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Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith, DV; Clithero, JA; Boltuck, SE; Huettel, SA
Published in: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience
December 2014

According to many studies, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) encodes the subjective value of disparate rewards on a common scale. Yet, a host of other reward factors-likely represented outside of VMPFC-must be integrated to construct such signals for valuation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we tested whether the interactions between posterior VMPFC and functionally connected brain regions predict subjective value. During fMRI scanning, participants rated the attractiveness of unfamiliar faces. We found that activation in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior VMPFC and caudate increased with higher attractiveness ratings. Using data from a post-scan task in which participants spent money to view attractive faces, we quantified each individual's subjective value for attractiveness. We found that connectivity between posterior VMPFC and regions frequently modulated by social information-including the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) and middle temporal gyrus-was correlated with individual differences in subjective value. Crucially, these additional regions explained unique variation in subjective value beyond that extracted from value regions alone. These findings indicate not only that posterior VMPFC interacts with additional brain regions during valuation, but also that these additional regions carry information employed to construct the subjective value for social reward.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

ISSN

1749-5016

Publication Date

December 2014

Volume

9

Issue

12

Start / End Page

2017 / 2025

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Social Behavior
  • Reward
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reaction Time
  • Psychophysics
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Oxygen
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Smith, D. V., Clithero, J. A., Boltuck, S. E., & Huettel, S. A. (2014). Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(12), 2017–2025. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu005
Smith, David V., John A. Clithero, Sarah E. Boltuck, and Scott A. Huettel. “Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards.Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 9, no. 12 (December 2014): 2017–25. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu005.
Smith DV, Clithero JA, Boltuck SE, Huettel SA. Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. 2014 Dec;9(12):2017–25.
Smith, David V., et al. “Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards.Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 9, no. 12, Dec. 2014, pp. 2017–25. Epmc, doi:10.1093/scan/nsu005.
Smith DV, Clithero JA, Boltuck SE, Huettel SA. Functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex reflects subjective value for social rewards. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. 2014 Dec;9(12):2017–2025.
Journal cover image

Published In

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

ISSN

1749-5016

Publication Date

December 2014

Volume

9

Issue

12

Start / End Page

2017 / 2025

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Social Behavior
  • Reward
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reaction Time
  • Psychophysics
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Oxygen
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging