Facial responses of adult humans during the anticipation and consumption of touch and food rewards

Korb, Sebastian; Massaccesi, Claudia; Gartus, Andreas; Lundström, Johan N.; Rumiati, Raffaella I.; Eisenegger, Christoph; Silani, Giorgia

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104044

Cited by 26 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Initial analyses of the EMG, without the factor Drug, confirmed the pattern expected based on prior work [27,28,30,37,38], of less frowning and more smiling during anticipation and consumption of wanted and liked rewards (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…In this study, we used a recently developed experimental paradigm [27] that on a trialby-trial basis assesses both explicit (ratings and effort) and implicit (facial EMG) anticipation (wanting) and consumption (liking) of social and nonsocial rewards in human participants. This paradigm, in combination with a dopaminergic or opioidergic drug challenge, allowed us to address two fundamental and as of yet unresolved research questions: 1) to which extent motivational and hedonic responses in adult humans rely on the same or different neurochemical systems, and 2) whether the neurochemical basis of human reward processing differs for social and nonsocial rewards.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, following Pavlovian conditioning, animals also show facial reactions to cues (thus before reward delivery) that they have learned to associate with the delivery of the unconditioned taste stimuli [26]. However, facial reactions to pleasant tastes and other types of reward are more subtle in adult humans, and have only started to be investigated using facial electromyography (EMG) [27][28][29][30][31]. Recently, we have shown [27] that in healthy human adults the anticipation and consumption of food rewards results in the relaxation of the main frowning muscle corrugator supercilii (CS), and that the experience of social touch rewards elicits activation of the main smiling muscle, the zygomaticus major (ZM).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, facial reactions to pleasant tastes and other types of reward are more subtle in adult humans, and have only started to be investigated using facial electromyography (EMG) [27][28][29][30][31]. Recently, we have shown [27] that in healthy human adults the anticipation and consumption of food rewards results in the relaxation of the main frowning muscle corrugator supercilii (CS), and that the experience of social touch rewards elicits activation of the main smiling muscle, the zygomaticus major (ZM). The latter result emerged from explorative analyses, but others have also reported ZM contraction and CS relaxation in response to pleasant social touch [28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This allowed us to address two fundamental unresolved research questions: 1) to what extent motivational and hedonic implicit and explicit responses rely on the dopaminergic and opioidergic systems in humans, and 2) whether the neurochemical basis of human reward processing differs for social (touch) and nonsocial (food) rewards. To address these questions and to overcome some of the limitations of past research [32], we used a recently developed experimental paradigm [27], that includes -on a trial-by-trial basis and in the same participants -anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards (although facial reactions occurring during the anticipation of learned rewards may reflect anticipatory pleasure, we here refer to them as wanting, as they can nevertheless differ from those related to liking of a consumed reward). Importantly, the paradigm allows for the comparison of social and nonsocial rewards that are matched for subjective wanting and liking and share some relevant fundamental properties, such as being considered primary, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of implicit hedonic facial reactions during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards

Korb

Goetzendorfer

Sezen

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Rewards can be parsed into a motivational component ('wanting'), which relies mainly on the brain's dopaminergic system, and a hedonic component ('liking'), which relies on the opioidergic system. The observation of animal facial and behavioral reactions to rewards (e.g. pleasant tastes) has played a crucial role for our understanding of the neurochemical bases of reward processing. In adult humans, however, implicit facial reactions to reward anticipation and consumption are rarely reported, and the role that the dopaminergic and opioidergic systems play in human facial reactions to rewards remains largely unknown. It is also unclear, if human facial reactions to different types of rewards have the same neurochemical basis. To answer these questions, we conducted a study using a randomized, double-blind, betweensubject design in which 131 volunteers (88 females) received orally either the D2/D3 receptor antagonist amisulpride (400 mg), the non-selective opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone (50 mg), or placebo. Explicit (ratings and physical effort) and implicit (facial EMG) reactions to matched primary social and nonsocial rewards were assessed on a trial-by-trail basis. Sweet milk with different concentrations of chocolate flavor served as nonsocial food reward. Gentle caresses to the forearm, delivered by the same-sex experimenter at different speeds, served as social reward. Results suggested 1) reduced wanting of rewards after administration of both dopamine and opioid receptor antagonists, compared to placebo, as indicated by less physical effort produced to obtain the announced reward and increased negative facial reactions during reward anticipation; 2) reduced liking of rewards only after administration of the opioid receptors antagonist, compared to placebo, as indicated by reduced positive and increased negative facial reactions during and following reward consumption. Most drug effects were either stronger or restricted to food trials, suggesting that wanting and liking of both social and nonsocial rewards may only partially share the same neurochemical brain substrates. The results are in line with the distinction of wanting and liking by current theories of reward, and underline the importance of assessing implicit facial reactions when conducting research on reward processing in adult human participants.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of implicit hedonic facial reactions during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards

