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Quettier T, Ippolito G, Però L, Cardellicchio P, Battaglia S, Borgomaneri S. Individual differences in intracortical inhibition predict action control when facing emotional stimuli. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1391723. [PMID: 38933575 PMCID: PMC11199899 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1391723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Efficient inhibitory control in the context of prepotent actions is vital. However, such action inhibition may be profoundly influenced by affective states. Interestingly, research indicates that action control can be either impaired or improved by emotional stimuli. Thus, a great deal of confusion surrounds our knowledge of the complex dynamics subtending emotions and action control. Here, we aimed to investigate whether negative stimuli, even when non-consciously presented and task-irrelevant, can affect action control relative to neutral stimuli. Additionally, we tested whether individual differences in intracortical excitability may predict action control capabilities. To address these issues, we asked participants to complete a modified version of the Stop Signal Task (SST) in which fearful or neutral stimuli were subliminally presented before the go signals as primes. Moreover, we assessed participants' resting-state corticospinal excitability, short intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation (ICF). Results demonstrated better action control capabilities when fearful stimuli were subliminally presented and interindividual SICI predicted stronger action inhibition capabilities. Taken together, these results shed new light on the intricate dynamics between action, consciousness, and motor control, suggesting that intracortical measures can be used as potential biomarkers of reduced motor inhibition in research and clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Quettier
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Ippolito
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Però
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Pasquale Cardellicchio
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
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Chiappini E, Turrini S, Zanon M, Marangon M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Driving Hebbian plasticity over ventral premotor-motor projections transiently enhances motor resonance. Brain Stimul 2024; 17:211-220. [PMID: 38387557 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2024.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Making sense of others' actions relies on the activation of an action observation network (AON), which maps visual information about observed actions onto the observer's motor system. This motor resonance process manifests in the primary motor cortex (M1) as increased corticospinal excitability finely tuned to the muscles engaged in the observed action. Motor resonance in M1 is facilitated by projections from higher-order AON regions. However, whether manipulating the strength of AON-to-M1 connectivity affects motor resonance remains unclear. METHODS We used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in 48 healthy humans. Cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) was administered over M1 and the ventral premotor cortex (PMv), a key AON node, to induce spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) in the pathway connecting them. Single-pulse TMS assessed motor resonance during action observation. RESULTS Before ccPAS, action observation increased corticospinal excitability in the muscles corresponding to the observed movements, reflecting motor resonance in M1. Notably, ccPAS aimed at strengthening projections from PMv to M1 (PMv→M1) induced short-term enhancement of motor resonance. The enhancement specifically occurred with the ccPAS configuration consistent with forward PMv→M1 projections and dissipated 20 min post-stimulation; ccPAS administered in the reverse order (M1→PMv) and sham stimulation did not affect motor resonance. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence that inducing STDP to strengthen PMv input to M1 neurons causally enhances muscle-specific motor resonance in M1. Our study sheds light on the plastic mechanisms that shape AON functionality and demonstrates that exogenous manipulation of AON connectivity can influence basic mirror mechanisms that underlie social perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Chiappini
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010, Vienna, Austria; Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Sonia Turrini
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Precision Neuroscience & Neuromodulation Program, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, United States
| | - Marco Zanon
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Neuroscience Area, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), 34136, Trieste, Italy
| | - Mattia Marangon
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Biomedicina e Scienze del Movimento, Sezione di Fisiologia e Psicologia, Università di Verona, 37124, Verona, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas (CINPSI Neurocog), Universidad Católica Del Maule, 346000, Talca, Chile.
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3
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Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Battaglia S, de Vega M, Avenanti A. Task-related modulation of motor response to emotional bodies: A TMS motor-evoked potential study. Cortex 2024; 171:235-246. [PMID: 38096756 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Exposure to emotional body postures during perceptual decision-making tasks has been linked to transient suppression of motor reactivity, supporting the monitoring of emotionally relevant information. However, it remains unclear whether this effect occurs implicitly, i.e., when emotional information is irrelevant to the task. To investigate this issue, we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess motor excitability while healthy participants were asked to categorize pictures of body expressions as emotional or neutral (emotion recognition task) or as belonging to a male or a female actor (gender recognition task) while receiving TMS over the motor cortex at 100 and 125 ms after picture onset. Results demonstrated that motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were reduced for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the emotion recognition task. Conversely, MEPs increased for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the gender recognition task. These findings indicate that motor inhibition, contingent upon observing emotional body postures, is selectively associated with actively monitoring emotional features. In contrast, observing emotional body postures prompts motor facilitation when task-relevant features are non-emotional. These findings contribute to embodied cognition models that link emotion perception and action tendencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurosciencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca, Chile.
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Fiori F, Ciricugno A, Cattaneo Z, Ferrari C. The Impact of the Perception of Primary Facial Emotions on Corticospinal Excitability. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1291. [PMID: 37759892 PMCID: PMC10527337 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13091291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The link between emotional experience and motor body responses has long been acknowledged. A well-established approach to exploring the effect of the perception of emotional stimuli on the motor system is measuring variations in the excitability of the corticospinal tract (CSE) through motor-evoked potentials (MEP) elicited via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Previous evidence has indicated a selective increase in MEP amplitude while participants view emotional stimuli, such as emotional facial expressions, compared to neutral cues. However, it is still not clear whether this effect depends on the specific emotional meaning conveyed by the stimulus. In the present study, we explored whether viewing faces expressing the primary emotions compared to faces with a neutral expression affects individuals' CSE, measured using TMS-elicited MEPs. Specifically, we elicited MEPs from the left motor cortex (M1) while participants passively viewed the same faces expressing either anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise, and no emotion (in different blocks). We found that the observation of fearful, angry, disgusted, and happy facial expressions was associated with a significant increase in the MEPs' amplitude compared to neutral facial expressions, with a comparable enhancement in the CSE occurring across these emotions. In turn, viewing sad and surprised faces did not modulate the CSE. Overall, our findings suggest that only facial expressions that signal (real or potential) danger or a rewarding stimulus, but not emotional facial expressions per se, are capable of activating action-related mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Fiori
- Research Unit of Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction (NeXTlab), Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, 00128 Roma, Italy;
| | - Andrea Ciricugno
- Social Experimental Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.C.); (C.F.)
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Zaira Cattaneo
- Social Experimental Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.C.); (C.F.)
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy
| | - Chiara Ferrari
- Social Experimental Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.C.); (C.F.)
- Department of Humanities, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
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Bonassi G, Lagravinese G, Bove M, Bisio A, Botta A, Putzolu M, Cosentino C, Mezzarobba S, Pelosin E, Avanzino L. How Music Moves Us: Music-induced Emotion Influences Motor Learning. Neuroscience 2023; 526:246-255. [PMID: 37437801 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Music is an important tool for the induction and regulation of emotion. Although learning a sequential motor behaviour is essential to normal motor function, to our knowledge, the role of music-induced emotion on motor learning has not been explored. Our experiment aimed to determine whether listening to different emotional music could influence motor sequence learning. We focused on two sub-components of motor sequence learning: the acquisition of the order of the elements in the sequence (the "what"), and the ability to carry out the sequence, combining the elements in a single, skilled action (the "how"). Twenty subjects performed a motor sequence-learning task with a digitizing tablet in three different experimental sessions. In each session they executed the task while listening to three different musical pieces, eliciting fearful, pleasant, and neutral mood. Eight targets were presented in a pre-set order and subjects were asked to learn the sequence while moving. Music-induced pleasure had an impact on movement kinematics with onset time and peak velocity decreasing and movement time increasing more with respect to neutral music session. Declarative learning, verbal recall of the sequence order, was improved under emotional manipulation, but only for fear-condition. Results suggest that music-induced emotion can influence both sub-components of motor learning in a different way. Music-induced pleasure may have improved motor components of sequence learning by means of increased striatal dopamine availability whereas music-induced fear may facilitate the recruitment of attentional circuits, thus acting on declarative knowledge of the sequence order.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaia Bonassi
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, Genoa, 16132, Italy
| | - Ambra Bisio
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, Genoa, 16132, Italy
| | | | | | - Carola Cosentino
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Susanna Mezzarobba
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; IRCCS, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, Genoa, 16132, Italy; IRCCS, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
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Tortora F, Hadipour AL, Battaglia S, Falzone A, Avenanti A, Vicario CM. The Role of Serotonin in Fear Learning and Memory: A Systematic Review of Human Studies. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1197. [PMID: 37626553 PMCID: PMC10452575 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13081197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear is characterized by distinct behavioral and physiological responses that are essential for the survival of the human species. Fear conditioning (FC) serves as a valuable model for studying the acquisition, extinction, and expression of fear. The serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) system is known to play a significant role in emotional and motivational aspects of human behavior, including fear learning and expression. Accumulating evidence from both animal and human studies suggests that brain regions involved in FC, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, possess a high density of 5-HT receptors, implicating the crucial involvement of serotonin in aversive learning. Additionally, studies exploring serotonin gene polymorphisms have indicated their potential influence on FC. Therefore, the objective of this work was to review the existing evidence linking 5-HT with fear learning and memory in humans. Through a comprehensive screening of the PubMed and Web of Science databases, 29 relevant studies were included in the final review. These studies investigated the relationship between serotonin and fear learning using drug manipulations or by studying 5-HT-related gene polymorphisms. The results suggest that elevated levels of 5-HT enhance aversive learning, indicating that the modulation of serotonin 5-HT2A receptors regulates the expression of fear responses in humans. Understanding the role of this neurochemical messenger in associative aversive learning can provide insights into psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Tortora
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università Degli Studi di Messina, Via Concezione 6, 98121 Messina, Italy; (F.T.); (A.F.)
| | - Abed L. Hadipour
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università Degli Studi di Messina, Via Concezione 6, 98121 Messina, Italy; (F.T.); (A.F.)
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Rasi e Spinelli 176, 47521 Cesena, Italy;
| | - Alessandra Falzone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università Degli Studi di Messina, Via Concezione 6, 98121 Messina, Italy; (F.T.); (A.F.)
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Rasi e Spinelli 176, 47521 Cesena, Italy;
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
| | - Carmelo M. Vicario
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università Degli Studi di Messina, Via Concezione 6, 98121 Messina, Italy; (F.T.); (A.F.)
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Motor Resonance Flexibility to Emotion-Enriched Context in Parkinson's Disease Patients. Behav Neurol 2022; 2022:6487419. [PMID: 36755906 PMCID: PMC9900249 DOI: 10.1155/2022/6487419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
In healthy people, motor resonance mechanisms are flexible to negative emotional contextual clues with greater motor resonance during the observation of a reach to grasp movement performed in an environment eliciting disgust. The link between emotion and motor control has become an interesting topic in Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we aimed to study the response of the mirror neuron system, specifically motor resonance, to an emotion-enriched context in people with PD. Corticospinal excitability was recorded in a total of 44 participants, divided into two groups (23 PD patients and 21 healthy subjects). We recorded motor-evoked potentials from a muscle involved in the grasping movement while participants were watching the same reach-to-grasp movement embedded in surrounds with negative emotional valence, but different levels of arousal: sadness (low arousal) and disgust (high arousal). Basic motor resonance mechanisms were less efficient in PD than controls. Responsiveness to emotional contextual clues eliciting sadness was similar between PD and controls, whereas responsiveness to emotional contextual clues eliciting disgust was impaired in PD patients. Our findings show reduced motor resonance flexibility to the disgusting context, supporting the hypothesis that PD patients may have a deficit in "translating" an aversive motivational state into a physiologic response. The amygdala, which is implicated in the appraisal of fearful stimuli and response to threatening situations, might be implicated in this process.
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Freud E, Di Giammarino D, Camilleri C. Mask-wearing selectivity alters observers’ face perception. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2022; 7:97. [PMID: 36380225 PMCID: PMC9666572 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-022-00444-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Face masks became prevalent across the globe as an efficient tool to stop the spread of COVID-19. A host of studies already demonstrated that masks lead to changes in facial identification and emotional expression processing. These changes were documented across ages and were consistent even with the increased exposure to masked faces. Notably, mask-wearing also changes the state of the observers in regard to their own bodies and other agents. Previous research has already demonstrated a plausible association between observers’ states and their perceptual behaviors. Thus, an outstanding question is whether mask-wearing would alter face recognition abilities. To address this question, we conducted a set of experiments in which participants were asked to recognize non-masked faces (Experiment 1), masked faces (Experiment 2) and novel objects (Experiment 3) while they were either masked or unmasked. Mask wearing hindered face perception abilities but did not modulate object recognition ability. Finally, we demonstrated that the decrement in face perception ability relied on wearing the mask on distinctive facial features (Experiment 4). Together, these findings reveal a novel effect of mask-wearing on face recognition. We discuss these results considering the plausible effect of somatosensory stimulation on visual processing as well as the effect of involuntary perspective taking.
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Battaglia S, Cardellicchio P, Di Fazio C, Nazzi C, Fracasso A, Borgomaneri S. Stopping in (e)motion: Reactive action inhibition when facing valence-independent emotional stimuli. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:998714. [PMID: 36248028 PMCID: PMC9561776 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.998714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotions are able to impact our ability to control our behaviors. However, it is not clear whether emotions play a detrimental or an advantageous effect on action control and whether the valence of the emotional stimuli differently affects such motor abilities. One way to measure reactive inhibitory control is the stop-signal task (SST), which estimates the ability to cancel outright a response to the presentation of a stop signal by means of the stop signal reaction times (SSRT). Impaired as well as facilitated action control has been found when faced with emotional stimuli such as stop signals in SSTs and mixed results were observed for positive versus negative stimuli. Here, we aimed to investigate these unresolved issues more deeply. Action control capabilities were tested in 60 participants by means of a SST, in which the stop signals were represented by a fearful and a happy body posture together with their neutral counterpart. Results showed that both positive and negative body postures enhanced the ability to suppress an ongoing action compared to neutral body postures. These results demonstrate that emotional valence-independent emotional stimuli facilitate action control and suggest that emotional stimuli may trigger increased sensory representation and/or attentional processing that may have promote stop-signal processing and hence improved inhibitory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Battaglia
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- *Correspondence: Simone Battaglia,
| | - Pasquale Cardellicchio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Chiara Di Fazio
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Claudio Nazzi
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessio Fracasso
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Sara Borgomaneri,
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Qiu F, Zhou Y, Zhang L, Zhang J, Liu H. Gender dimorphic M1 excitability during emotional processing: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13987. [PMID: 36061749 PMCID: PMC9438768 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Background It is widely held that emotions prime the body for action. However, the influence of gender on primary motor cortex (M1) excitability during emotional processing is not well explored. Methods Using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we stimulated the right or left M1 at 150 ms and 300 ms after emotional stimulation onset (presentation of negative, neutral, and positive pictures to male and female subjects). Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) ratio induced by single-pulse TMS was used to assess changes in corticospinal excitability. Results In response to right M1 stimulation, males demonstrated higher MEP ratios following presentation of negative pictures at 150 ms while MEP ratios in response to presentation of positive pictures were greater at 300 ms. Furthermore, male subjects showed larger MEP ratios in right M1 versus left M1 at 300 ms after initiation of positive pictures, indicating lateralization of motor excitability in male subjects. Conclusions The current study thus provides neurophysiological evidence to support gender differences and functional lateralization of motor excitability in response to emotional stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanghui Qiu
- Department of Physical Education, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yu Zhou
- Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Qingdao University, China
| | - Lanlan Zhang
- Department of Leisure Sports and Management, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Hui Liu
- Shanghai Punan Hospital of Pudong New District, Shanghai, China
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Battaglia S, Cardellicchio P, Di Fazio C, Nazzi C, Fracasso A, Borgomaneri S. The Influence of Vicarious Fear-Learning in “Infecting” Reactive Action Inhibition. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:946263. [PMID: 35941933 PMCID: PMC9355887 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.946263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the dawn of cognitive neuroscience, emotions have been recognized to impact on several executive processes, such as action inhibition. However, the complex interplay between emotional stimuli and action control is not yet fully understood. One way to measure inhibitory control is the stop-signal task (SST), which estimates the ability to cancel outright an action to the presentation of a stop signal by means of the stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs). Impaired as well as facilitated action control has been found when faced with intrinsic emotional stimuli as stop signals in SSTs. Here, we aimed at investigating more deeply the power of negative stimuli to influence our action control, testing the hypothesis that a previously neutral stimulus [i.e., the image of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)], which has been conditioned through vicarious fear learning, has the same impact on reactive action inhibition performance as an intrinsically negative stimulus (i.e., a fearful face or body). Action control capabilities were tested in 90 participants by means of a SST, in which the stop signals were represented by different negative stimuli. Results showed that the SARS-CoV-2 image enhanced the ability to suppress an ongoing action similarly to observing fearful facial expressions or fearful body postures. Interestingly, we found that this effect was predicted by impulsivity traits: for example, the less self-control the participants had, the less they showed emotional facilitation for inhibitory performance. These results demonstrated that vicarious fear learning has a critical impact on cognitive abilities, making a neutral image as threatening as phylogenetically innate negative stimuli and able to impact on our behavioral control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Battaglia
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- *Correspondence: Simone Battaglia,
| | - Pasquale Cardellicchio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Chiara Di Fazio
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Claudio Nazzi
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessio Fracasso
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Sara Borgomaneri,
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12
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Spaccasassi C, Zanon M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Mu rhythm and corticospinal excitability capture two different frames of motor resonance: A TMS/EEG co-registration study. Cortex 2022; 154:197-211. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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13
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Botta A, Lagravinese G, Bove M, Pelosin E, Bonassi G, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Sensorimotor inhibition during emotional processing. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6998. [PMID: 35488018 PMCID: PMC9054825 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10981-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual processing of emotional stimuli has been shown to engage complex cortical and subcortical networks, but it is still unclear how it affects sensorimotor integration processes. To fill this gap, here, we used a TMS protocol named short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), capturing sensorimotor interactions, while healthy participants were observing emotional body language (EBL) and International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Participants were presented with emotional (fear- and happiness-related) or non-emotional (neutral) EBL and IAPS stimuli while SAI was tested at 120 ms and 300 ms after pictures presentation. At the earlier time point (120 ms), we found that fear-related EBL and IAPS stimuli selectively enhanced SAI as indexed by the greater inhibitory effect of somatosensory afferents on motor excitability. Larger early SAI enhancement was associated with lower scores at the Behavioural Inhibition Scale (BIS). At the later time point (300 ms), we found a generalized SAI decrease for all kind of stimuli (fear, happiness or neutral). Because the SAI index reflects integrative activity of cholinergic sensorimotor circuits, our findings suggest greater sensitivity of such circuits during early (120 ms) processing of threat-related information. Moreover, the correlation with BIS score may suggest increased attention and sensory vigilance in participants with greater anxiety-related dispositions. In conclusion, the results of this study show that sensorimotor inhibition is rapidly enhanced while processing threatening stimuli and that SAI protocol might be a valuable option in evaluating emotional-motor interactions in physiological and pathological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Botta
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy.,Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Gaia Bonassi
- S.C. Medicina Fisica e Riabilitazione Ospedaliera, ASL4, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Chiavarese, Chiavari, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro di Neuroscienze Cognitive and Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.,Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy. .,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
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14
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Ferrari C, Ciricugno A, Battelli L, Grossman ED, Cattaneo Z. Distinct cerebellar regions for body motion discrimination. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:72-80. [PMID: 31820788 PMCID: PMC8824544 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 09/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual processing of human movements is critical for adaptive social behavior. Cerebellar activations have been observed during biological motion discrimination in prior neuroimaging studies, and cerebellar lesions may be detrimental for this task. However, whether the cerebellum plays a causal role in biological motion discrimination has never been tested. Here, we addressed this issue in three different experiments by interfering with the posterior cerebellar lobe using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during a biological discrimination task. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that TMS delivered at onset of the visual stimuli over the vermis (vermal lobule VI), but not over the left cerebellar hemisphere (left lobule VI/Crus I), interfered with participants' ability to distinguish biological from scrambled motion compared to stimulation of a control site (vertex). Interestingly, when stimulation was delivered at a later time point (300 ms after stimulus onset), participants performed worse when TMS was delivered over the left cerebellar hemisphere compared to the vermis and the vertex (Experiment 3). Our data show that the posterior cerebellum is causally involved in biological motion discrimination and suggest that different sectors of the posterior cerebellar lobe may contribute to the task at different time points.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrea Ciricugno
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Lorella Battelli
- Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto 38068, Italy
- Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02155, MA, USA
| | - Emily D Grossman
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine 92617, CA, USA
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15
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Ding X, Chen Y, Liu Y, Zhao J, Liu J. The automatic detection of unexpected emotion and neutral body postures: A visual mismatch negativity study. Neuropsychologia 2022; 164:108108. [PMID: 34863799 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 11/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The ability to automatically detect emotional changes in the environment is crucial for social interaction. In the visual system, expression-related mismatch negativity (EMMN) reflects the automatic processing of emotional changes in facial expression. However, body postures also carry visual emotional information that can be recognized effectively and processed automatically, although their processing mechanism remains unknown. In this study, the reverse oddball paradigm was used to investigate the mismatch responses of unexpected fear and neutral body postures. The nonparametric cluster permutation test revealed significant fear and neutral visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) activities, and the fear-related vMMN was enhanced prior (130-230 ms) to the neutral vMMN (180-230 ms). The body-sensitive N190 component may partially account for the vMMN obtained in this study. The fearful body posture evoked a greater N190 response over the neutral body, and amplitudes of N190 were more negative in the deviant condition than the standard condition. Additionally, the body-related visual mismatch oscillatory responses were associated with enhancement of the alpha band oscillation, especially for the fearful body posture. These results expanded the applicable scope of body posture cues corresponding to mismatch signals, objectively defined the electrophysiological activities evoked, and revealed the processing bias toward negative emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobin Ding
- School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yan Chen
- School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yang Liu
- School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jingjing Zhao
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, And Key Laboratory for Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, China.
| | - Jianyi Liu
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, And Key Laboratory for Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, China.
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16
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Decroix J, Ott L, Morgado N, Kalénine S. Can the early visual processing of others' actions be related to social power and dominance? PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:1858-1870. [PMID: 34802076 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01617-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Although goals often drive action understanding, this ability is also prone to important variability among individuals, which may have its origin in individual social characteristics. The present study aimed at evaluating the relationship between the tendency to prioritize goal information over grip information during early visual processing of action and several social dimensions. Visual processing of grip and goal information during action recognition was evaluated in 64 participants using the priming protocol developed by Decroix and Kalénine (Exp Brain Res 236(8):2411-2426, 2018). Object-directed action photographs were primed by photographs sharing the same goal and/or the same grip. The effects of goal and grip priming on action recognition were evaluated for different prime durations. The same participants further fulfilled questionnaires characterizing the way individuals deal with their social environment, namely their sense of social power, dominance, perspective taking, and construal level. At the group level, results confirmed greater goal than grip priming effects on action recognition for the shortest prime duration. Regression analyses between the pattern of response times in the action priming protocol and scores at the questionnaires further showed that the advantage of goal over grip priming was associated with higher sense of social power, and possibly to lower dominance. Overall, data confirm that observers tend to prioritize goal-related information when processing visual actions but further indicate that this tendency is sensitive to individual social characteristics. Results suggest that goal information may not always drive action understanding and point out the connection between low-level processing of observed actions and more general individual characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérémy Decroix
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France
| | - Laurent Ott
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France
| | - Nicolas Morgado
- Univ. Paris Nanterre, LICAÉ-Laboratoire Sur Les Interactions Cognition-Action-Émotion, Nanterre, France
| | - Solène Kalénine
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France.
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17
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Kislinger L. Photographs of Actions: What Makes Them Special Cues to Social Perception. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11111382. [PMID: 34827381 PMCID: PMC8615998 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
I have reviewed studies on neural responses to pictured actions in the action observation network (AON) and the cognitive functions of these responses. Based on this review, I have analyzed the specific representational characteristics of action photographs. There has been consensus that AON responses provide viewers with knowledge of observed or pictured actions, but there has been controversy about the properties of this knowledge. Is this knowledge causally provided by AON activities or is it dependent on conceptual processing? What elements of actions does it refer to, and how generalized or specific is it? The answers to these questions have come from studies that used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate motor or somatosensory cortices. In conjunction with electromyography (EMG), TMS allows researchers to examine changes of the excitability in the corticospinal tract and muscles of people viewing pictured actions. The timing of these changes and muscle specificity enable inferences to be drawn about the cognitive products of processing pictured actions in the AON. Based on a review of studies using TMS and other neuroscience methods, I have proposed a novel hypothetical account that describes the characteristics of action photographs that make them effective cues to social perception. This account includes predictions that can be tested experimentally.
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18
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ZHANG HONG, SUN YAORU. MODULATION EFFECT OF MOTOR ACTIVITY ON LIMBIC AREAS: AN FMRI STUDY. J MECH MED BIOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1142/s0219519421400637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Neural activation of the motor cortex has been consistently reported to be evoked in the emotion processing of facial expressions, but it is poorly understood whether and how the motor system influences the activity of limbic areas during participants’ perceived emotional expressions. In this study, we proposed that motor activations evoked by emotional processing influence the activations in limbic areas such as amygdala during the perception of facial expressions. To examine this issue, a masked priming paradigm was adopted in our fMRI experiment, which could modulate the activation within the motor cortex when healthy participants perceived sad or happy facial expressions. We found that the first presented stimulus (masked prime) in each trial reduced the activations in the premotor cortex and inferior frontal gyrus when the movement of facial muscles implied by the arrows on the prime stimulus was consistent with that implied by the target face expressions (compatible condition), but increased the activations in these two areas when the movements implied by the arrows and the target face expressions were inconsistent (incompatible condition). The superior temporal gyrus, middle cingulate gyrus and amygdala also showed similar response tendency to that in motor cortex. Moreover, psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis showed that both right middle cingulate gyrus and bilateral superior temporal gyrus were closely linked to the premotor cortex with inferior frontal gyrus during the incompatible trials compared with the compatible trials. Together with this result and the significant activation correlations between the motor cortex and the limbic areas, this work revealed the modulation effect of motor cortex on brain regions related to emotion perception, suggesting that motor representation of facial movements can affect emotion experience. Our results provide new evidence for the functional role of motor system in the perception of facial emotions, and could contribute to the understanding of the deficit in social interaction for patients with autism or schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- HONG ZHANG
- Department of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030619, P. R. China
| | - YAORU SUN
- Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, P. R. China
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19
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Battaglia S, Serio G, Scarpazza C, D'Ausilio A, Borgomaneri S. Frozen in (e)motion: How reactive motor inhibition is influenced by the emotional content of stimuli in healthy and psychiatric populations. Behav Res Ther 2021; 146:103963. [PMID: 34530318 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Efficient inhibitory control is vital. However, environmental cues can influence motor control especially in an emotional context. One common task to measure inhibitory control is the stop-signal task (SST), which asks participants to respond to go stimuli knowing that on some trials a stop signal will be presented, requiring them to inhibit their response. This paradigm estimates the ability to inhibit already-initiated responses by calculating participants' stop-signal reaction times (SSRT), an index of inhibitory control. Here, we aim to review the existing, often contradictory, evidence on the influence of emotional stimuli on the inhibitory process. We aim to discuss which factors may reveal an interference as well as an advantage of emotional stimuli on action inhibition performance. Finally, we review the existing evidence that has investigated the effect of such stimuli on action inhibition in the psychiatric population. Important factors are the relevance, the intensity and the valence of the emotional stimulus, as well as the affected component of the motor control. From all this evidence, it is clear that understand precisely how emotion is integrated into core executive functions, such as inhibitory control, is essential not only for cognitive neuroscience, but also for refining neurocognitive models of psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Battaglia
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Gianluigi Serio
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521, Cesena, Italy
| | - Cristina Scarpazza
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Centre (PNC), 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Alessandro D'Ausilio
- Università di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze e Riabilitazione, Ferrara, Italy; Italian Institute of Technology, Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521, Cesena, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
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20
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Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Battaglia S, Avenanti A. Early Right Motor Cortex Response to Happy and Fearful Facial Expressions: A TMS Motor-Evoked Potential Study. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11091203. [PMID: 34573224 PMCID: PMC8471632 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to rapidly process others' emotional signals is crucial for adaptive social interactions. However, to date it is still unclear how observing emotional facial expressions affects the reactivity of the human motor cortex. To provide insights on this issue, we employed single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate corticospinal motor excitability. Healthy participants observed happy, fearful and neutral pictures of facial expressions while receiving TMS over the left or right motor cortex at 150 and 300 ms after picture onset. In the early phase (150 ms), we observed an enhancement of corticospinal excitability for the observation of happy and fearful emotional faces compared to neutral expressions specifically in the right hemisphere. Interindividual differences in the disposition to experience aversive feelings (personal distress) in interpersonal emotional contexts predicted the early increase in corticospinal excitability for emotional faces. No differences in corticospinal excitability were observed at the later time (300 ms) or in the left M1. These findings support the notion that emotion perception primes the body for action and highlights the role of the right hemisphere in implementing a rapid and transient facilitatory response to emotional arousing stimuli, such as emotional facial expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy;
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (S.B.); (A.A.)
| | - Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain;
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy;
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy;
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurosciencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
- Correspondence: (S.B.); (A.A.)
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21
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Memories are not written in stone: Re-writing fear memories by means of non-invasive brain stimulation and optogenetic manipulations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:334-352. [PMID: 33964307 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The acquisition of fear associative memory requires brain processes of coordinated neural activity within the amygdala, prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, thalamus and brainstem. After fear consolidation, a suppression of fear memory in the absence of danger is crucial to permit adaptive coping behavior. Acquisition and maintenance of fear extinction critically depend on amygdala-PFC projections. The robust correspondence between the brain networks encompassed cortical and subcortical hubs involved into fear processing in humans and in other species underscores the potential utility of comparing the modulation of brain circuitry in humans and animals, as a crucial step to inform the comprehension of fear mechanisms and the development of treatments for fear-related disorders. The present review is aimed at providing a comprehensive description of the literature on recent clinical and experimental researches regarding the noninvasive brain stimulation and optogenetics. These innovative manipulations applied over specific hubs of fear matrix during fear acquisition, consolidation, reconsolidation and extinction allow an accurate characterization of specific brain circuits and their peculiar interaction within the specific fear processing.
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22
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Finisguerra A, Ticini LF, Kirsch LP, Cross ES, Kotz SA, Urgesi C. Dissociating embodiment and emotional reactivity in motor responses to artworks. Cognition 2021; 212:104663. [PMID: 33761410 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Perceiving art is known to elicit motor cortex activation in an observer's brain. This motor activation has often been attributed to a covert approach response associated with the emotional valence of an art piece (emotional reaction hypothesis). However, recent accounts have proposed that aesthetic experiences could be grounded in the motor simulation of actions required to produce an art piece and of the sensorimotor states embedded in its subject (embodied aesthetic hypothesis). Here, we aimed to test these two hypotheses by assessing whether motor facilitation during artwork perception mirrors emotional or motor simulation processes. To this aim, we capitalized on single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation revealing a two-stage motor coding of emotional body postures: an early, non-specific activation related to emotion processing and a later action-specific activation reflecting motor simulation. We asked art-naïve individuals to rate how much they liked a series of pointillist and brushstroke canvases; photographs of artistic gardens served as control natural stimuli. After an early (150 ms) or a later (300 ms) post-stimulus delay, motor evoked potentials were recorded from wrist-extensor and finger muscles that were more involved in brushstroke- and pointillist-like painting, respectively. Results showed that observing the two canvas styles did not elicit differential motor activation in the early time window for either muscle, not supporting the emotional reaction hypothesis. However, in support of the embodied aesthetic hypothesis, we found in the later time window greater motor activation responses to brushstroke than pointillist canvases for the wrist-extensor, but not for the finger muscle. Furthermore, this muscle-selective facilitation was associated with lower liking ratings of brushstroke canvases and with greater empathy dispositions. These findings support the claim that simulation of the painter's movements is crucial for aesthetic experience, by documenting a link between motor simulation, dispositional empathy, and subjective appreciation in artwork perception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luca F Ticini
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Louise P Kirsch
- Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR), Sorbonne Université, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Emily S Cross
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, G12 8QB Glasgow, UK & Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Sydney, Australia
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Cosimo Urgesi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 33037 Pasian di Prato, Italy; Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy.
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23
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Paradiso E, Gazzola V, Keysers C. Neural mechanisms necessary for empathy-related phenomena across species. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 68:107-115. [PMID: 33756399 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The neural basis of empathy and prosociality has received much interest over the past decades. Neuroimaging studies localized a network of brain regions with activity that correlates with empathy. Here, we review how the emergence of rodent and nonhuman primate models of empathy-related phenomena supplements human lesion and neuromodulation studies providing evidence that activity in several nodes is necessary for these phenomena to occur. We review proof that (i) affective states triggered by the emotions of others, (ii) motivations to act in ways that benefit others, and (iii) emotion recognition can be altered by perturbing brain activity in many nodes identified by human neuroimaging, with strongest evidence for the cingulate and the amygdala. We also include evidence that manipulations of the oxytocin system and analgesics can have such effects, the latter providing causal evidence for the recruitment of an individual's own nociceptive system to feel with the pain of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrica Paradiso
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
| | - Christian Keysers
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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24
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Botta A, Lagravinese G, Bove M, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Modulation of Response Times During Processing of Emotional Body Language. Front Psychol 2021; 12:616995. [PMID: 33716882 PMCID: PMC7947862 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.616995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The investigation of how humans perceive and respond to emotional signals conveyed by the human body has been for a long time secondary compared with the investigation of facial expressions and emotional scenes recognition. The aims of this behavioral study were to assess the ability to process emotional body postures and to test whether motor response is mainly driven by the emotional content of the picture or if it is influenced by motor resonance. Emotional body postures and scenes (IAPS) divided into three clusters (fear, happiness, and neutral) were shown to 25 healthy subjects (13 males, mean age ± SD: 22.3 ± 1.8 years) in a three-alternative forced choice task. Subjects were asked to recognize the emotional content of the pictures by pressing one of three keys as fast as possible in order to estimate response times (RTs). The rating of valence and arousal was also performed. We found shorter RTs for fearful body postures as compared with happy and neutral postures. In contrast, no differences across emotional categories were found for the IAPS stimuli. Analysis on valence and arousal and the subsequent item analysis showed an excellent reliability of the two sets of images used in the experiment. Our results show that fearful body postures are rapidly recognized and processed, probably thanks to the automatic activation of a series of central nervous system structures orchestrating the defensive threat reactions, strengthening and supporting previous neurophysiological and behavioral findings in body language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Botta
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro di Neuroscienze Cognitive and Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
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25
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van Geest J, Samaritter R, van Hooren S. Move and Be Moved: The Effect of Moving Specific Movement Elements on the Experience of Happiness. Front Psychol 2021; 11:579518. [PMID: 33584414 PMCID: PMC7874178 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Dynamic body feedback is used in dance movement therapy (DMT), with the aim to facilitate emotional expression and a change of emotional state through movement and dance for individuals with psychosocial or psychiatric complaints. It has been demonstrated that moving in a specific way can evoke and regulate related emotions. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of executing a unique set of kinetic movement elements on an individual mover's experience of happiness. A specific sequence consisting of movement elements that recent studies have related to the feeling of happiness was created and used in a series of conditions. To achieve a more realistic reflection of DMT practice, the study incorporated the interpersonal dimension between the dance movement therapist (DMTh) and the client, and the impact of this interbodily feedback on the emotional state of the client. This quantitative study was conducted in a within-subject design. Five male and 20 female participants (mean age = 20.72) participated in three conditions: a solo executed movement sequence, a movement sequence executed with a DMTh who attuned and mirrored the movements, and a solo executed movement sequence not associated with feelings of happiness. Participants were only informed about the movements and not the feelings that may be provoked by these movements. The effects on individuals were measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and visual analog scales. Results showed that a specific movement sequence based on movement elements associated with happiness executed with a DMTh can significantly enhance the corresponding affective state. An additional finding of this study indicated that facilitating expressed emotion through movement elements that are not associated with happiness can enhance feelings such as empowerment, pride, and determination, which are experienced as part of positive affect. The results show the impact of specific full-body movement elements on the emotional state and the support outcome of DMT on emotion regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenneke van Geest
- Faculty of Health Care, Academy of Arts Therapies, Zuyd University of Applied Science, Heerlen, Netherlands
| | - Rosemarie Samaritter
- KenVaK Research Centre for the Arts Therapies and Psychomotricity, Heerlen, Netherlands
- Department of Arts Therapies, Codarts University of the Arts, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Susan van Hooren
- Faculty of Health Care, Academy of Arts Therapies, Zuyd University of Applied Science, Heerlen, Netherlands
- KenVaK Research Centre for the Arts Therapies and Psychomotricity, Heerlen, Netherlands
- Faculty of Psychology, Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, Netherlands
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26
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Simar C, Cebolla AM, Chartier G, Petieau M, Bontempi G, Berthoz A, Cheron G. Hyperscanning EEG and Classification Based on Riemannian Geometry for Festive and Violent Mental State Discrimination. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:588357. [PMID: 33424535 PMCID: PMC7793677 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.588357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Interactions between two brains constitute the essence of social communication. Daily movements are commonly executed during social interactions and are determined by different mental states that may express different positive or negative behavioral intent. In this context, the effective recognition of festive or violent intent before the action execution remains crucial for survival. Here, we hypothesize that the EEG signals contain the distinctive features characterizing movement intent already expressed before movement execution and that such distinctive information can be identified by state-of-the-art classification algorithms based on Riemannian geometry. We demonstrated for the first time that a classifier based on covariance matrices and Riemannian geometry can effectively discriminate between neutral, festive, and violent mental states only on the basis of non-invasive EEG signals in both the actor and observer participants. These results pave the way for new electrophysiological discrimination of mental states based on non-invasive EEG recordings and cutting-edge machine learning techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric Simar
- Machine Learning Group (MLG), Computer Science Department, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Ana-Maria Cebolla
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Gaëlle Chartier
- Centre Interdisciplinaire de Biologie, Collège de France-CNRS, Paris, France.,Department of Health, Medicine and Human Biology, Université Paris 13, Bobigny, France
| | - Mathieu Petieau
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Gianluca Bontempi
- Machine Learning Group (MLG), Computer Science Department, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Alain Berthoz
- Centre Interdisciplinaire de Biologie, Collège de France-CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Guy Cheron
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.,Laboratory of Electrophysiology, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium
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27
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Ferrari C, Fiori F, Suchan B, Plow EB, Cattaneo Z. TMS over the posterior cerebellum modulates motor cortical excitability in response to facial emotional expressions. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 53:1029-1039. [PMID: 32860302 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Evidence suggests that the posterior cerebellum is involved in emotional processing. Specific mechanisms by which the cerebellum contributes to the perception of and reaction to the emotional state of others are not well-known. It is likely that perceived emotions trigger anticipatory/preparatory motor changes. However, the extent to which the cerebellum modulates the activity of the motor cortex to contribute to emotional processing has not been directly investigated. In this study, we assessed whether the activity of the posterior cerebellum influences the modulation of motor cortical excitability in response to emotional stimuli. To this end, we transiently disrupted the neural activity of the left posterior cerebellum using 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and examined its effect on motor cortical excitability witnessed during emotional face processing (in comparison to the effects of sham rTMS). Motor excitability was measured as TMS-based motor evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from bilateral first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscles during the viewing of negative emotional (i.e. fearful) and neutral facial expressions. In line with previous evidence, we found that MEP amplitude was increased during the viewing of fearful compared to neutral faces. Critically, when left posterior cerebellar activity was transiently inhibited with 1 Hz rTMS, we observed a reduction in amplitude of MEPs recorded from the contralateral (right) motor cortex during the viewing of emotional (but not neutral) faces. In turn, inhibition of the left posterior cerebellum did not affect the amplitude of MEPs recorded from the ipsilateral motor cortex. Our findings suggest that the posterolateral (left) cerebellum modulates motor cortical response to negative emotional stimuli and may serve as an interface between limbic, cognitive, and motor systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Ferrari
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Francesca Fiori
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Boris Suchan
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Clinical Neuropsychology, Neuropsychological Therapy Centre, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany
| | - Ela B Plow
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Zaira Cattaneo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
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28
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Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Avenanti A. Early motor reactivity to observed human body postures is affected by body expression, not gender. Neuropsychologia 2020; 146:107541. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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29
