慨从众等。亲社会从众行为的心理机制包括模仿理论与动机改变理论。亲社会从众行为的神经机制包括奖赏加工与错误加工神经回路。社会价值取向、人际信任水平与人际敏感性对亲社会从众行为有一定的调节作用。未来的研究方向可以从亲社会从众效应的稳定性、个体差异、儿童及青少年的亲社会从众行为研究、临床研究以及跨文化角度入手。     

Error-related psychophysiology and negative affect

The error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) and error positivity (Pe) have been associated with error detection and response monitoring. More recently, heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) have also been shown to be sensitive to the internal detection of errors. An enhanced ERN has consistently been observed in anxious subjects and there is some suggestion that the ERN is related to general negative affective experience (NA). The ERN has been source localized to the anterior cingulate cortex-a structure implicated in the regulation of affective, response selection, and autonomic resources. Thus, the findings that autonomic measures and affective distress are related to response monitoring are consistent with anterior cingulate cortex function. In the present experiment, we sought to evaluate more comprehensively the relationship between self-reported negative affect and error-related physiology in a between-groups design. Results indicate that high NA was associated with significantly greater ERN and error-related SCR, and smaller Pe. These results are discussed in terms of anterior cingulate cortex function, psychopathology, and response monitoring.     

Expectations,gains, and losses in the anterior cingulate cortex

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) participates in evaluating actions and outcomes. Little is known on how action-reward values are processed in ACC and if the context in which actions are performed influences this processing. In the present article, we report ACC unit activity of monkeys performing two tasks. The first task tested whether the encoding of reward values is context dependent—that is, dependent on the size of the other rewards that are available in the current block of trials. The second task tested whether unexpected events signaling a change in reward are represented. We show that the context created by a block design (i.e., the context of possible alternative rewards) influences the encoding of reward values, even if no decision or choice is required. ACC activity encodes the relative and not absolute expected reward values. Moreover, cingulate activity signals and evaluates when reward expectations are violated by unexpected stimuli, indicating reward gains or losses.     

Frontolimbic response to negative feedback in clinical depression

Functional neuroimaging suggests that limbic regions of the medial frontal cortex may be abnormally active in individuals with depression. These regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex, are engaged in both action regulation, such as monitoring errors and conflict, and affect regulation, such as responding to pain. The authors examined whether clinically depressed subjects would show abnormal sensitivity of frontolimbic networks as they evaluated negative feedback. Depressed subjects and matched control subjects performed a video game in the laboratory as a 256-channel EEG was recorded. Speed of performance on each trial was graded with a feedback signal of A, C, or F. By 350 ms after the feedback signal, depressed subjects showed a larger medial frontal negativity for all feedback compared with control subjects with a particularly striking response to the F grade. This response was strongest for moderately depressed subjects and was attenuated for subjects who were more severely depressed. Localization analyses suggested that negative feedback engaged sources in the anterior cingulate and insular cortices. These results suggest that moderate depression may sensitize limbic networks to respond strongly to aversive events.     

Modelling the Direct and Indirect Effects of Positive Emotional and Cognitive Traits and States on Social Judgements

It was hypothesised that positive affective states and situational information-processing demands would differentially influence the favourability of social judgements of a target social group. These hypothesised direct effects on social judgements were subsequently incorporated into a broader statetrait model of the social judgement process, whereby direct and indirect effects of personality and cognitive traits, along with positive affective states and information-processing demands (i.e. cognitive state), were also hypothesised to influence social judgements. Three hundred and eight subjects reported their trait levels of introversion-extraversion and need for cognition, and were subsequently induced into an affective state (content, happy, surprise, or neutral) and a cognitive state (heuristic or substantive information processing). Results indicated that study participants who were manipulated into either a content or a happy affect state made more positive judgements about the target group than study participants who were manipulated into either a surprised or a neutral state. Moreover, when the cognitive demands of the situation were low, a cognitive trait (need for cognition) and the affective state directly influenced the social judgement. H owever, when the cognitive demands of the situation were high, only an indirect effect of affective state through a cognitive state influenced the social judgement. Discussion focused on the components of the state-trait model of the social judgement process as it applies to positive affective states.     

