Back
Association between real-world experiential diversity and positive affect relates to hippocampal–striatal functional connectivity | Nature Neuroscience
paperAuthor
Mauricio Delgado
Credibility Rating
5/5
Gold(5)Gold standard. Rigorous peer review, high editorial standards, and strong institutional reputation.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Nature
This neuroscience paper on experiential diversity and well-being is tangentially relevant to AI safety discussions about human autonomy, the effects of algorithmic recommendation systems narrowing human experience, and potential psychological harms of automation-induced behavioral restriction.
Metadata
Importance: 18/100journal articleprimary source
Summary
This Nature Neuroscience study demonstrates that people who experience greater variety in their daily physical environments (experiential diversity) report higher positive affect, and that this relationship is mediated by hippocampal–striatal functional connectivity. Using GPS tracking and fMRI, the research links real-world behavioral patterns to neural mechanisms underlying well-being.
Key Points
- •GPS tracking of participants' daily movements revealed that greater variety in visited locations (experiential diversity) correlates with increased positive emotional states.
- •The relationship between experiential diversity and positive affect is neurally mediated by functional connectivity between the hippocampus and striatum.
- •Findings suggest the brain's reward and memory systems jointly process novel environmental experiences to influence mood.
- •The study bridges ecological momentary assessment, geolocation data, and neuroimaging to understand real-world determinants of well-being.
- •Results have implications for understanding how restricted environments (e.g., routine, confinement) may negatively impact mental health.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Induced Enfeeblement | Risk | 91.0 |
Cached Content Preview
HTTP 200Fetched Mar 15, 202617 KB
Association between real-world experiential diversity and positive affect relates to hippocampal–striatal functional connectivity | Nature Neuroscience
Skip to main content
Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Advertisement
Subjects
Cognitive neuroscience
Emotion
Psychology
Social neuroscience
Abstract
Experiential diversity promotes well-being in animal models. Here, using geolocation tracking, experience sampling and neuroimaging, we found that daily variability in physical location was associated with increased positive affect in humans. This effect was stronger for individuals who exhibited greater functional coupling of the hippocampus and striatum. These results link diversity in real-world daily experiences to fluctuations in positive affect and identify a hippocampal–striatal circuit associated with this bidirectional relationship.
Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access through your institution
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Learn more
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Learn more
Buy this article
Purchase on SpringerLink
Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Fig. 1: Geolocation tracking in New York and Miami. Fig. 2: Physical location transformed into sociodemographic feature space. Fig. 3: Entropy–affect association is linked to hippocampal–ventral striatal connectivity.
Similar content being viewed by others
Hippocampal representations switch from errors to predictions during acquisition of predictive associations
Article
Open access
08 June 2022
Map-like r
... (truncated, 17 KB total)Resource ID:
0897573537e40916 | Stable ID: YjljZjU0OG