Disentangling value, arousal and valence systems in approach-avoidance behaviors in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging

Appetitive and aversive stimuli evoke approach and avoidance behaviors essential for survival and well-being. While affective processing has been extensively examined in terms of arousal and valence, the extent to which value processing is independent from arousal and valence processing in naturalistic contexts remains unclear. We addressed this gap using a naturalistic approach-avoidance task. Ninety-one human participants underwent functional MRI scanning while engaging in approach-avoidance tasks involving two levels of threat (mild or aversive electrical stimulation) and reward (monetary gains). We estimated effect sizes (Cohens D) across subjects for increasing levels of threat, reward and arousal; for valence (negative vs positive); and for valence-arousal interactions. Effect sizes for threat and reward were strongly positively correlated across brain voxels (r = 0.82), suggesting a strong influence of a shared factor. Spatial independent component analysis decomposed these effect sizes into two independent latent factors, one that represented arousal processing and another that exhibited characteristics of value processing. Importantly, we predicted that valence-arousal interaction effects would increase with latent value effects across voxels, since both valence and arousal contribute to our overall valuation process. We indeed found this to be true. Furthermore, sizable latent value effects were observed in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus and middle temporal gyrus, areas also involved in attention and executive control. Thus, our findings revealed a value system in the human brain that could operate independently of arousal and valence systems during naturalistic approach-avoidance behaviors, providing new insights into the neural mechanisms of affective processing. Significance statementUnderstanding how the human brain processes affective stimuli is crucial for unraveling the neural underpinnings of behavior. Traditional models often conflate arousal and valence with subjective value, making it challenging to disentangle their independent contributions during naturalistic behaviors. In our study, we revealed independent neural correlates of value in diverse regions previously implicated in emotional processing, attention and executive control. These findings advance our comprehension of affective processing and have implications for developing targeted interventions in neuropsychiatric conditions where affective processing is disrupted.