title: Ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions alter neural and physiological correlates of anticipation.
abstract: Uncertainty is a ubiquitous feature of our daily lives. Although previous studies have identified a number of neural and peripheral physiological changes associated with uncertainty, there are limited data on the causal mechanisms underlying these responses in humans. In this study, we address this empirical gap through a novel application of fMRI in neurosurgical patients with focal, bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) damage. The fMRI task involved cued anticipation of aversive and neutral picture stimuli; "certain" cues unambiguously indicated the upcoming picture valence, whereas "ambiguous" cues could precede either picture type. Healthy subjects exhibited robust bilateral insula responses to ambiguous cues, and this cue-related insula activity significantly correlated with heart rate variability during the task. By contrast, the vmPFC lesion patients exhibited altered cue-related insula activity and reduced heart rate variability. These findings suggest a role for vmPFC in coordinating neural and physiological responses during anticipation.
authors: Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Training Program, Medical Scientist Training Program, and.
authors: Julian C
authors: JC
authors: Motzkin
authors: Departments of Psychiatry.
authors: Carissa L
authors: CL
authors: Philippi
authors: Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Training Program.
authors: Richard C
authors: RC
authors: Wolf
authors: Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53792.
authors: Mustafa K
authors: MK
authors: Baskaya
authors: Departments of Psychiatry, mrkoenigs@wisc.edu.
authors: Michael
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5799-4881
authors: M
authors: Koenigs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D035501:Uncertainty
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen