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Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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Ventromedial prefrontal cortex supports affective future simulation by integrating distributed knowledge.

Roland G Benoit1, Karl K Szpunar2, Daniel L Schacter1

  • 1Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 rbenoit@fas.harvard.edu dls@wjh.harvard.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|November 5, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Imagining future events involves the ventromedial prefrontal cortex integrating knowledge and representing affective quality. This brain region

Keywords:
episodic future thinkingepisodic memoryfunctional MRIsubjective valueventromedial prefrontal cortex

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Affective Science

Background:

  • The future often feels abstract and difficult to conceptualize.
  • Understanding the neural basis of imagining future events is crucial for explaining foresight and decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the neural mechanism by which the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) supports episodic future thinking.
  • To investigate how the vmPFC integrates information to simulate future events and generate affective foresight.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to observe brain activity during episodic simulation tasks.
  • Analysis focused on the role of the vmPFC in integrating event elements and representing affective qualities.

Main Results:

  • The vmPFC integrates knowledge about episode components through interactions with distributed cortical areas.
  • vmPFC activation signifies the emergent affective quality of simulated episodes, exceeding the sum of individual element affects.
  • This integration process enhances long-term memory retention of imagined episodes.

Conclusions:

  • The vmPFC plays a key role in making future events more concrete through episodic simulation.
  • This mechanism, involving integration and affective representation, underpins affective foresight and farsighted behavior.