title: Common representation of pain and negative emotion in the midbrain periaqueductal gray.
abstract: Human neuroimaging offers a powerful way to connect animal and human research on emotion, with profound implications for psychological science. However, the gulf between animal and human studies remains a formidable obstacle: human studies typically focus on the cortex and a few subcortical regions such as the amygdala, whereas deeper structures such as the brainstem periaqueductal gray (PAG) play a key role in animal models. Here, we directly assessed the role of PAG in human affect by interleaving in a single fMRI session two conditions known to elicit strong emotional responses--physical pain and negative image viewing. Negative affect and PAG activity increased in both conditions. We next examined eight independent data sets, half featuring pain stimulation and half negative image viewing. In sum, these data sets comprised 198 additional participants. We found increased activity in PAG in all eight studies. Taken together, these findings suggest PAG is a key component of human affective responses.
authors.affiliation: Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 406 Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, NY 10027, USA. jtb2102@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Buhle
authors.forename: Hedy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kober
authors.forename: Kevin N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Ochsner
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mende-Siedlecki
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Brent L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kross
authors.forename: Lauren Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Atlas
authors.forename: Kateri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McRae
authors.forename: Tor D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Wager
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen