scholarly journals Choking on the Money

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 955-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Mobbs ◽  
Demis Hassabis ◽  
Ben Seymour ◽  
Jennifer L. Marchant ◽  
Nikolaus Weiskopf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Area ◽  
Incentive Motivation ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Choking Under Pressure ◽  
Human Motivation ◽  
Conscious Processes ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
Average Rewards

A pernicious paradox in human motivation is the occasional reduced performance associated with tasks and situations that involve larger-than-average rewards. Three broad explanations that might account for such performance decrements are attentional competition (distraction theories), inhibition by conscious processes (explicit-monitoring theories), and excessive drive and arousal (overmotivation theories). Here, we report incentive-dependent performance decrements in humans in a reward-pursuit task; subjects were less successful in capturing a more valuable reward in a computerized maze. Concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that increased activity in ventral midbrain, a brain area associated with incentive motivation and basic reward responding, correlated with both reduced number of captures and increased number of near-misses associated with imminent high rewards. These data cast light on the neurobiological basis of choking under pressure and are consistent with overmotivation accounts.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of beauty retouching to enhance attractiveness of self-depictions in women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chisa Ota ◽  
Tamami Nakano
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Amygdala Activity ◽  
Increased Activity

AbstractBeauty filters, while often employed for retouching photos to appear more attractive on social media, when used in excess cause images to give a distorted impression. The neural mechanisms underlying this change in facial attractiveness according to beauty retouching level remain unknown. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging in women as they viewed photos of their own face or unknown faces that had been retouched at three levels: no, mild, and extreme. The activity in the nucleus accumbens (NA) exhibited a positive correlation with facial attractiveness, whereas amygdala activity showed a negative correlation with attractiveness. Even though the participants rated others’ faces as more attractive than their own, the NA showed increased activity only for their mildly retouched own face and the amygdala exhibited greater activation in the others’ faces condition than the own face condition. Moreover, amygdala activity was greater for extremely retouched faces than for unretouched or mildly retouched faces for both conditions. Frontotemporal and cortical midline areas showed greater activation for one’s own than others’ faces, but such self-related activation was absent when extremely retouched. These results suggest that neural activity dynamically switches between the NA and amygdala according to perceived attractiveness of one’s face.

scholarly journals Dissociating Explicit and Implicit Category Knowledge with fMRI

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 574-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Reber ◽  
Darren R. Gitelman ◽  
Todd B. Parrish ◽  
M. Marsel Mesulam
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Intentional Learning ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Category Knowledge ◽  
Increased Activity

Neuroimaging of healthy volunteers identified separate neural systems supporting the expression of category knowledge depending on whether the learning mode was intentional or incidental. The same visual category was learned either intentionally or implicitly by two separate groups of participants. During a categorization test, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activity evoked by category members and nonmembers. After implicit learning, when participants had learned the category incidentally, decreased occipital activity was observed for novel categorical stimuli compared with noncategorical stimuli. In contrast, after intentional learning, novel categorical stimuli evoked increased activity in the hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex, left inferior temporal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate. Even though the categorization test was identical in the two conditions, the differences in brain activity indicate differing representations of category knowledge depending on whether the category had been learned intentionally or implicitly.

scholarly journals The Wick in the Candle of Learning

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 963-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Jeong Kang ◽  
Ming Hsu ◽  
Ian M. Krajbich ◽  
George Loewenstein ◽  
Samuel M. McClure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Behavioral Study ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Memory Enhancement ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
New Information ◽  
Initial Session ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Increased Activity

Curiosity has been described as a desire for learning and knowledge, but its underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We scanned subjects with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they read trivia questions. The level of curiosity when reading questions was correlated with activity in caudate regions previously suggested to be involved in anticipated reward. This finding led to a behavioral study, which showed that subjects spent more scarce resources (either limited tokens or waiting time) to find out answers when they were more curious. The functional imaging also showed that curiosity increased activity in memory areas when subjects guessed incorrectly, which suggests that curiosity may enhance memory for surprising new information. This prediction about memory enhancement was confirmed in a behavioral study: Higher curiosity in an initial session was correlated with better recall of surprising answers 1 to 2 weeks later.

scholarly journals Dorsal premammillary projection to periaqueductal gray controls escape vigor from innate and conditioned threats

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weisheng Wang ◽  
Peter J Schuette ◽  
Mimi Q La-Vu ◽  
Anita Torossian ◽  
Brooke C Tobias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Periaqueductal Gray ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data ◽  
Central Node ◽  
Defensive Behaviors ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
Ensemble Activity ◽  
Escape Speed

