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Malatesta G, D'Anselmo A, Prete G, Lucafò C, Faieta L, Tommasi L. The Predictive Role of the Posterior Cerebellum in the Processing of Dynamic Emotions. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2024; 23:545-553. [PMID: 37285048 PMCID: PMC10951036 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-023-01574-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies have bolstered the important role of the cerebellum in high-level socio-affective functions. In particular, neuroscientific evidence shows that the posterior cerebellum is involved in social cognition and emotion processing, presumably through its involvement in temporal processing and in predicting the outcomes of social sequences. We used cerebellar transcranial random noise stimulation (ctRNS) targeting the posterior cerebellum to affect the performance of 32 healthy participants during an emotion discrimination task, including both static and dynamic facial expressions (i.e., transitioning from a static neutral image to a happy/sad emotion). ctRNS, compared to the sham condition, significantly reduced the participants' accuracy to discriminate static sad facial expressions, but it increased participants' accuracy to discriminate dynamic sad facial expressions. No effects emerged with happy faces. These findings may suggest the existence of two different circuits in the posterior cerebellum for the processing of negative emotional stimuli: a first-time-independent mechanism which can be selectively disrupted by ctRNS, and a second time-dependent mechanism of predictive "sequence detection" which can be selectively enhanced by ctRNS. This latter mechanism might be included among the cerebellar operational models constantly engaged in the rapid adjustment of social predictions based on dynamic behavioral information inherent to others' actions. We speculate that it might be one of the basic principles underlying the understanding of other individuals' social and emotional behaviors during interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Malatesta
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
| | - Anita D'Anselmo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Giulia Prete
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Chiara Lucafò
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Letizia Faieta
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Luca Tommasi
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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Richey JA, Gracanin D, LaConte S, Lisinski J, Kim I, Coffman M, Antezana L, Carlton CN, Garcia KM, White SW. Neural Mechanisms of Facial Emotion Recognition in Autism: Distinct Roles for Anterior Cingulate and dlPFC. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL FOR THE SOCIETY OF CLINICAL CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY, AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, DIVISION 53 2022; 51:323-343. [PMID: 35476602 PMCID: PMC9177800 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2022.2051528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The present study sought to measure and internally validate neural markers of facial emotion recognition (FER) in adolescents and young adults with ASD to inform targeted intervention. METHOD We utilized fMRI to measure patterns of brain activity among individuals with ASD (N = 21) and matched controls (CON; N = 20) 2 s prior to judgments about the identity of six distinct facial emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised, fearful, disgust). RESULTS Predictive modeling of fMRI data (support vector classification; SVC) identified mechanistic roles for brain regions that forecasted correct and incorrect identification of facial emotion as well as sources of errors over these decisions. BOLD signal activation in bilateral insula, anterior cingulate (ACC) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) preceded accurate FER in both controls and ASD. Predictive modeling utilizing SVC confirmed the utility of ACC in forecasting correct decisions in controls but not ASD, and further indicated that a region within the right dlPFC was the source of a type 1 error signal in ASD (i.e. neural marker reflecting an impending correct judgment followed by an incorrect behavioral response) approximately two seconds prior to emotion judgments during fMRI. CONCLUSIONS ACC forecasted correct decisions only among control participants. Right dlPFC was the source of a false-positive signal immediately prior to an error about the nature of a facial emotion in adolescents and young adults with ASD, potentially consistent with prior work indicating that dlPFC may play a role in attention to and regulation of emotional experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- John A. Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech. 109 Williams Hall, MC0436, Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Address correspondence by , or by surface John A. Richey, MC0436, 109 Williams Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Phone: 540.231.1463, Fax: 540.231.3562
| | - Denis Gracanin
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech. 2202 Kraft Drive, Room 1135, Blacksburg VA 24060
| | - Stephen LaConte
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion. 2 Riverside Circle Roanoke, VA 24016
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech
| | - Jonathan Lisinski
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion. 2 Riverside Circle Roanoke, VA 24016
| | - Inyoung Kim
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion. 2 Riverside Circle Roanoke, VA 24016
- Department of Statistics, Hutcheson Hall, RM 406-A Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Marika Coffman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech. 109 Williams Hall, MC0436, Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Duke University Center for Autism and Brain Development. 2608 Erwin Rd, Suite 300 b
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27701Durham, NC 27705
| | - Ligia Antezana
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech. 109 Williams Hall, MC0436, Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Corinne N. Carlton
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech. 109 Williams Hall, MC0436, Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Katelyn M. Garcia
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech. 109 Williams Hall, MC0436, Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Susan W. White
- Center for Youth Development and Intervention, McMillan Building 101-F, University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
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Styliadis C, Leung R, Özcan S, Moulton EA, Pang E, Taylor MJ, Papadelis C. Atypical spatiotemporal activation of cerebellar lobules during emotional face processing in adolescents with autism. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2099-2114. [PMID: 33528852 PMCID: PMC8046060 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social deficits and atypical facial processing of emotional expressions. The underlying neuropathology of these abnormalities is still unclear. Recent studies implicate cerebellum in emotional processing; other studies show cerebellar abnormalities in ASD. Here, we elucidate the spatiotemporal activation of cerebellar lobules in ASD during emotional processing of happy and angry faces in adolescents with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. Using magnetoencephalography, we calculated dynamic statistical parametric maps across a period of 500 ms after emotional stimuli onset and determined differences between group activity to happy and angry emotions. Following happy face presentation, adolescents with ASD exhibited only left‐hemispheric cerebellar activation in a cluster extending from lobule VI to lobule V (compared to TD controls). Following angry face presentation, adolescents with ASD exhibited only midline cerebellar activation (posterior IX vermis). Our findings indicate an early (125–175 ms) overactivation in cerebellar activity only for happy faces and a later overactivation for both happy (250–450 ms) and angry (250–350 ms) faces in adolescents with ASD. The prioritized hemispheric activity (happy faces) could reflect the promotion of a more flexible and adaptive social behavior, while the latter midline activity (angry faces) may guide conforming behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charis Styliadis
- Laboratory of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - Selin Özcan
- Laboratory of Children's Brain Dynamics, Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eric A Moulton
- Center for Pain and the Brain, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Elizabeth Pang
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.,Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Margot J Taylor
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.,Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.,Autism Research Unit, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Christos Papadelis
- Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center, Cook Children's Health Care System, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
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