Amygdala-Putamen Connectivity Links Gratitude to Greater Well-Being

Introduction: Gratitude plays a crucial role in promoting affective well-being, yet the neural mechanisms underlying their relationship remains largely unknown. Given the central role of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and amygdala in emotion and reward processing, this study investigated whether resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of these subcortical regions correlates with trait gratitude and mediates its association with affective well-being.
Methods: Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 363 young adults. Seed-based connectivity analyses identified brain regions whose coupling with these subcortical structures scaled with individual differences in gratitude. Mediation analyses tested whether significant connectivity patterns explained the association between trait gratitude and affective well-being.
Results: Trait gratitude was linked to stronger connectivity between the left NAcc and both the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and left posterior superior temporal sulcus; between the right NAcc and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right inferior temporal gyrus and bilateral fusiform; and between the right amygdala and the right DLPFC, superior temporal gyrus, cerebellum, and putamen. Critically, the right amygdala-putamen connectivity mediated the relationship between gratitude and the positive dimension of affective well-being.
Conclusions: The right amygdala-putamen RSFC serves as a neural pathway through which trait gratitude links to greater affective well-being. This finding identifies a specific subcortical pathway through which grateful dispositions translate into emotional benefit and suggests a potential target for interventions aimed at improving mental health.