{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T07:13:10Z","timestamp":1780557190644,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MIT Press - Journals","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Extant research has examined the process of decision making under uncertainty, specifically in situations of ambiguity. However, much of this work has been conducted in the context of semantic and low-level visual processing. An open question is whether ambiguity in social signals (e.g., emotional facial expressions) is processed similarly or whether a unique set of processors come on-line to resolve ambiguity in a social context. Our work has examined ambiguity using surprised facial expressions, as they have predicted both positive and negative outcomes in the past. Specifically, whereas some people tended to interpret surprise as negatively valenced, others tended toward a more positive interpretation. Here, we examined neural responses to social ambiguity using faces (surprise) and nonface emotional scenes (International Affective Picture System). Moreover, we examined whether these effects are specific to ambiguity resolution (i.e., judgments about the ambiguity) or whether similar effects would be demonstrated for incidental judgments (e.g., nonvalence judgments about ambiguously valenced stimuli). We found that a distinct task control (i.e., cingulo-opercular) network was more active when resolving ambiguity. We also found that activity in the ventral amygdala was greater to faces and scenes that were rated explicitly along the dimension of valence, consistent with findings that the ventral amygdala tracks valence. Taken together, there is a complex neural architecture that supports decision making in the presence of ambiguity: (a) a core set of cortical structures engaged for explicit ambiguity processing across stimulus boundaries and (b) other dedicated circuits for biologically relevant learning situations involving faces.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00363","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,30]],"date-time":"2013-01-30T17:18:19Z","timestamp":1359566299000},"page":"547-557","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":58,"title":["Neural Responses to Ambiguity Involve Domain-general and Domain-specific Emotion Processing Systems"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Maital","family":"Neta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1Washington University School of Medicine"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William M.","family":"Kelley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Dartmouth College"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul J.","family":"Whalen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Dartmouth College"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072913282816900_R1","first-page":"217","article-title":"Image distortion correction in fMRI: A quantitative evaluation.","volume":"16","author":"Andersson","year":"2001","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"561","DOI":"10.1001\/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004","article-title":"Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).","volume":"4","author":"Beck","year":"1961","journal-title":"Archives of General Psychiatry"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1214","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1954","article-title":"Learning the value of information in an uncertain world.","volume":"10","author":"Behrens","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nature Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"624","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.108.3.624","article-title":"Conflict monitoring and cognitive control.","volume":"108","author":"Botvinick","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R5","volume-title":"The irrational organization: Irrationality as a basis for organizational action and change.","author":"Brunsson","year":"1985"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2011.02.056","article-title":"Triangulating the neural, psychological, and economic bases of guilt aversion.","volume":"70","author":"Chang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R7","article-title":"Decoding the role of the insula in human cognition: Functional parcellation and large-scale reverse inference.","author":"Chang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R8","first-page":"47","article-title":"Decisions that might not get made.","volume-title":"Cognitive processes in choice and decision behavior","author":"Corbin","year":"1980"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainresrev.2007.10.012","article-title":"Predictors of amygdala activation during the processing of emotional stimuli: A meta-analysis of 385 PET and fMRI studies.","volume":"58","author":"Costafreda","year":"2008","journal-title":"Brain Research Reviews"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1006\/cbmr.1996.0014","article-title":"AFNI: Software for analysis and visualization of functional magnetic resonance neuroimages.","volume":"29","author":"Cox","year":"1996","journal-title":"Computers and Biomedical Research"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3033","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.20-08-03033.2000","article-title":"Neural activity relating to generation and representation of galvanic skin conductance responses: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.","volume":"20","author":"Critchley","year":"2000","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"612","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhp126","article-title":"Regional response differences across the human amygdaloid complex during social conditioning.","volume":"20","author":"Davis","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R13","volume-title":"A role for ambiguity resolution in left inferior prefrontal cortex.","author":"Demos","year":"2004"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2008.01.001","article-title":"A dual-networks architecture of top\u2013down control.","volume":"12","author":"Dosenbach","year":"2008","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11073","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0704320104","article-title":"Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humans.","volume":"104","author":"Dosenbach","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A."},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"799","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2006.04.031","article-title":"A core system for the implementation of task sets.","volume":"50","author":"Dosenbach","year":"2006","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1016\/S0166-2236(00)01633-7","article-title":"Common regions of the human frontal lobe recruited by diverse cognitive demands.","volume":"23","author":"Duncan","year":"2000","journal-title":"Trends in Neurosciences"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10046","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0604187103","article-title":"Spontaneous neuronal activity distinguishes human dorsal and ventral attention systems.","volume":"103","author":"Fox","year":"2006","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A."},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9673","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0504136102","article-title":"The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks.","volume":"102","author":"Fox","year":"2005","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A."