Neural correlates of approach–avoidance tendencies toward physical activity and sedentary stimuli: An MRI study

Automatic tendencies toward physical activity and sedentary stimuli are involved in the regulation of physical activity behavior. However, the brain regions underlying these automatic tendencies remain largely unknown. Here, we used an approach-avoidance task and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 42 healthy young adults to investigate whether cortical and subcortical brain regions underpinning reward processing and executive function are associated with these tendencies. At the behavioral level, results showed more errors when avoiding sedentary stimuli (i.e., avatars in a sitting position) than physical activity stimuli (i.e., avatars in a running position). At the brain level, avoiding sedentary stimuli was associated with more activation of the motor control network (dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex, primary and secondary motor cortices, somatosensory cortex). In addition, increased activation of the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus and local hypertrophy of the right hippocampus were associated with a stronger tendency to approach sedentary stimuli. Together, these results suggest that avoiding sedentary stimuli requires higher levels of behavioral control than avoiding physical activity stimuli.