Recall that LSSs also activated the anterior medial OFC more strongly than did HSSs. The peak response for LSSs occurred earlier and was more robust than the peak response for HSSs. Damage to the medial OFC leads to profound deficits in emotional decision making (Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000). In addition, Kringelbach and Rolls (2004) suggested that activation in anterior medial OFC could represent the availability of information on reinforcers to conscious processing. Other recent neuroimaging studies have reported that the anterior medial OFC region is activated in conscious processing of emotions (Takahishi et al., 2004) and emotional suppression (Ohira et al., 2006), and is related to self-consciousness as a personality trait (Eisenberger et al., 2005). The role of the anterior medial OFC in conscious processing of emotions and in emotional decision making suggests that it may play a role in emotional regulation. In the present study, activation in this region, as in the anterior cingulate, was negatively associated with urgency. Again, this association may implicate this region in emotional regulation and control.