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Rigby SN, Jakobson LS, Pearson PM, Stoesz BM. Alexithymia and the Evaluation of Emotionally Valenced Scenes. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1820. [PMID: 32793083 PMCID: PMC7394003 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings (DIF and DDF) and an externally oriented thinking (EOT) style. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate links between alexithymia and the evaluation of emotional scenes. We also investigated whether viewers' evaluations of emotional scenes were better predicted by specific alexithymic traits or by individual differences in sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). Participants (N = 106) completed measures of alexithymia and SPS along with a task requiring speeded judgments of the pleasantness of 120 moderately arousing scenes. We did not replicate laterality effects previously described with the scene perception task. Compared to those with weak alexithymic traits, individuals with moderate-to-strong alexithymic traits were less likely to classify positively valenced scenes as pleasant and were less likely to classify scenes with (vs. without) implied motion (IM) in a way that was consistent with normative scene valence ratings. In addition, regression analyses confirmed that reporting strong EOT and a tendency to be easily overwhelmed by busy sensory environments negatively predicted classification accuracy for positive scenes, and that both DDF and EOT negatively predicted classification accuracy for scenes depicting IM. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for stimulus characteristics and individual differences in specific traits associated with alexithymia and SPS when investigating the processing of emotional stimuli. Learning more about the links between these individual difference variables may have significant clinical implications, given that alexithymia is an important, transdiagnostic risk factor for a wide range of psychopathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah N Rigby
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Lorna S Jakobson
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Pauline M Pearson
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Brenda M Stoesz
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.,Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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30
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Support from a TMS/MEP study for a direct link between positive/negative stimuli and approach/avoidance tendencies. Neuropsychologia 2020; 143:107496. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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31
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Vicario CM, Rafal RD, di Pellegrino G, Lucifora C, Salehinejad MA, Nitsche MA, Avenanti A. Indignation for moral violations suppresses the tongue motor cortex: preliminary TMS evidence. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 17:151-159. [PMID: 32347307 PMCID: PMC8824570 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 02/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
We commonly label moral violations in terms of ‘disgust’, yet it remains unclear whether metaphorical expressions linking disgust and morality are genuinely shared at the cognitive/neural level. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we provide new insights into this debate by measuring motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from the tongue generated by TMS over the tongue primary motor area (tM1) in a small group of healthy participants presented with vignettes of moral transgressions and non-moral vignettes. We tested whether moral indignation, felt while evaluating moral vignettes, affected tM1 excitability. Vignettes exerted a variable influence on MEPs with no net effect of the moral category. However, in accordance with our recent study documenting reduced tM1 excitability during exposure to pictures of disgusting foods or facial expressions of distaste, we found that the vignettes of highly disapproved moral violations reduced tM1 excitability. Moreover, tM1 excitability and moral indignation were linearly correlated: the higher the moral indignation, the lower the tM1 excitability. Respective changes in MEPs were not observed in a non-oral control muscle, suggesting a selective decrease of tM1 excitability. These preliminary findings provide neurophysiological evidence supporting the hypothesis that morality might have originated from the more primitive experience of oral distaste.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo M Vicario
- Department of Cognitive, Psychological, and Pedagogical Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina 98121, Italy.,Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2DG, United Kingdom.,Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund 44139, Germany.,School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.,Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, Universidad Católica del Maule, 346000 Talca, Chile
| | - Robert D Rafal
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Delaware 19716, USA
| | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Chiara Lucifora
- Department of Cognitive, Psychological, and Pedagogical Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina 98121, Italy.,Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2DG, United Kingdom
| | - Mohammad A Salehinejad
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund 44139, Germany
| | - Michael A Nitsche
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund 44139, Germany
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, Universidad Católica del Maule, 346000 Talca, Chile.,Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, 47521 Cesena, Italy
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32
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Early Approach and Avoidance Tendencies can be Goal-Directed: Support from a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 20:648-657. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-020-00793-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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33
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Mattavelli G, Barvas E, Longo C, Zappini F, Ottaviani D, Malaguti MC, Pellegrini M, Papagno C. Facial expressions recognition and discrimination in Parkinson's disease. J Neuropsychol 2020; 15:46-68. [PMID: 32319735 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Revised: 10/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Emotion processing impairment is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Previous literature reported conflicting results concerning, in particular, the performance for different emotions, the relation with cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms and the affected stage of processing. This study aims at assessing emotion recognition and discrimination in PD. Recognition of six facial expressions was studied in order to clarify its relationship with motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Sensitivity in discriminating happy and fearful faces was investigated to address controversial findings on impairment in early stages of emotion processing. To do so, seventy PD patients were tested with the Ekman 60 Faces test and compared with 46 neurologically unimpaired participants. Patients' performances were correlated with clinical scales and neuropsychological tests. A subsample of 25 PD patients and 25 control participants were also tested with a backward masking paradigm for sensitivity in happiness and fear discrimination. Results showed that PD patients were impaired in facial emotion recognition, especially for fearful expressions. The performance correlated with perceptual, executive and general cognitive abilities, but facial expression recognition deficits were present even in cognitively unimpaired patients. In contrast, patients' sensitivity in backward masking tasks was not reduced as compared to controls. Taken together our data demonstrate that facial emotion recognition, and fear expression in particular, is critically affected by neurodegeneration in PD and related to cognitive abilities; however, it appears before other cognitive impairments. Preserved performances in discriminating shortly presented facial expressions, suggest unimpaired early stages of emotion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Edoardo Barvas
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Chiara Longo
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Francesca Zappini
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Donatella Ottaviani
- Unità Operativa di Neurologia, Ospedale Santa Maria del Carmine, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Rovereto, Italy
| | | | - Maria Pellegrini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Ospedale Santa Chiara, Trento, Italy
| | - Costanza Papagno
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
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34
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Prinsen J, Alaerts K. Eye contact enhances interpersonal motor resonance: comparing video stimuli to a live two-person action context. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 14:967-976. [PMID: 31506688 PMCID: PMC6917019 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has shown a link between eye contact and interpersonal motor resonance, indicating that the mirroring of observed movements is enhanced when accompanied with mutual eye contact between actor and observer. Here, we further explored the role of eye contact within a naturalistic two-person action context. Twenty-two participants observed simple hand movements combined with direct or averted gaze presented via a live model in a two-person setting or via video recordings, while transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied over the primary motor cortex (M1) to measure changes in M1 excitability. Skin conductance responses and gaze behavior were also measured to investigate the role of arousal and visual attention herein. Eye contact significantly enhanced excitability of the observer's M1 during movement observation within a two-person setting. Notably, participants with higher social responsiveness (Social Communication subscale of the Social Responsiveness Scale) displayed a more pronounced modulation of M1 excitability by eye gaze. Gaze-related modulations in M1 excitability were, however, not associated with differences in visual attention or autonomic arousal. In summary, the current study highlights the effectiveness and feasibility of adopting paradigms with high ecological validity for studying the modulation of mirror system processes by subtle social cues, such as eye gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jellina Prinsen
- Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kaat Alaerts
- Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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35
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Blocking facial mimicry affects recognition of facial and body expressions. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229364. [PMID: 32078668 PMCID: PMC7032686 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial mimicry is commonly defined as the tendency to imitate-at a sub-threshold level-facial expressions of other individuals. Numerous studies support a role of facial mimicry in recognizing others' emotions. However, the underlying functional mechanism is unclear. A prominent hypothesis considers facial mimicry as based on an action-perception loop, leading to the prediction that facial mimicry should be observed only when processing others' facial expressions. Nevertheless, previous studies have also detected facial mimicry during observation of emotional bodily expressions. An emergent alternative hypothesis is that facial mimicry overtly reflects the simulation of an "emotion", rather than the reproduction of a specific observed motor pattern. In the present study, we tested whether blocking mimicry ("Bite") on the lower face disrupted recognition of happy expressions conveyed by either facial or body expressions. In Experiment 1, we tested participants' ability to identify happy, fearful and neutral expressions in the Bite condition and in two control conditions. In Experiment 2, to ensure that such a manipulation selectively affects emotion recognition, we tested participants' ability to recognize emotional expressions, as well as the actors' gender, under the Bite condition and a control condition. Finally, we investigated the relationship between dispositional empathy and emotion recognition under the condition of blocked mimicry. Our findings demonstrated that blocking mimicry on the lower face hindered recognition of happy facial and body expressions, while the recognition of neutral and fearful expressions was not affected by the mimicry manipulation. The mimicry manipulation did not affect the gender discrimination task. Furthermore, the impairment of happy expression recognition correlated with empathic traits. These results support the role of facial mimicry in emotion recognition and suggest that facial mimicry reflects a global sensorimotor simulation of others' emotions rather than a muscle-specific reproduction of an observed motor expression.
