The Role of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Preferential Decisions for Own- and Other-Age Faces.

Own-age bias is a well-known bias reflecting the effects of age, and its role has been demonstrated, particularly, in face recognition. However, it remains unclear whether an own-age bias exists in facial impression formation. In the present study, we used three datasets from two published and one unpublished functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that employed the same pleasantness rating task with fMRI scanning and preferential choice task after the fMRI to investigate whether healthy young and older participants showed own-age effects in face preference.

Gender differences in ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity associated with valuation of faces.

Psychological studies have indicated that males exhibit stronger preferences for physical attributes in the opposite gender, such as facial attractiveness, than females. However, whether gender differences in mate preference originate from differential brain activity remains unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the patterns of brain activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region critical for the valuation of faces, in response to elderly male, elderly female, young male, and young female faces.

Medial temporal lobe activity associated with the successful retrieval of destination memory.

Destination memory is the process of remembering to whom we tell particular things. Although recent behavioral studies have clarified the cognitive nature of destination memory, the neural mechanisms underlying destination memory retrieval remain unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine whether the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a structure that has been implicated in recollection-based memory, is activated during the successful retrieval of destination information.

Differential activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex between male and female givers of social reputation.

Accumulating evidence has shown the profound influence of social reputation on human behavior and has implicated the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in representing subjective values induced by social interaction. However, little is known regarding how the vmPFC encodes subjective pleasantness induced by social reputation received from others. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the vmPFC in males and females encodes the subjective pleasantness of social reputation received from the same gender and from the opposite gender.

Distinct neural correlates of the preference-related valuation of supraliminally and subliminally presented faces.

Recent neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural substrates involved in the valuation of supraliminally presented targets and the subsequent preference decisions. However, the neural mechanisms of the valuation of subliminally presented targets, which can guide subsequent preference decisions, remain to be explored. In the present study, we determined whether the neural systems associated with the valuation of supraliminally presented faces are involved in the valuation of subliminally presented faces.

The neural basis of dishonest decisions that serve to harm or help the target.

We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of harmful and helpful dishonest decisions. During scanning, the subjects read scenarios concerning events that could occur in real-life situations and were asked to decide whether to tell a lie as though they were experiencing those events. Half of the scenarios consisted of harmful stories in which the dishonest decisions could be regarded as bad lies, and the other half consisted of helpful stories in which the dishonest decisions could be regarded as good lies.

Neural activity associated with enhanced facial attractiveness by cosmetics use.

Previous psychological studies have shown that make-up enhances facial attractiveness. Although neuroimaging evidence indicates that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) shows greater activity for faces of attractive people than for those of unattractive people, there is no direct evidence that the OFC also shows greater activity for the face of an individual wearing make-up than for the same face without make-up. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated neural activity while subjects viewed 144 photographs of the same faces with and without make-up (48 with make-up, 48 without make-up, and 48 scrambled photographs) and assigned these faces an attractiveness rating.

Dissociable neural systems for moral judgment of anti- and pro-social lying.

Pro-social lying, which serves to benefit listeners, is considered more socially and morally acceptable than anti-social lying, which serves to harm listeners. However, it is still unclear whether the neural mechanisms underlying the moral judgment of pro-social lying differ from those underlying the moral judgment of anti-social lying. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural activities associated with moral judgment in anti- and pro-social lying.

Encoding- and retrieval-related brain activity underlying false recognition.

We examined the neural activity associated with true and false recognition during both encoding and retrieval using the Remember/Know procedure to separate recollection (i.e., mental reinstatement of experienced events during which unique details of a memory are recalled) and familiarity (i.

The contribution of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to the preparation for deception and truth-telling.

Recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with creating deceptive responses. However, the neural basis of the preparatory processes that create deception has yet to be explored. Previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the preparation for a certain task activates brain areas relevant to the execution of that task, leading to the question of whether dorsolateral prefrontal activity is observed during the preparation for deception.

The effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease on associative recognition memory.

We investigated the effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) on item and associative recognition memory. Three groups of participants (younger adults, elderly adults, and AD patients) studied photographs of common objects that were located on either the left or the right side of a black computer screen inside either a red or a blue square. In a subsequent old/new recognition memory test, the participants were presented with four kinds of stimuli: "intact" stimuli, which were presented as they were during the study phase; "location-altered" stimuli, which were presented in a different location; "color-altered" stimuli, which were presented with a different surrounding color; and "new" stimuli, which consisted of photographs that had not been presented during the study phase.

Neural basis of pleasant and unpleasant emotions induced by social reputation.

