RESEARCH ARTICLE Attentional Modulation of Brain Responses to Primary Appetitive and Aversive Stimuli

Studies of subjective well-being have conventionally relied upon self-report, which directs subjects ’ attention to their emotional experiences. This method presumes that attention itself does not influence emotional processes, which could bias sampling. We tested whether attention influences experienced utility (the moment-by-moment experience of pleasure) by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the activity of brain systems thought to represent hedonic value while manipulating attentional load. Sub-jects received appetitive or aversive solutions orally while alternatively executing a low or high attentional load task. Brain regions associated with hedonic processing, including the ventral striatum, showed a response to both juice and quinine. This response decreased during the high-load task relative to the low-load task. Thus, attentional allocation may influ-ence experienced utility by modulating (either directly or indirectly) the activity of brain mechanisms thought to represent hedonic value