Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation is critical for... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)
Articles
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation is critical for preference judgments
1Laboratory of Biological Dynamics and Theoretical Medicine; 2Departments of Psychiatry and 4Radiology University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093–0603; 3Veterans Affairs San Diego Health Care System, CA, USA
CACorresponding Author: [email protected]
Received 24 February 2003; accepted 28 March 2003
Abstract
Preference judgment, the process of selecting a response from several alternatives based on which alternative the subject likes best, is an important aspect of daily life. The current study examined whether neural substrates that are thought to be critical for generating somatic markers are involved in preference judgments. Fifteen healthy, right-handed subjects performed a preference judgment task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The medial frontal gyrus was significantly more activated during the preference judgment trials, relative to visual discrimination trials. Other areas that were also differentially activated included the posterior parietal cortex, the anterior cingulate and the left anterior insula. These findings are consistent with the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the representation of complex appetitive states.
© 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.