scholarly journals The price of your soul: neural evidence for the non-utilitarian representation of sacred values

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1589) ◽  
pp. 754-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Berns ◽  
Emily Bell ◽  
C. Monica Capra ◽  
Michael J. Prietula ◽  
Sara Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Representation ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Deontological Theory ◽  
Sacred Values ◽  
Material Benefits ◽  
Increased Activity

Sacred values, such as those associated with religious or ethnic identity, underlie many important individual and group decisions in life, and individuals typically resist attempts to trade off their sacred values in exchange for material benefits. Deontological theory suggests that sacred values are processed based on rights and wrongs irrespective of outcomes, while utilitarian theory suggests that they are processed based on costs and benefits of potential outcomes, but which mode of processing an individual naturally uses is unknown. The study of decisions over sacred values is difficult because outcomes cannot typically be realized in a laboratory, and hence little is known about the neural representation and processing of sacred values. We used an experimental paradigm that used integrity as a proxy for sacredness and which paid real money to induce individuals to sell their personal values. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we found that values that people refused to sell (sacred values) were associated with increased activity in the left temporoparietal junction and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, regions previously associated with semantic rule retrieval. This suggests that sacred values affect behaviour through the retrieval and processing of deontic rules and not through a utilitarian evaluation of costs and benefits.

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.

Methods of Predicting the Brain Activity Based on Noun

2013 ◽  
Vol 347-350 ◽  
pp. 2516-2520
Author(s):  
Jian Hua Jiang ◽  
Xu Yu ◽  
Zhi Xing Huang
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
The Past ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
The Brain

Over the last decade, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become a primary tool to predict the brain activity.During the past research, researchers transfer the focus from the picture to the word.The results of these researches are relatively successful. In this paper, several typical methods which are machine learning methods are introduced. And most of the methods are by using fMRI data associated with words features. The semantic features (properties or factors) support words neural representation, and have a certain commonality in the people.The purpose of the application of these methods is used for prediction or classification.

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.

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 How the Brain Converts Negative Evaluation into Performance Facilitation

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 602-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Prévost ◽  
Hakwan Lau ◽  
Dean Mobbs
Keyword(s):  
Brain Regions ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Recurrent Theme

Abstract Surpassing negative evaluation is a recurrent theme of success stories. Yet, there is little evidence supporting the counterintuitive idea that negative evaluation might not only motivate people, but also enhance performance. To address this question, we designed a task that required participants to decide whether taking up a risky challenge after receiving positive or negative evaluations from independent judges. Participants believed that these evaluations were based on their prior performance on a related task. Results showed that negative evaluation caused a facilitation in performance. Concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the motivating effect of negative evaluation was represented in the insula and striatum, while the performance boost was associated with functional positive connectivity between the insula and a set of brain regions involved in goal-directed behavior and the orienting of attention. These findings provide new insight into the neural representation of negative evaluation-induced facilitation.

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 Discriminating neural representations of physical and social pains: how multivariate statistics challenge the “shared representation” theory of pain

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 2558-2560 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rogachov ◽  
J. C. Cheng ◽  
D. D. DeSouza
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Representation Theory ◽  
Multivariate Statistics ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Neural Representations

Overlapping functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity elicited by physical pain and social rejection has posited a common neural representation between the two experiences. However, Woo and colleagues ( Nat Commun 5: 5380, 2014) recently used multivariate statistics to challenge the “shared representation” theory of pain. This study has implications in the way results from fMRI studies are interpreted and has the potential of broadening our understanding of different pain states and future development of personalized medicine.

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