JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 86 applied a cream while being visually provided with information about its richness (6). Regarding the effects of product information, it has been reported that observing the logo of a favorite brand of car can activate the VS (7) and the DMPFC, which is associated with self-relevant processing (8). The value of brand image appears to be related to the cogni- tion of social dominance because the possession of goods from luxury brands represents a superior social status that distinguishes the owners from others (9). In addition, the DMPFC is also associated with information processing related to images of “social com- petence” and may be related to cognitive values (10). Moreover, activity in the right DLPFC has been correlated with activity in both the DMPFC and VS, suggesting that this region serves as an integrative hub linking rule (luxury represents social dominance) and reward (social dominance is rewarding) (1). In the present analysis, the DLPFC showed a positive correlation with the VS with the conditions for cream A after providing F i gure 3. Correlations between the VS and the other regions. SI, SII, DLPFC.

LUXURY CUES OF CREAM HEIGHTEN THE REWARD VALUE 87 Table I Correlations between the VS and the Other Regions Session 1 Session 3 Cream A Cream B Cream A Cream B Region R2 p R2 p R2 p R2 p SI (Right) 0.067 n.s. 0.118 n.s. 0.315 0.007 0.013 n.s. SII (Left) 0.196 n.s. 0.041 n.s. 0.262 n.s. 0.000 n.s. SII (Right) 0.279 0.012 0.089 n.s. 0.322 0.006 0.044 n.s. DLPFC 0.054 n.s. 0.087 n.s. 0.504 0.000 0.241 n.s. n.s., non-signifi cance visual information that it was luxury but not before it, which is in agreement with our previous results. Here, the r ight SII contralateral to the massaged left hand showed a signifi cant correla- tion with the VS with the conditions for cream A both before and after providing the visual information that it was luxurious. The SII is closely adjacent and highly intercon- nected with the insula, which is involved in affective touch (11–13). In addition, the SII has wider receptive fi elds and higher order functions (multimodal) than the SI. These facts suggest that this region is engaged in both affective and discriminative touch. More- over, cream A was evaluated to be smoother, softer, and spread better than cream B, sug- gesting that A was more rewarding than B. Accordingly, the connection between the SII and VS may represent the emotional value based on the goodness of texture. By contrast , the SI is more involved in discriminative somatosensory information processing than the SII. However, the activity of this region may be modulated by some top-down regulations in the human brain. Placebo-induced enhancement of pleasant experiences involves the upregulation of activity in the SI (14). In addition, somatosensory afferents to the SI are regulated by the descending pain modulatory system under the control of the mid-lateral orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex even with mild somatosensory F i g ure 4. The values of the averaged activation in each brain region. SI, SII, DLPFC, VS.