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Left medial orbitofrontal cortex volume correlates with skydive-elicited euphoric experience

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Abstract

The medial orbitofrontal cortex has been linked to the experience of positive affect. Greater medial orbitofrontal cortex volume is associated with greater expression of positive affect and reduced medial orbital frontal cortex volume is associated with blunted positive affect. However, little is known about the experience of euphoria, or extreme joy, and how this state may relate to variability in medial orbitofrontal cortex structure. To test the hypothesis that variability in euphoric experience correlates with the volume of the medial orbitofrontal cortex, we measured individuals’ (N = 31) level of self-reported euphoria in response to a highly anticipated first time skydive and measured orbitofrontal cortical volumes with structural magnetic resonance imaging. Skydiving elicited a large increase in self-reported euphoria. Participants’ euphoric experience was predicted by the volume of their left medial orbitofrontal cortex such that, the greater the volume, the greater the euphoria. Further analyses indicated that the left medial orbitofrontal cortex and amygdalo-hippocampal complex independently explain variability in euphoric experience and that medial orbitofrontal cortex volume, in conjunction with other structures within the mOFC-centered corticolimbic circuit, can be used to predict individuals’ euphoric experience.

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Notes

  1. Note that the volume of the amygdalo-hippocampal complex was positively correlated with prejump (left r = 0.39, P = 0.03, right r = 0.34, P = 0.05) and postjump (left r = 0.47, P = 0.01, right r = 0.39, P = 0.03) state anxiety in partial correlations controlling for age, gender, handedness, sensation seeking, scanner, and intracranial volume.

  2. For those interested in reading more about the relationship between sensation seeking, state euphoria, state anxiety, and cortisol reactivity to skydiving we refer you to our previous work assessing these variables (Mujica-Parodi et al. 2014; Carlson et al. 2012).

  3. In a subsample of our participants (n = 20) we collected Beck Depression scores, which were found to negatively correlate with left mOFC volume (r = −0.45, P < 0.05 in a partial correlation controlling for age, gender, handedness, and intra-cranial volume.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the Office of Naval Research #N0014-04-1-005 (LRMP) and the National Institutes of Health # 5MO1-RR-10710 (GCRC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI, 49855, USA

    Joshua M. Carlson

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Jiook Cha

  3. Laboratory for Perceptual Dynamics, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Tomer Fekete

  4. Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Tsafrir Greenberg

  5. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi

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Correspondence to Joshua M. Carlson.

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Carlson, J.M., Cha, J., Fekete, T. et al. Left medial orbitofrontal cortex volume correlates with skydive-elicited euphoric experience. Brain Struct Funct 221, 4269–4279 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1139-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1139-z

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