title: GABA levels in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during the viewing of appetitive and disgusting food images.
abstract: Characterizing how the brain appraises the psychological dimensions of reward is one of the central topics of neuroscience. It has become clear that dopamine neurons are implicated in the transmission of both rewarding information and aversive and alerting events through two different neuronal populations involved in encoding the motivational value and the motivational salience of stimuli, respectively. Nonetheless, there is less agreement on the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the related neurotransmitter release during the processing of biologically relevant stimuli. To address this issue, we employed magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a non-invasive methodology that allows detection of some metabolites in the human brain in vivo, in order to assess the role of the vmPFC in encoding stimulus value rather than stimulus salience. Specifically, we measured gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and, with control purposes, Glx levels in healthy subjects during the observation of appetitive and disgusting food images. We observed a decrease of GABA and no changes in Glx concentration in the vmPFC in both conditions. Furthermore, a comparatively smaller GABA reduction during the observation of appetitive food images than during the observation of disgusting food images was positively correlated with the scores obtained to the body image concerns sub-scale of Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). These results are consistent with the idea that the vmPFC plays a crucial role in processing both rewarding and aversive stimuli, possibly by encoding stimulus salience through glutamatergic and/or noradrenergic projections to deeper mesencephalic and limbic areas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy. Electronic address: caterina.padulo@unich.it.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Padulo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delli Pizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonanni
authors.affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States; F.M. Kirby Center for Functional MRI, Kennedy Krieger Institute, United States.
authors.forename: Richard A E
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Edden
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marzoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franciotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manippa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onofrj
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy; Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sense Organs, University "A. Moro", 70121 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sepede
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tartaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tommasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University "La Sapienza" of Roma, Italy; Foundation Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puglisi-Allegra
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brancucci
mesh_terms: D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: Food; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS); Mesotelencephalic pathways; Neurotransmitter; Salience