Amygdala in action: functional connectivity during approach and avoidance behaviors

Article Article scientifique Article Amygdala in action: functional connectivity during approach and avoidance behaviors eng 2022-03-31 author Leitao Joana University of Geneva, Switzerland. 947641 author Burckhardt Maya University of Fribourg, Switzerland. 754309 author Vuilleumier Patrik 0000-0002-8198-9214 University of Geneva, Switzerland. 134853 Département de neurosciences fondamentales (NEUFO) 729-747 10.1162/jocn_a_01800 34860249 0898-929X https://direct.mit.edu/jocn/article/34/5/729/108517/Amygdala-in-Action-Functional-Connectivity-during Motivation is an important feature of emotion. By driving approach to positive events and promoting avoidance of negative stimuli, motivation drives adaptive actions and goal pursuit. The amygdala has been associated with a variety of affective processes, particularly the appraisal of stimulus valence that is assumed to play a crucial role in the generation of approach and avoidance behaviors. Here, we measured amygdala functional connectivity patterns while participants played a video game manipulating goal conduciveness through the presence of good, neutral, or bad monsters. As expected, good versus bad monsters elicited opposing motivated behaviors, whereby good monsters induced more approach and bad monsters triggered more avoidance. These opposing directional behaviors were paralleled by increased connectivity between the amygdala and medial brain areas, such as the OFC and posterior cingulate, for good relative to bad, and between amygdala and caudate for bad relative to good monsters. Moreover, in both conditions, individual connectivity strength between the amygdala and medial prefrontal regions was positively correlated with brain scores from a latent component representing efficient goal pursuit, which was identified by a partial least squares analysis determining the multivariate association between amygdala connectivity and behavioral motivation indices during gameplay. At the brain level, this latent component highlighted a widespread pattern of amygdala connectivity, including a dorsal frontoparietal network and motor areas. These results suggest that amygdala-medial prefrontal interactions captured the overall subjective relevance of ongoing events, which could consecutively drive the engagement of attentional, executive, and motor circuits necessary for implementing successful goal-pursuit, irrespective of approach or avoidance directions. Amygdala / diagnostic imaging Avoidance Learning Brain Emotions Humans Magnetic Resonance Imaging Neural Pathways / diagnostic imaging Prefrontal Cortex Dewey 128.37 Dewey 616.8 Swiss National Science Foundation NCCR Affective Sciences: Emotion in Individual Behavior and Social Processes (phase I) 104897 CH Programmes Swiss National Science Foundation Charting emotion components and dynamics in the human brain using virtual reality and cinema 180319 CH Programmes 53 Département de neurosciences fondamentales 21A 15 Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives 0D8 16 Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences 0D9 false 1241 Affective sciences 428 Mécanismes cérébraux du comportement et des fonctions cognitives 701 Journal of cognitive neuroscience 34 5 7693255d-44d3-4ce3-89e7-25dde8585edc Article (Published version) Public JL_JOCN2021.pdf 1627322 application/pdf ebc33a875c71f59dfa7030633408d4ed1af94f86403acb658b39d76235f10321 openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de neurosciences fondamentales Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Amygdala in action: functional connectivity during approach and avoidance behaviors	Journal of cognitive neuroscience			2022	99	1,114

Archive ouverte UNIGE

Leitao, Joana