title: Attentional Modulation of Brain Responses to Primary Appetitive and Aversive Stimuli.
abstract: Studies of subjective well-being have conventionally relied upon self-report, which directs subjects' attention to their emotional experiences. This method presumes that attention itself does not influence emotional processes, which could bias sampling. We tested whether attention influences experienced utility (the moment-by-moment experience of pleasure) by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the activity of brain systems thought to represent hedonic value while manipulating attentional load. Subjects received appetitive or aversive solutions orally while alternatively executing a low or high attentional load task. Brain regions associated with hedonic processing, including the ventral striatum, showed a response to both juice and quinine. This response decreased during the high-load task relative to the low-load task. Thus, attentional allocation may influence experienced utility by modulating (either directly or indirectly) the activity of brain mechanisms thought to represent hedonic value.
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Field
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, United States of America.
authors.forename: Cara L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, United States of America.
authors.forename: Samuel M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, United States of America.
authors.forename: Leigh E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Nystrom
authors.affiliation: Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kahneman
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, United States of America; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D000067030:Fruit and Vegetable Juices; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011803:Quinine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D011803:Quinine