Figure 3. Correlation and regression analyses.

Hedonic ratings of relief were significantly positively correlated with ratings of anticipatory dread in the relief task (A) as well as with hedonic ratings from the appetitive reward task (B). As hypothesised, relief hedonics also significantly covaried with optimism scores, such that more pessimistic participants reported higher relief pleasantness (C). Panel D shows a significant association between relief hedonics and accumbens (NAc) activation in the relief task. In contrast, hedonic ratings in the reward task did not covary with NAc activity; these ratings correlated with voxels in the rACC/mPFC region (E).