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36
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Modulation of corticospinal output during goal-directed actions: Evidence for a contingent coding hypothesis. Neuropsychologia 2019; 134:107205. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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37
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Moors A, Fini C, Everaert T, Bardi L, Bossuyt E, Kuppens P, Brass M. The role of stimulus-driven versus goal-directed processes in fight and flight tendencies measured with motor evoked potentials induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217266. [PMID: 31107906 PMCID: PMC6527228 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
This study examines two contrasting explanations for early tendencies to fight and flee. According to a stimulus-driven explanation, goal-incompatible stimuli that are easy/difficult to control lead to the tendency to fight/flee. According to a goal-directed explanation, on the other hand, the tendency to fight/flee occurs when the expected utility of fighting/fleeing is the highest. Participants did a computer task in which they were confronted with goal-incompatible stimuli that were (a) easy to control and fighting had the highest expected utility, (b) easy to control and fleeing had the highest expected utility, and (c) difficult to control and fleeing and fighting had zero expected utility. After participants were trained to use one hand to fight and another hand to flee, they either had to choose a response or merely observe the stimuli. During the observation trials, single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was applied to the primary motor cortex 450 ms post-stimulus onset and motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were measured from the hand muscles. Results showed that participants chose to fight/flee when the expected utility of fighting/fleeing was the highest, and that they responded late when the expected utility of both responses was low. They also showed larger MEPs for the right/left hand when the expected utility of fighting/fleeing was the highest. This result can be interpreted as support for the goal-directed account, but only if it is assumed that we were unable to override the presumed natural mapping between hand (right/left) and response (fight/flight).
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnes Moors
- Research Group of Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Centre for Social and Cultural Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- * E-mail:
| | - Chiara Fini
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, State University of Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Tom Everaert
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lara Bardi
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Evelien Bossuyt
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter Kuppens
- Research Group of Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Marcel Brass
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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38
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Paracampo R, Montemurro M, de Vega M, Avenanti A. Primary motor cortex crucial for action prediction: A tDCS study. Cortex 2018; 109:287-302. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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39
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de Gelder B, Watson R, Zhan M, Diano M, Tamietto M, Vaessen MJ. Classical paintings may trigger pain and pleasure in the gendered brain. Cortex 2018; 109:171-180. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2018] [Revised: 07/12/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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40
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Bertini C, Pietrelli M, Braghittoni D, Làdavas E. Pulvinar Lesions Disrupt Fear-Related Implicit Visual Processing in Hemianopic Patients. Front Psychol 2018; 9:2329. [PMID: 30524351 PMCID: PMC6261973 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The processing of emotional stimuli in the absence of awareness has been widely investigated in patients with lesions to the primary visual pathway since the classical studies on affective blindsight. In addition, recent evidence has shown that in hemianopic patients without blindsight only unseen fearful faces can be implicitly processed, inducing enhanced visual encoding (Cecere et al., 2014) and response facilitation (Bertini et al., 2013, 2017) to stimuli presented in their intact field. This fear-specific facilitation has been suggested to be mediated by activity in the spared visual subcortical pathway, comprising the superior colliculus (SC), the pulvinar and the amygdala. This suggests that the pulvinar might represent a critical relay structure, conveying threat-related visual information through the subcortical visual circuit. To test this hypothesis, hemianopic patients, with or without pulvinar lesions, performed a go/no-go task in which they had to discriminate simple visual stimuli, consisting in Gabor patches, displayed in their intact visual field, during the simultaneous presentation of faces with fearful, happy, and neutral expressions in their blind visual field. In line with previous evidence, hemianopic patients without pulvinar lesions showed response facilitation to stimuli displayed in the intact field, only while concurrent fearful faces were shown in their blind field. In contrast, no facilitatory effect was found in hemianopic patients with lesions of the pulvinar. These findings reveal that pulvinar lesions disrupt the implicit visual processing of fearful stimuli in hemianopic patients, therefore suggesting a pivotal role of this structure in relaying fear-related visual information from the SC to the amygdala.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Bertini
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Mattia Pietrelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Davide Braghittoni
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Làdavas
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
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41
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Engelen T, Zhan M, Sack AT, de Gelder B. The Influence of Conscious and Unconscious Body Threat Expressions on Motor Evoked Potentials Studied With Continuous Flash Suppression. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:480. [PMID: 30061812 PMCID: PMC6054979 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The observation of threatening expression in others is a strong cue for triggering an action response. One method of capturing such action responses is by measuring the amplitude of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited with single pulse TMS over the primary motor cortex. Indeed, it has been shown that viewing whole body expressions of threat modulate the size of MEP amplitude. Furthermore, emotional cues have been shown to act on certain brain areas even outside of conscious awareness. In the current study, we explored if the influence of viewing whole body expressions of threat extends to stimuli that are presented outside of conscious awareness in healthy participants. To accomplish this, we combined the measurement of MEPs with a continuous flash suppression task. In experiment 1, participants were presented with images of neutral bodies, fearful bodies, or objects that were either perceived consciously or unconsciously, while single pulses of TMS were applied at different times after stimulus onset (200, 500, or 700 ms). In experiment 2 stimuli consisted of neutral bodies, angry bodies or objects, and pulses were applied at either 200 or 400 ms post stimulus onset. In experiment 1, there was a general effect of the time of stimulation, but no condition specific effects were evident. In experiment 2 there were no significant main effects, nor any significant interactions. Future studies need to look into earlier effects of MEP modulation by emotion body stimuli, specifically when presented outside of conscious awareness, as well as an exploration of other outcome measures such as intracortical facilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Beatrice de Gelder
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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42
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Paracampo R, Pirruccio M, Costa M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Visual, sensorimotor and cognitive routes to understanding others' enjoyment: An individual differences rTMS approach to empathic accuracy. Neuropsychologia 2018; 116:86-98. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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43
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Paracampo R, Tidoni E, Borgomaneri S, di Pellegrino G, Avenanti A. Sensorimotor Network Crucial for Inferring Amusement from Smiles. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:5116-5129. [PMID: 27660050 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding whether another's smile reflects authentic amusement is a key challenge in social life, yet, the neural bases of this ability have been largely unexplored. Here, we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with a novel empathic accuracy (EA) task to test whether sensorimotor and mentalizing networks are critical for understanding another's amusement. Participants were presented with dynamic displays of smiles and explicitly requested to infer whether the smiling individual was feeling authentic amusement or not. TMS over sensorimotor regions representing the face (i.e., in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and ventral primary somatosensory cortex (SI)), disrupted the ability to infer amusement authenticity from observed smiles. The same stimulation did not affect performance on a nonsocial task requiring participants to track the smiling expression but not to infer amusement. Neither TMS over prefrontal and temporo-parietal areas supporting mentalizing, nor peripheral control stimulations, affected performance on either task. Thus, motor and somatosensory circuits for controlling and sensing facial movements are causally essential for inferring amusement from another's smile. These findings highlight the functional relevance of IFG and SI to amusement understanding and suggest that EA abilities may be grounded in sensorimotor networks for moving and feeling the body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Paracampo
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
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44
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Lo Gerfo E, Pisoni A, Ottone S, Ponzano F, Zarri L, Vergallito A, Varoli E, Fedeli D, Romero Lauro LJ. Goal Achievement Failure Drives Corticospinal Modulation in Promotion and Prevention Contexts. Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:71. [PMID: 29740290 PMCID: PMC5928196 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
When making decisions, people are typically differently sensitive to gains and losses according to the motivational context in which the choice is performed. As hypothesized by Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT), indeed, goals are supposed to change in relation to the set of possible outcomes. In particular, in a promotion context, the goal is achieving the maximal gain, whereas in a prevention context it turns into avoiding the greatest loss. We explored the neurophysiological counterpart of this phenomenon, by applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and recording the motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in participants taking part in an economic game, in which they observed actions conveying different goal attainment levels, framed in different motivational contexts. More than the actual value of the economic exchange involved in the game, what affected motor cortex excitability was the goal attainment failure, corresponding to not achieving the maximal payoff in a promotion context and not avoiding the greatest snatch in a prevention context. Therefore, the results provide support for the key predictions of RFT, identifying a neural signature for the goal attainment failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuele Lo Gerfo
- Department of Economics, Management and Statistics, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology and Social Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Alberto Pisoni
- NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Stefania Ottone
- Department of Economics, Management and Statistics, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology and Social Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Ferruccio Ponzano
- NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Department of Political Science, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Vercelli, Italy
| | - Luca Zarri
- Department of Economics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | | | - Erica Varoli
- NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Fedeli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Leonor J Romero Lauro
- NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.,Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology and Social Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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45
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Cao D, Li Y, Niznikiewicz MA, Tang Y, Wang J. The theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right PFC affects electroencephalogram oscillation during emotional processing. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2018; 82:21-30. [PMID: 29241839 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2017] [Revised: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an important role in emotional processing and therefore is one of the most frequently targeted regions for non-invasive brain stimulation such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in clinical trials, especially in the treatment of emotional disorders. As an approach to enhance the effectiveness of rTMS, continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) has been demonstrated to be efficient and safe. However, it is unclear how cTBS affects brain processes related to emotion. In particular, psychophysiological studies on the underlying neural mechanisms are sparse. In the current study, we investigated how the cTBS influences emotional processing when applied over the right PFC. Participants performed an emotion recognition Go/NoGo task, which asked them to select a GO response to either happy or fearful faces after the cTBS or after sham stimulation, while 64-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. EEG oscillation was examined using event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in a time-interval between 170 and 310ms after face stimuli onset. In the sham group, we found a significant difference in the alpha band between response to happy and fearful stimuli but that effect did not exist in the cTBS group. The alpha band activity at the scalp was reduced suggesting the excitatory effect at the brain level. The beta and gamma band activity was not sensitive to cTBS intervention. The results of the current study demonstrate that cTBS does affect emotion processing and the effect is reflected in changes in EEG oscillations in the alpha band specifically. The results confirm the role of prefrontal cortex in emotion processing. We also suggest that this pattern of cTBS results elucidates mechanisms by which mood improvement in depressive disorders is achieved using cTBS intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Cao
- School of Communication and Information Engineering, Qianweichang College, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
| | - Yingjie Li
- School of Communication and Information Engineering, Qianweichang College, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
| | - Margaret A Niznikiewicz
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System, Brockton Division and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02301, United States.