奖赏刺激的脑电反应特征跨文化差异:一个ERP研究

本研究从文化--社会神经科学的角度出发,采用事件相关电位的方法来探究不同文化背景下的个体对具有进化和社会文化代表性的正性刺激—奖赏刺激的脑电反应特征是否具有差异。本研究采用the Door Task实验范式考察了26名中国人和24名高加索白人对不同反馈反应的脑电特征跨文化差异。结果显示,负性反馈条件下诱发的FRN平均波幅比正性反馈条件诱发的平均脑电波幅更负,这种正负反馈的波幅差异只在中国被试中有体现。在P3成分上,在正性反馈条件下,中国被试诱发的脑电波幅大于西方被试,负性反馈条件下,两组无显著差异。研究结果表明,相对于西方被试,中国被试对奖赏反馈刺激可能具有较高的敏感性。这说明中西方文化下的个体对正负性反馈刺激的加工的脑电反应特征存在显著的差异。     

Neural correlates of rumination in depression

Rumination, or recursive self-focused thinking, has important implications for understanding the development and maintenance of depressive episodes. Rumination is associated with the worsening of negative mood states, greater affective responding to negative material, and increased access to negative memories. The present study was designed to use fMRI to examine neural aspects of rumination in depressed and healthy control individuals. We used a rumination induction task to assess differences in patterns of neural activation during ruminative self-focus as compared with a concrete distraction condition and with a novel abstract distraction condition in 14 participants who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 14 healthy control participants. Depressed participants exhibited increased activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as compared with healthy controls during rumination versus concrete distraction. Neural activity during rumination versus abstract distraction was greater for depressed than for control participants in the amygdala, rostral anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and parahippocampus. These findings indicate that ruminative self-focus is associated with enhanced recruitment of limbic and medial and dorsolateral prefrontal regions in depression. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://cabn.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

抑郁个体对社会反馈的加工：研究现状及存在问题

抑郁症伴随着严重的社会功能障碍。本文以“社会反馈”这一重要社会性信息为切入点,综述了抑郁症患者及抑郁倾向人群对社会反馈的体验、期待及情绪调节障碍的研究现状,发现抑郁个体对社会奖赏存在快感缺失,对社会排斥、社会拒绝等负性反馈表现出过敏化,对社会奖赏的期待降低,且可能存在情绪调节困难。目前此领域存在社会与非社会反馈神经机制的异同不清楚、异常脑区与社会反馈加工障碍的因果关系难以确定以及无法排除抑郁症患者和抑郁倾向人群存在不同社会反馈加工模式的可能性等问题。     

Electrophysiological responses to errors and feedback in the process of action regulation

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is believed to be involved in the executive control of actions, such as in monitoring conflicting response demands, detecting errors, and evaluating the emotional significance of events. In this study, participants performed a task in which evaluative feedback was delayed, so that it was irrelevant to immediate response control but retained its emotional value as a performance indicator. We found that a medial frontal feedback-related negativity similar to the error-related negativity (ERN) tracked affective response to the feedback and predicted subsequent performance. Source analysis of the feedback-related negativity and ERN revealed a common dorsomedial ACC source and a rostromedial ACC source specific to the ERN. The oscillatory nature of these sources provides further evidence that the ERN reflects ongoing theta activity generated in the mediofrontal regions. These results suggest that action regulation by the cingulate gyrus may require the entrainment of multiple structures of the Papez corticolimbic circuit.     

社会比较对合作任务结果评价的影响：来自ERP的证据

现实生活中人们通过社会比较获得对自身的认识。前人研究探讨了金钱收入的比较对个体结果评价的影响, 而非金钱的社会比较效应的神经加工机制尚不清楚。本研究分离比较和金钱收入, 使用双人合作的投骰子任务, 先呈现“>”或“<”代表两人点数大小的比较结果, 再呈现合作任务的输赢结果, 考察非金钱的社会比较对合作任务结果加工的影响, 记录任务表现的比较结果和最终合作任务结果的ERP数据。发现在任务表现比较结果阶段, FRN和P300对代表行为表现好坏的社会比较信息敏感, 呈现无金钱输赢提示的点数大小的比较结果时, 点数小于他人比大于他人诱发更大的FRN和更小的P300; 任务表现的比较结果对合作任务最终的金钱输赢结果的影响并没有反应在FRN上。这些表明, 对非金钱的社会比较信息的加工始于结果快速评价的早期阶段。