The neural correlates of desire

• Published in: PLoS ONE Vol. 3; no. 8; p. e3027
• Main Authors: Kawabata, Hideaki, Zeki, Semir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science (PLoS) 27.08.2008; Public Library of Science
• Subjects: Adult; AMYGDALA RESPONSE; ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX; Anxiety; Brain; Brain - physiology; Brain mapping; Cortex (cingulate); Cortex (frontal); Developmental biology; Emotions; Expected values; Experiments; FACE PERCEPTION; FACIAL ATTRACTIVENESS; Facial Expression; Female; Females; Functional Laterality; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; FUNCTIONAL SPECIALIZATION; HUMAN BRAIN; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Japan; Laboratories; LATERAL OCCIPITAL COMPLEX; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medicine; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Neurobiology; Neuroscience/Cognitive Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Psychology; Neurosciences; NUCLEUS-ACCUMBENS; ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX; Pictures; Quantitative psychology; Radiology and Medical Imaging/Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Research Article; Science; Sexual orientation; Social Behavior; Social Desirability; Specialization; Stimuli; Taxonomy; Tidal bores; Visual cortex; Visual perception; VISUAL SEXUAL STIMULI; Japan

In an event-related fMRI study, we scanned eighteen normal human subjects while they viewed three categories of pictures (events, objects and persons) which they classified according to desirability (desirable, indifferent or undesirable). Each category produced activity in a distinct part of the vi...