We used positron emission tomography to identify brain regions involved in the processing of emotions induced by social reputation from others. During positron emission tomographic scanning, individuals were presented with either a positive or a negative social reputation combined with face photographs of persons whom the individuals either liked or disliked. Behavioral results revealed that a positive reputation led to a higher pleasantness score than a negative reputation.

The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in deception when remembering neutral and emotional events.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of deception while remembering neutral events and emotional events. Before fMRI, subjects were presented with a series of neutral and emotional pictures and were asked to rate each picture for arousal. During fMRI, subjects were presented with the studied and nonstudied pictures and were asked to make an honest recognition judgment in response to half of the pictures and a dishonest response to the remaining half.

Changing the criteria for old/new recognition judgments can modulate activity in the anterior hippocampus.

Numerous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is activated to a greater extent when subjects encounter novel items as compared with familiar ones. However, it remains unclear whether the novelty signals in the MTL are modulated by the criteria for old/new recognition judgments. In this study, we used fMRI to test our hypothesis that when subjects encounter items similar to previously encountered ones, the novelty signals in the MTL will differ depending on whether the subjects focus on the perceptual features or the semantic aspects of the items.

Right temporal-lobe contribution to the retrieval of family relationships in person identification.

We previously reported a patient who exhibited a peculiar form of delusional misidentification. She had a selective deficit in retrieving family relationships between herself and her daughters and husband (i.e.

Neural correlates of forgiveness for moral transgressions involving deception.

We used positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the willingness to forgive another person's moral transgression involving deception. During scanning, 12 subjects were asked to judge the forgivability of a perpetrator's moral transgression. These transgressions were described by four kinds of scenarios composed of a combination of two factors: the attitude of the perpetrator (dishonest or honest) and the severity of the moral transgression (serious or minor).

Hippocampal activation associated with successful external source monitoring.

Studies demonstrating hippocampal activation associated with memories for persons from whom information is acquired (external source monitoring) are lacking. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether the medial temporal lobe (MTL), especially the hippocampus, is activated during the retrieval of external source information as well as during the retrieval of the items themselves. Before the fMRI, subjects intentionally studied photographs with names that were presented by either a woman or a man in a videotape.

Effects of emotion and reward motivation on neural correlates of episodic memory encoding: a PET study.

It is known that emotion and reward motivation promote long-term memory formation. It remains unclear, however, how and where emotion and reward are integrated during episodic memory encoding. In the present study, subjects were engaged in intentional encoding of photographs under four different conditions that were made by combining two factors (emotional valence, negative or neutral; and monetary reward value, high or low for subsequent successful recognition) during H2 15O positron emission tomography (PET) scanning.

Reactivation of medial temporal lobe and human V5/MT+ during the retrieval of motion information: a PET study.

Recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that the retrieval of a prior episode reactivates sensory-processing brain regions that were active when the episode was encoded. However, with regard to reactivation of the medial temporal lobe (MTL), the results remain controversial. In the present study, we used positron emission tomography (PET) to identify the brain regions associated with the encoding and retrieval of motion information.

Selective impairment in the retrieval of family relationships in person identification: a case study of delusional misidentification.

We describe a 74-year-old, right-handed woman who exhibited a peculiar form of delusional misidentification due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) combined with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). The patient's most distinctive symptom was that she often misidentified her daughters as her sisters. She had severe atrophy of the bilateral medial temporal lobe and right-hemisphere-dominant hypoperfusion in the fronto-temporo-parietal cortices.

Reactivation of medial temporal lobe and occipital lobe during the retrieval of color information: A positron emission tomography study.

It is widely accepted that memory traces of an event include various types of information about the content of the event and about the circumstances in which the individual experienced it. However, how these various types of information are stored and later retrieved is poorly understood. One hypothesis postulates that the retrieval of specific event information reactivates regions that were active during the encoding of this information, with the aid of binding functions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures.

[Two cases of primary skeletal muscle lymphoma, and a review of the literature].

Here we report two cases of primary skeletal muscle lymphoma. The first patient was an 82-year-old man. On April 2004, he was referred to our hospital because of swelling of the right upper arm.

[Essential thrombocythemia associated with incomplete type intestinal Behçet disease during hydroxyurea treatment].

A 77-year-old man was diagnosed as having essential thrombocythemia in 1992. Treatment with hydroxyurea was started in 1997, which stabilized the platelet count. The patient then suffered from pharyngalgia and rhinitis with a high fever, immediately after which he developed tarry stools and anemia and was admitted to our hospital.