Abstract
How does the brain encode courage in a real-life fearful situation that demands an immediate response? In this study, volunteers who fear snakes had to bring a live snake into close proximity with their heads while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Bringing the snake closer was associated with a dissociation between subjective fear and somatic arousal. Activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and the right temporal pole was positively correlated with such action. Further, activity in the sgACC was positively correlated with the level of fear upon choosing to overcome fear but not upon succumbing to it. Conversely, activity in a set of interrelated temporal lobe structures, including the amygdala, was attenuated as the level of fear increased when choosing to overcome fear. We propose how the internally reinforced fast representational shift, in which the courageous-response representation gains control over behavior, takes place. Video Abstract:
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 949-962 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Neuron |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2010 |
Funding
Israeli Science FoundationWe thank Nir Shvalb for help with the design and construction of the experimental setup, and Yossi Chalamish for interviewing potential candidates for the experiment. We are also grateful to Aya Ben Yakov, Ilan Dinstein, Micah Edelson, Orit Furman, Efrat Furst, Rachel Ludmer, Avi Mendelsohn, Ronly Paz, and Tali Sharot for valuable discussions. The support of the Israeli Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Neuroscience