The neural correlates of the awe experience: Reduced default mode network activity during feelings of awe.

ABSTRACT: In the present fMRI study, we aimed to obtain insight into the key brain networks involved in the experience of awe-a complex emotion that is typically elicited by perceptually vast stimuli. Participants were presented with awe-eliciting, positive and neutral videos, while they were instructed to get fully absorbed in the scenery or to count the number of perspective changes. By using a whole-brain analysis we found that several brain regions that are considered part of the default mode network (DMN), including the frontal pole, the angular gyrus, and the posterior cingulate cortex, were more strongly activated in the absorption condition. But this was less the case when participants were watching awe videos. We suggest that while watching awe videos, participants were deeply immersed in t

SUBMITTER: van Elk M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6766853 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature