Neural activation during selective attention to subjective... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)

Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology

Lane, Richard D.1,2; Fink, Gereon R.2; Chau, Phyllis M.-L.2; Dolan, Raymond J.2,3

1Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA

2Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1 3BG, UK

3Corresponding Author and Address: Raymond J. Dolan, Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1 3BG, UK

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: R.J.D. and G.R.F. are supported by the Wellcome Trust. R.L. is supported by an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award MH-00972; We thank Gail Schartz for assistance with the analysis of behavioral data.

Received 16 September 1997; accepted 5 October 1997

Abstract

WE examined neural activity associated with selectively attending to subjective emotional responses in a study where subjects viewed emotional picture sets. During picture viewing when subjects attended to their subjective emotional responses, highly significant increased neural activity was elicited in rostral anterior cingulate (BA 32) (Z = 6.87, p < 0.001, corrected). By contrast, under the same stimulus conditions when subjects attended to spatial aspects of identical picture sets activation was observed in the parieto-occipital cortex bilaterally (Z = 5.71, p < 0.001, corrected). The findings indicated a specific role for the anterior cingulate cortex in representing subjective emotional responses and are consistent with a suggested role for associated medial prefrontal structures in representing states of mind.