Neural Representations and Functional Connections Underlie Subjective Positive Affect

Abstract

Everyday experiences can evoke positive feelings that differ among individuals and guide their behavior. Although reward processing is often linked to positive feelings, the mechanisms underlying subjective positive affect and whether they are shared for varied positive experiences is unclear. Here, we used fMRI and predictive modeling to investigate how dynamic, personalized positive experiences are encoded in the brain in humans of both sexes. Neural representations and functional integration during experiences of monetary reward, social media, music, and positive autobiographical memories were used to predict participants' affect ratings of each experience. Across experiences, positive affect was encoded in multivariate neural patterns and functional coupling of distributed cortical and subcortical brain areas, including some value-linked brain regions, like the orbitofrontal cortex. Restricted sets of brain representations and functional connections linked to sensory processing were involved in encoding stimulus-specific positive affect. Our findings suggest that positive affect may be computed and communicated throughout the brain.