Replication Data for Behavioral, Physiological and Neuroimaging Responses Induced by Mental Imagery of Threatening Scenarios

The experiment aimed at testing the hypothesis that brain activity elicited by imagined scenarios of distal and proximal threats resemble that found in response to actual threats. First, we measured a set of subjective and physiological responses to imagined scenarios of potential and imminent threats, compared with neutral and pleasant scenarios. These same scenarios were used as a paradigm in a fMRI experiment. Behavioral results show that the scenarios form a gradient of hedonic valence and arousal dimensions. The pleasant scenario was associated with decreased skin conductance. The fMRI results revealed a differential activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex by potential threat and of the periaqueductal gray matter by imminent threat. These results agree with previously reported evidence using actual threat situations, indicating that mental imagery is a reliable method for studying the functional neuroanatomy of relevant behavioral processes.