Self-appraisal decisions evoke dissociated dorsal—ventral aMPFC networks

The anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC) is consistently active during personally salient decisions, yet the differential contributory processes of this region along the dorsal–ventral axis are less understood. Using a self-appraisal decision-making task and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrated task-dependent connectivity of ventral aMPFC with amygdala, insula, and nucleus accumbens, and dorsal aMPFC connectivity with dorsolateral PFC and bilateral hippocampus. These aMPFC networks appear to subserve distinct contributory processes inherent to self-appraisal decisions, specifically a dorsally mediated cognitive and a ventrally mediated affective/self-relevance network.