Escape from threats has paramount importance for survival. However, it is unknown if a single circuit controls escape vigor from innate and conditioned threats. Cholecystokinin (cck)-expressing cells in the hypothalamic dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMd) are necessary for initiating escape from innate threats via a projection to the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG). We now show that in mice PMd-cck cells are activated during escape, but not other defensive behaviors. PMd-cck ensemble activity can also predict future escape. Furthermore, PMd inhibition decreases escape speed from both innate and conditioned threats. Inhibition of the PMd-cck projection to the dlPAG also decreased escape speed. Intriguingly, PMd-cck and dlPAG activity in mice showed higher mutual information during exposure to innate and conditioned threats. In parallel, human functional magnetic resonance imaging data show that a posterior hypothalamic-to-dlPAG pathway increased activity during exposure to aversive images, indicating that a similar pathway may possibly have a related role in humans. Our data identify the PMd-dlPAG circuit as a central node, controlling escape vigor elicited by both innate and conditioned threats.

Activity in the right frontal cortex is dependent on inhibitory-demand: a functional near infrared spectroscopy study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason He ◽  
Genevieve Steiner ◽  
Jack Fogarty ◽  
Nathan Nuzum ◽  
Miki Finch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Spectroscopy Study ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
The Right ◽  
Increased Activity

The ability to supress inappropriate or unwanted behaviour, known as inhibition, can be indexed using a variety of task paradigms, one of the more common being the Go/No-go task. Studies in which popular neuroimaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) were used to measure neural activity during participant performance of the Go/No-go task have often identified ‘inhibitory-related’ activity in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). While studies using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) have also identified changes in activity in the right PFC, the variants of the Go/No-go tasks previously employed in those studies have made it difficult to be confident that those changes measured using fNIRS were specifically related to inhibition. To determine whether the change in activity identified in the right PFC with fNIRS by previous studies using the Go/No-go task were indeed related to inhibition, we had participants complete three conditions of the Go/No-go task, each with varying levels of inhibitory demand (manipulated by the relative frequency of Go to No-go trials). We found that as Go-trial frequency increased, participants performed faster on Go-trials and less accurately on No-go trials. More importantly, as inhibitory-demand increased, activity in the right but not left PFC increased. When taken together, these findings are in support of the idea that the changes measured in the right PFC in earlier studies using fNIRS during the Go/No-go task were indeed related to inhibition.

scholarly journals Specificity of Action Representations in the Lateral Occipitotemporal Cortex

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1498-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Kable ◽  
Anjan Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Specific Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Extrastriate Body Area ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
Action Representations

The ability to recognize actions is important for cognitive development and social cognition. Areas in the lateral occipitotemporal cortex show increased activity when subjects view action sequences; however, whether this activity distinguishes between specific actions as necessary for action recognition is unclear. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation paradigm to test for brain regions that exhibit action-specific activity. Subjects watched a series of action sequences in which the action performed or the person performing the action could be repeated from a previous scan. Three regions—the superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), human motion-sensitive cortex (MT/MST), and extrastriate body area (EBA)—showed decreased activity for previously seen actions, even when the actions were novel exemplars because the persons involved had not been seen previously. These action-specific adaptation effects provide compelling evidence that representations in the pSTS, MT/MST, and EBA abstract actions from the agents involved and distinguish between different particular actions.

scholarly journals Do calendrical savants use calculation to answer date questions? A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1522) ◽  
pp. 1417-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Cowan ◽  
Chris Frith
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Calculation Skills ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

Calendrical savants can name the weekdays for dates from different years with remarkable speed and accuracy. Whether calculation rather than just memory is involved is disputed. Grounds for doubting whether they can calculate are reviewed and criteria for attributing date calculation skills to them are discussed. At least some calendrical savants possess date calculation skills. A behavioural characteristic observed in many calendrical savants is increased response time for questions about more remote years. This may be because more remote years require more calculation or because closer years are more practised. An experiment is reported that used functional magnetic resonance imaging to attempt to discriminate between these explanations. Only two savants could be scanned and excessive head movement corrupted one savant's mental arithmetic data. Nevertheless, there was increased parietal activation during both mental arithmetic and date questions and this region showed increased activity with more remote dates. These results suggest that the calendrical skills observed in savants result from intensive practice with calculations used in solving mental arithmetic problems. The mystery is not how they solve these problems, but why.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging-mediated learning of increased activity in auditory areas

Neuroreport ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 1915-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Schik Yoo ◽  
Jong-Hwan Lee ◽  
Heather OʼLeary ◽  
Vivian Lee ◽  
Seh-Eun Choo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Increased Activity
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