Korb

Goetzendorfer

Sezen

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

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A mechanistic staging model of reward processing alterations in individuals with binge‐type eating disorders

Bodell

Racine

2022

Intl J Eating Disorders

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Altered reward processing is thought to characterize binge‐type eating disorders, but the exact nature of these alterations is unclear. A more fine‐grained understanding of whether specific aspects of reward processing contribute to the development or maintenance of binge eating may point to new therapeutic targets and personalized treatments. The incentive sensitization theory of addiction proposes that repeated use of a substance increases the desire to approach a reward (‘wanting’) but not pleasure when consuming the reward (‘liking’), suggesting that reward processes driving addiction change over time. We hypothesize that the same may be true for binge eating. Further, consistent with the maladaptive scaling hypothesis, reward processing may be heightened for multiple reinforcers in at‐risk individuals but become tuned toward food once binge eating is initiated. In this article, we propose a mechanistic staging model of reward processing in binge‐type eating disorders that synthesizes existing data and posits that alterations of reward processing depend on illness stage and reward type. We outline translational methods for testing key hypotheses and discuss clinical implications. Considering reward processing alterations in relation to illness stage has the potential to improve treatment outcomes by ensuring that the mechanisms targeted are personalized to the individual patient. Public Significance Individuals with binge‐type eating disorders experience alterations in their desire for, and pleasure from, food. We believe that the exact nature of these alterations in reward processing change over the course of illness—from the at‐risk state to an established illness. If true, treatments for binge‐type eating disorders that target reward processing should be personalized to the illness stage of the patient.

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Effects of dopamine and opioid receptor antagonism on the neural processing of social and nonsocial rewards

Massaccesi,

Korb,

Götzendorfer

et al. 2024

Human Brain Mapping

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Rewards are a broad category of stimuli inducing approach behavior to aid survival. Extensive evidence from animal research has shown that wanting (the motivation to pursue a reward) and liking (the pleasure associated with its consumption) are mostly regulated by dopaminergic and opioidergic activity in dedicated brain areas. However, less is known about the neuroanatomy of dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of reward processing in humans, especially when considering different types of rewards (i.e., social and nonsocial). To fill this gap of knowledge, we combined dopaminergic and opioidergic antagonism (via amisulpride and naltrexone administration) with functional neuroimaging to investigate the neurochemical and neuroanatomical bases of wanting and liking of matched nonsocial (food) and social (interpersonal touch) rewards, using a randomized, between‐subject, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind design. While no drug effect was observed at the behavioral level, brain activity was modulated by the administered compounds. In particular, opioid antagonism, compared to placebo, reduced activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex during consumption of the most valued social and nonsocial rewards. Dopamine antagonism, however, had no clear effects on brain activity in response to reward anticipation. These findings provide insights into the neurobiology of human reward processing and suggest a similar opioidergic regulation of the neural responses to social and nonsocial reward consumption.

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Facial responses of adult humans during the anticipation and consumption of touch and food rewards

Cited by 26 publications

References 79 publications

Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of implicit hedonic facial reactions during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards

Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of implicit hedonic facial reactions during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards

A mechanistic staging model of reward processing alterations in individuals with binge‐type eating disorders

Effects of dopamine and opioid receptor antagonism on the neural processing of social and nonsocial rewards

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