Passage
Prominent theories of emotion have long held that alterations in one's internal physiological state are necessary for the experience of emotion. Interoception involves both the unconscious and conscious perception of one's internal physiological state. The insula (or insular cortex), located deep within the lateral fissure on both sides of the brain, appears to be largely responsible for interoception. Studies suggest that the posterior insula (PI) is involved with processing homeostatic afferent information such as pain, temperature, hunger, thirst, and the impulse to breathe. In contrast, the anterior insula (AI) appears to process information regarding emotional awareness, the conscious experience of emotion.A recent study evaluated AI activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using fMRI, the participants' brain activity was monitored during two different tasks: an emotion-eliciting task and an interoceptive task.Task 1Participants watched 10 short videos of people recalling personal events that were either negative (eg, surviving a mass shooting attack) or positive (eg, seeing a loved one after a year apart). After each video, participants rated their reactions on a Likert scale from 1 (no emotional reaction) to 10 (extreme emotional reaction).Task 2Participants were instructed to monitor their own heart rate and press a button each time they felt their heartbeat. Participants' heart rates were externally monitored to gauge the accuracy of their responses.ResultsNeuroimaging results suggested that both tasks elicited activity in the AI. Furthermore, there was a high degree of overlap in the activity of the right AI and surrounding limbic and paralimbic brain regions at both the individual and group levels.
J. Zaki, J. I. Davis, and K. N. Ochsner ©2012 by Elsevier, B. V., and A. D. Craig ©2003 by Elsevier, B. V.
-The results of the study suggest which of the following brain regions was also activated?

Question

Passage
Prominent theories of emotion have long held that alterations in one's internal physiological state are necessary for the experience of emotion.  Interoception involves both the unconscious and conscious perception of one's internal physiological state.  The insula (or insular cortex), located deep within the lateral fissure on both sides of the brain, appears to be largely responsible for interoception.  Studies suggest that the posterior insula (PI) is involved with processing homeostatic afferent information such as pain, temperature, hunger, thirst, and the impulse to breathe.  In contrast, the anterior insula (AI) appears to process information regarding emotional awareness, the conscious experience of emotion.A recent study evaluated AI activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  Using fMRI, the participants' brain activity was monitored during two different tasks:  an emotion-eliciting task and an interoceptive task.Task 1Participants watched 10 short videos of people recalling personal events that were either negative (eg, surviving a mass shooting attack) or positive (eg, seeing a loved one after a year apart).  After each video, participants rated their reactions on a Likert scale from 1 (no emotional reaction) to 10 (extreme emotional reaction).Task 2Participants were instructed to monitor their own heart rate and press a button each time they felt their heartbeat.  Participants' heart rates were externally monitored to gauge the accuracy of their responses.ResultsNeuroimaging results suggested that both tasks elicited activity in the AI.  Furthermore, there was a high degree of overlap in the activity of the right AI and surrounding limbic and paralimbic brain regions at both the individual and group levels.
J. Zaki, J. I. Davis, and K. N. Ochsner ©2012 by Elsevier, B. V., and A. D. Craig ©2003 by Elsevier, B. V.
-The results of the study suggest which of the following brain regions was also activated?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c88_5a92_a3bf_bf063287a91e_MD0008_00 According to the passage, fMRI results suggest a high degree of overlap in the right AI and surrounding limbic and paralimbic regions of the brain. The limbic system is a network of brain regions that are involved in emotion, learning, and memory. This system is composed of many structures, including the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure located deep within the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain. Studies have shown that neurons of the amygdala fire while processing more primal emotions, such as fear, anger, and sexual arousal. The amygdala also plays a role in fear conditioning and the encoding of other emotionally charged memories. (Choice B) The basal ganglia contain a high concentration of dopamine-producing neurons, the function of which is to produce smooth, purposeful movements and inhibit excessive movement. Loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia results in the characteristic resting tremor seen in Parkinson disease. The basal ganglia are not part of the limbic system. (Choice C) The cerebellum, which lies below the cerebral cortex at the back of the brain, is responsible for motor coordination and balance. The cerebellum is not part of the limbic system. (Choice D) The somatosensory cortex is located just posterior to the lateral fissure in the parietal lobe. This region of the brain processes sensory information from touch and maps it to a specific area of the body. The somatosensory cortex is not part of the limbic system. Educational objective: The limbic system is involved in emotion, learning, and memory, and contains several structures, including the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. The amygdala functions in the processing of primal emotions (eg, fear, anger, sexual arousal) and the encoding of other emotionally charged memories.

Passage Prominent Theories of Emotion Have Long Held That Alterations in in One's