title: Behavioral and neuroimaging responses induced by mental imagery of threatening scenarios.
abstract: Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that actual situations of uncertain or distant threats increase the activity of forebrain regions, whereas proximal threats increase the activity of the dorsal midbrain. This experiment aimed at testing the hypothesis that brain activity elicited by imagined scenarios of threats with two different magnitudes, potential and imminent, resembles that found in response to actual threats. First, we measured subjective responses to imagined scenarios of potential and imminent threats compared with neutral and pleasant scenarios. The same scenarios were used as a paradigm in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Behavioral results show that the scenarios draw a gradient of hedonic valence and arousal dimensions. Both potential and imminent threat scenarios increased subjective anxiety; the imminent threat scenario also increased feelings of discomfort and bodily symptoms. The functional magnetic resonance imaging results revealed modulations of BOLD signal in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex by potential threat and in the periaqueductal gray matter by imminent threat. These results agree with previously reported evidence using actual threat situations, indicating that mental imagery is a reliable method for studying the functional neuroanatomy of relevant behavioral processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: roshuhama@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rosana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shuhama
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences and Medical Physics Center Laboratory, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rondinoni
authors.affiliation: Brain Institute, University Hospital Onofre Lopes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Draulio Barros
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: de Araujo
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences and Medical Physics Center Laboratory, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Freitas Caetano
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences and Medical Physics Center Laboratory, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.affiliation: INeC-Institute of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil; NAP-NuPNE-Neurobiology of Emotions Research Center, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Frederico Guilherme
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Graeff
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristina Marta
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Del-Ben
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Defensive behavior; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Mental imagery; Neuroimaging; Threat situation