Aversive and rewarding experiences can exert a strong influence on subsequent behavior. While decisions are often supported by the value of single past episodes, most research has focused on the role of well-learned value associations. Recent studies have begun to investigate the influence of reward-associated episodes, but it is unclear whether these results generalize to negative experiences, such as pain. To investigate whether and how the value of previous aversive experiences modulates behavior and brain activity, in our experiments female and male human participants experienced episodes of high or low pain in conjunction with incidental, trial-unique neutral pictures. In an incentive-compatible surprise test phase, we found that participants avoided pain-paired objects. In a separate fMRI experiment, at test, participants exhibited significant pain value memory. Neurally, when participants were re-exposed to pain-paired objects, we found no evidence for reactivation of pain-related patterns in pain-responsive regions, such as the anterior insula. Critically, however, we found significant reactivation of pain-related patterns of activity in the hippocampus, such that activity significantly discriminated high versus low pain episodes. Further, stronger reactivation in the anterior hippocampus was related to improved pain value memory performance. Our results demonstrate that single incidental aversive experiences can build memories that affect decision-making and that this influence may be supported by the hippocampus.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Aversive and rewarding experiences can exert a strong influence on our subsequent behavior. While decisions are often supported by single past negative or positive episodes, most research has focused on the role of well-learned value associations. In experiments using aversive heat pain in conjunction with incidental objects, we found that participants' choices were biased by the level of pain associated with the objects. Further, when participants saw the objects again, pain-related neural patterns in the hippocampus were re-expressed, and this was related to pain value memory performance. These results suggest a mechanism by which even single negative experiences can guide our later decisions.

厌恶和有益的经历会对随后的行为产生强烈的影响。虽然决策通常得到过去单个事件的价值的支持，但大多数研究都集中在学习良好的价值关联的作用上。最近的研究已经开始调查奖励相关事件的影响，但尚不清楚这些结果是否可以推广到负面体验，例如疼痛。为了研究以前的厌恶经历的价值是否以及如何调节行为和大脑活动，在我们的实验中，女性和男性人类参与者经历了高痛或低痛的发作，以及偶然的、试验独特的中性图片。在与激励兼容的意外测试阶段，我们发现参与者避免了痛苦配对的对象。在一个单独的 fMRI 实验中，在测试中，参与者表现出显着的疼痛价值记忆。从神经上讲，当参与者重新暴露于与疼痛配对的物体时，我们没有发现疼痛反应区域（例如前岛叶）重新激活疼痛相关模式的证据。然而，至关重要的是，我们发现海马中与疼痛相关的活动模式显着重新激活，因此活动显着区分了高痛和低痛发作。此外，前海马体中更强的再激活与改善疼痛值记忆性能有关。我们的研究结果表明，单一偶然的厌恶经历可以建立影响决策的记忆，并且这种影响可能得到海马体的支持。我们没有发现疼痛反应区域（例如前岛叶）疼痛相关模式重新激活的证据。然而，至关重要的是，我们发现海马中与疼痛相关的活动模式显着重新激活，因此活动显着区分了高痛和低痛发作。此外，前海马体中更强的再激活与改善疼痛值记忆性能有关。我们的研究结果表明，单一偶然的厌恶经历可以建立影响决策的记忆，并且这种影响可能得到海马体的支持。我们没有发现疼痛反应区域（例如前岛叶）疼痛相关模式重新激活的证据。然而，至关重要的是，我们发现海马中与疼痛相关的活动模式显着重新激活，因此活动显着区分了高痛和低痛发作。此外，前海马体中更强的再激活与改善疼痛值记忆性能有关。我们的研究结果表明，单一偶然的厌恶经历可以建立影响决策的记忆，并且这种影响可能得到海马体的支持。此外，前海马体中更强的再激活与改善疼痛值记忆性能有关。我们的研究结果表明，单一偶然的厌恶经历可以建立影响决策的记忆，并且这种影响可能得到海马体的支持。此外，前海马体中更强的再激活与改善疼痛值记忆性能有关。我们的研究结果表明，单一偶然的厌恶经历可以建立影响决策的记忆，并且这种影响可能得到海马体的支持。

意义陈述厌恶和有益的经历会对我们随后的行为产生强烈的影响。虽然决策通常由过去的单个负面或正面事件支持，但大多数研究都集中在学习良好的价值关联的作用上。在将厌恶热痛与偶然物体结合使用的实验中，我们发现参与者的选择受到与物体相关的疼痛程度的偏见。此外，当参与者再次看到物体时，海马中与疼痛相关的神经模式被重新表达，这与疼痛值记忆表现有关。这些结果表明了一种机制，即使是单一的负面经历也可以指导我们以后的决定。