},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1906","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.10-06-01906.1990","article-title":"The amygdala central nucleus and appetitive Pavlovian conditioning: Lesions impair one class of conditioned behavior.","volume":"10","author":"Gallagher","year":"1990","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2010.12.027","article-title":"The dorsal medial frontal cortex is sensitive to time on task, not response conflict or error likelihood.","volume":"57","author":"Grinband","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1680","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1115327","article-title":"Neural systems responding to degrees of uncertainty in human decision-making.","volume":"310","author":"Hsu","year":"2005","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"765","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2006.01.024","article-title":"Neural signatures of economic preferences for risk and ambiguity.","volume":"49","author":"Huettel","year":"2006","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1112","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2004.12.016","article-title":"Stability of amygdala BOLD response to fearful faces over multiple scan sessions.","volume":"25","author":"Johnstone","year":"2005","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511809477","volume-title":"Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.","author":"Kahneman","year":"1982"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1009","DOI":"10.1016\/0031-9384(79)90304-4","article-title":"Amygdala central nucleus lesions: Effect on heart rate conditioning in the rabbit.","volume":"23","author":"Kapp","year":"1979","journal-title":"Physiology Behavior"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2317","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200312190-00006","article-title":"Inverse amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex responses to surprised faces.","volume":"14","author":"Kim","year":"2003","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1730","DOI":"10.1162\/0898929042947865","article-title":"Contextual modulation of amygdala responsivity to surprised faces.","volume":"16","author":"Kim","year":"2004","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nsq014","article-title":"Behind the mask: The influence of mask-type on amygdala responses to fearful faces.","volume":"5","author":"Kim","year":"2010","journal-title":"Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3969","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-199712220-00024","article-title":"Neural activation during selective attention to subjective emotional responses.","volume":"8","author":"Lane","year":"1997","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R31","volume-title":"International affective picture system (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual.","author":"Lang","year":"2008"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1036","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00853.2009","article-title":"Neural representation of subjective value under risk and ambiguity.","volume":"103","author":"Levy","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Neurophysiology"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R54","article-title":"The Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces\u2013KDEF. CD ROM from Department of Clinical Neuroscience Psychology section, Karolinska Institutet, ISBN 91-630-7164-9","author":"Lundqvist","year":"1998"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"676","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.101.4.676","article-title":"The lexical nature of syntactic ambiguity resolution.","volume":"101","author":"MacDonald","year":"1994","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1233","DOI":"10.1016\/S1053-8119(03)00169-1","article-title":"An auto-mated method for neuroanatomic and cytoarchitectonic atlas-based interrogation of fMRI data sets.","volume":"19","author":"Maldjian","year":"2003","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1007\/s00429-010-0265-x","article-title":"Conjoint activity of anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortex: Awareness and response.","volume":"214","author":"Medford","year":"2010","journal-title":"Brain Structure and Function"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.neuro.24.1.167","article-title":"An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function.","volume":"24","author":"Miller","year":"2001","journal-title":"Annual Review of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3758\/CABN.7.1.1","article-title":"Interference resolution: Insights from a meta-analysis of neuroimaging tasks.","volume":"7","author":"Nee","year":"2007","journal-title":"Cognitive and Affective Behavior Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.1007\/s00429-010-0260-2","article-title":"Role of the anterior insula in task-level control and focal attention.","volume":"214","author":"Nelson","year":"2010","journal-title":"Brain Structure and Function"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"640","DOI":"10.1037\/a0016819","article-title":"Corrugator muscle responses are associated with individual differences in positivity\u2013negativity bias.","volume":"9","author":"Neta","year":"2009","journal-title":"Emotion"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R55","article-title":"Seperable responses to error, ambiguity, and reaction time in cingulo-opercular task control regions","author":"Neta","year":""},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"901","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797610373934","article-title":"The primacy of negative interpretations when resolving the valence of ambiguous facial expressions.","volume":"21","author":"Neta","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychological Science"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1038\/nn2062","article-title":"Risky business: The neuroeconomics of decision making under uncertainty.","volume":"11","author":"Platt","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nature Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11912","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.3522-07.2007","article-title":"Evidence accumulation and the moment of recognition: Dissociating perceptual recognition processes using fMRI.","volume":"27","author":"Ploran","year":"2007","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1261","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhi009","article-title":"The neural mechanisms of speech comprehension: fMRI studies of semantic ambiguity.","volume":"15","author":"Rodd","year":"2005","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1755","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1082976","article-title":"The neural basis of economic decision-making in the Ultimatum Game.","volume":"300","author":"Sanfey","year":"2003","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"334","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2009.05.001","article-title":"A common role of insula in feelings, empathy, and uncertainty.","volume":"13","author":"Singer","year":"2009","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1093535","article-title":"Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain.","volume":"303","author":"Singer","year":"2004","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R47","volume-title":"STAI-Manual for the State Trait Anxiety Inventory.","author":"Spielberger","year":"1988"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"908","DOI":"10.1006\/nimg.2001.1030","article-title":"Neural correlates of spontaneous direction reversals in ambiguous apparent visual motion.","volume":"15","author":"Sterzer","year":"2002","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14792","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.94.26.14792","article-title":"Role of left inferior prefrontal cortex in retrieval of semantic knowledge: A reevaluation.","volume":"94","author":"Thompson-Schill","year":"1997","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A."},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2008.05.006","article-title":"The NimStim set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants.","volume":"168","author":"Tottenham","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychiatry Research"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1124","DOI":"10.1126\/science.185.4157.1124","article-title":"Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.","volume":"185","author":"Tversky","year":"1974","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R52","first-page":"265","article-title":"Human amygdala responses to facial expressions of emotion.","volume-title":"The human amygdala","author":"Whalen","year":"2009"},{"key":"2021072913282816900_R53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"665","DOI":"10.1038\/nmeth.1635","article-title":"Large-scale automated synthesis of human functional neuroimaging data.","volume":"8","author":"Yarkoni","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nature Methods"}],"container-title":["Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article-pdf\/25\/4\/547\/1945083\/jocn_a_00363.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"http:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article-pdf\/25\/4\/547\/1945083\/jocn_a_00363.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,29]],"date-time":"2021-07-29T14:20:27Z","timestamp":1627568427000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article\/25\/4\/547\/27918\/Neural-Responses-to-Ambiguity-Involve-Domain"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/jocn_a_00363","relation":{},"ISSN":["0898-929X","1530-8898"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0898-929X","type":"print"},{"value":"1530-8898","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2013,4]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2013,4,1]]}}}