title: Parsing the Role of the Hippocampus in Approach-Avoidance Conflict.
abstract: The hippocampus plays a central role in the approach-avoidance conflict that is central to the genesis of anxiety. However, its exact functional contribution has yet to be identified. We designed a novel gambling task that generated approach-avoidance conflict while controlling for spatial processing. We fit subjects' behavior using a model that quantified the subjective values of choice options, and recorded neural signals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Distinct functional signals were observed in anterior hippocampus, with inferior hippocampus selectively recruited when subjects rejected a gamble, to a degree that covaried with individual differences in anxiety. The superior anterior hippocampus, in contrast, uniquely demonstrated value signals that were potentiated in the context of approach-avoidance conflict. These results implicate the anterior hippocampus in behavioral avoidance and choice monitoring, in a manner relevant to understanding its role in anxiety. Our findings highlight interactions between subregions of the hippocampus as an important focus for future study.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1n 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1n 3BG, UK.|Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Zeb
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kurth-Nelson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berron
authors.affiliation: Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London W1T 4JG, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.|Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duzel
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1n 3BG, UK.|Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.affiliation: Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK.|Ageing Research Centre, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, SE-11330 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guitart-Masip
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: anxiety; approach–avoidance; decision-making; exploration; hippocampus