Consistent neural representation of valence in encoding and recall

Abstract

Recall is an act of elicitation of emotions similar to those emotions previously experienced. Unlike the past experiences where external sensory stimuli triggered emotions, recall does not require external sensory stimuli. This difference is pertinent to the key debate in affective representation, addressing whether the representation of valence is consistent across modalities (modality-general) or dependent on modalities (modality-specific). This study aimed to verify neural representations of valence between encoding and recall. Using neuroimaging data from movie watching and recall (Chen et al., 2017) and behavioral data for valence ratings (Kim et al., 2020), a searchlight analysis was conducted with cross-participant regression-based decoding between movie watching and recall. Multidimensional scaling was employed as a validation analysis of the results from searchlight analysis. The searchlight analysis revealed the right middle temporal and inferior temporal gyrus as well as the left fusiform gyrus. The validation analysis further exhibited significant consistent neural representations of valence in the inferior temporal gyrus and the left fusiform gyrus. This study identified the brain regions where valence is consistently represented between encoding and recall about real events. These findings contribute to debate in affective representations, by comparing conditions utilized little in prior, suggesting the inferior temporal gyrus relates to representations of valence during encoding and recalling natural events.