title: The neural networks of subjectively evaluated emotional conflicts.
abstract: Previous work on the neural underpinnings of emotional conflict processing has largely focused on designs that instruct participants to ignore a distracter which conflicts with a target. In contrast, this study investigated the noninstructed experience and evaluation of an emotional conflict, where positive or negative cues can be subjectively prioritized. To this end, healthy participants freely watched short film scenes that evoked emotional conflicts while their BOLD responses were measured. Participants' individual ratings of conflict and valence perception during the film scenes were collected immediately afterwards, and the individual ratings were regressed against the BOLD data. Our analyses revealed that (a) amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex were significantly involved in prioritizing positive or negative cues, but not in subjective evaluations of conflict per se, and (b) superior temporal sulcus (STS) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), which have been implicated in social cognition and emotion control, were involved in both prioritizing positive or negative cues and subjectively evaluating conflict, and may thus constitute "hubs" or "switches" in emotional conflict processing. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses further revealed stronger functional connectivity between IPL and ventral prefrontal-medial parietal areas in prioritizing negative cues, and stronger connectivity between STS and dorsal-rostral prefrontal-medial parietal areas in prioritizing positive cues. In sum, our results suggest that IPL and STS are important in the subjective evaluation of complex conflicts and influence valence prioritization via prefrontal and parietal control centers. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2234-2246, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Mind-Brain Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Charité and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Rohr
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Mind-Brain Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Charité and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villringer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Mind-Brain Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Charité and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solms-Baruth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Mind-Brain Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Charité and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Max Planck Research Group for Neuroanatomy and Connectivity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Margulies
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Mind-Brain Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Charité and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Hadas
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okon-Singer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D014741:Video Recording; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: amygdala; conflict; emotion control; fMRI; free viewing; functional connectivity; inferior parietal lobule; superior temporal sulcus