Visualizing Risky Behaviors Induces a Stronger Neural Response in Brain Areas Responsible for Mental Imagery and Emotions Than Visualizing Neutral Behaviors

In the present study, we used a neuroimaging technique (fMRI) to test the prediction that visualizing risky behaviors induces a stronger neural response in brain areas responsible for emotions and mental imagery than visualizing neutral behaviors. We identified several brain regions that were activated when participants produced mental images of risky versus neutral behaviors and these regions overlap with brain areas engaged in visual mental imagery, speech imagery and movement imagery. We also found that producing mental images of risky behaviors, in contrast to neutral behaviors, increased neural activation in the insula – a region engaged in emotional processing. This finding is in line with previous results demonstrating that the insula is recruited by tasks involving induction of emotional recall/imagery. Finally, we observed an increased BOLD signal in the cingulate gyrus (mid-cingulate area), which is associated with reward-based decision making and monitoring of decision outcomes. In summary, we demonstrated that mental images of risky behaviors, compared to risk-free behaviors, increased neural activation in brain areas engaged in mental imagery processes, emotional processing and decision making. These findings imply that the evaluation of everyday risky situations may originate in visualizing the potential consequences of risk taking and may be driven by emotional responses that result from mental imagery.