| | - Yingying Tang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China.
| | - Jijun Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Brain Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China; Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
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46
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Vicario CM, Rafal RD, Borgomaneri S, Paracampo R, Kritikos A, Avenanti A. Pictures of disgusting foods and disgusted facial expressions suppress the tongue motor cortex. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:352-362. [PMID: 27614770 PMCID: PMC5390717 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The tongue holds a unique role in gustatory disgust. However, it is unclear whether the tongue representation in the motor cortex (tM1) is affected by the sight of distaste-related stimuli. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in healthy humans, we recorded tongue motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) as an index of tM1 cortico-hypoglossal excitability. MEPs were recorded while participants viewed pictures associated with gustatory disgust and revulsion (i.e. rotten foods and faces expressing distaste), non-oral-related disgusting stimuli (i.e. invertebrates like worms) and control stimuli. We found that oral-related disgust pictures suppressed tM1 cortico-hypoglossal output. This tM1 suppression was predicted by interindividual differences in disgust sensitivity. No similar suppression was found for disgusting invertebrates or when MEPs were recorded from a control muscle. These findings suggest that revulsion-eliciting food pictures trigger anticipatory inhibition mechanisms, possibly preventing toxin swallowing and contamination. A similar suppression is elicited when viewing distaste expressions, suggesting vicarious motor inhibition during social perception of disgust. Our study suggests an avoidant-defensive mechanism in human cortico-hypoglossal circuits and its ‘resonant’ activation in the vicarious experience of others’ distaste. These findings support a role for the motor system in emotion-driven motor anticipation and social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo M Vicario
- Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK.,School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia
| | - Robert D Rafal
- Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00179, Italy
| | - Riccardo Paracampo
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy
| | - Ada Kritikos
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00179, Italy
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47
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Fiori F, Chiappini E, Candidi M, Romei V, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Long-latency interhemispheric interactions between motor-related areas and the primary motor cortex: a dual site TMS study. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14936. [PMID: 29097700 PMCID: PMC5668244 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13708-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary motor cortex (M1) is highly influenced by premotor/motor areas both within and across hemispheres. Dual site transcranial magnetic stimulation (dsTMS) has revealed interhemispheric interactions mainly at early latencies. Here, we used dsTMS to systematically investigate long-latency causal interactions between right-hemisphere motor areas and the left M1 (lM1). We stimulated lM1 using a suprathreshold test stimulus (TS) to elicit motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in the right hand. Either a suprathreshold or a subthreshold conditioning stimulus (CS) was applied over the right M1 (rM1), the right ventral premotor cortex (rPMv), the right dorsal premotor cortex (rPMd) or the supplementary motor area (SMA) prior to the TS at various CS-TS inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs: 40–150 ms). The CS strongly affected lM1 excitability depending on ISI, CS site and intensity. Inhibitory effects were observed independently of CS intensity when conditioning PMv, rM1 and SMA at a 40-ms ISI, with larger effects after PMv conditioning. Inhibition was observed with suprathreshold PMv and rM1 conditioning at a 150-ms ISI, while site-specific, intensity-dependent facilitation was detected at an 80-ms ISI. Thus, long-latency interhemispheric interactions, likely reflecting indirect cortico-cortical/cortico-subcortical pathways, cannot be reduced to nonspecific activation across motor structures. Instead, they reflect intensity-dependent, connection- and time-specific mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Fiori
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185, Roma, Italy
| | - Emilio Chiappini
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185, Roma, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy.,Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ, Colchester, UK
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy. .,Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy.
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48
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Gökdemir S, Gündüz A, Özkara Ç, Kızıltan ME. Fear-conditioned alterations of motor cortex excitability: The role of amygdala. Neurosci Lett 2017; 662:346-350. [PMID: 29097251 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.10.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2017] [Revised: 10/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/28/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that fear-conditioning may increase motor cortical excitability in preparation for response to fear. We tested our hypothesis in healthy subjects and in the second step, to determine the role of amygdala in alterations of motor cortex excitability, we included a group of patients who previously underwent unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS In the first step, we included 16 healthy volunteers. In the second step, 14 patients who previously underwent unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy and who were seizure-free were included in the study. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded over right hand were recorded twice before and after the observation of fearful faces (fear-conditioning). Auditory startle response (ASR) was also recorded. RESULTS Comparisons of before and after fear-conditioning MEP parameters within the healthy subjects group showed MEP amplitude was higher after fear-conditioning (p=0.019). Same comparison in patients with unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy demonstrated shorter MEP latency (p=0.036) and higher MEP amplitudes after fear-conditioning (p=0.046). CSPs did not show any change after this paradigm in both groups. Comparisons of ASR findings before and after fear-conditioning demonstrated enhanced responses after fear-conditioning in both healthy subjects and in patients with unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy. For MEPs or ASRs, there was a similar enhancement in patients with left- or right-sided operation. CONCLUSIONS Fear-potentiation of both corticospinal and reticulospinal pathways occurs in healthy humans and bilateral potentiation of ASR and potentiation of MEPs are maintained even after resection of unilateral amygdala regardless of its side.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selim Gökdemir
- Department of Neurology, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul University, 34098 K.M.Pasa, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ayşegül Gündüz
- Department of Neurology, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul University, 34098 K.M.Pasa, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Çiğdem Özkara
- Department of Neurology, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul University, 34098 K.M.Pasa, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Meral E Kızıltan
- Department of Neurology, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul University, 34098 K.M.Pasa, Istanbul, Turkey
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49
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Lagravinese G, Bisio A, De Ferrari AR, Pelosin E, Ruggeri P, Bove M, Avanzino L. An Emotion-Enriched Context Influences the Effect of Action Observation on Cortical Excitability. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:504. [PMID: 29093674 PMCID: PMC5651558 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Observing other people in action activates the “mirror neuron system” that serves for action comprehension and prediction. Recent evidence suggests that this function requires a high level codification triggered not only by components of motor behavior, but also by the environment where the action is embedded. An overlooked component of action perceiving is the one related to the emotional information provided by the context where the observed action takes place. Indeed, whether valence and arousal associated to an emotion might exert an influence on motor system activation during action observation has not been assessed so far. Here, cortico-spinal excitability of the left motor cortex was recorded in three groups of subjects. In the first condition, motor-evoked potential (MEPs) were recorded from a muscle involved in the grasping movement (i.e., abductor pollicis brevis, APB) while participants were watching the same reach-to-grasp movement embedded in contexts with negative emotional valence, but different levels of arousal: sadness (low arousal), and disgust (high arousal) (“Context plus Movement-APB” condition). In the second condition, MEPs were recorded from APB muscle while participants were observing static images representing the contexts in which the movement observed by participants in “Context plus Movement-APB” condition took place (“Context Only-APB” condition). Finally, in the third condition, MEPS were recorded from a muscle not involved in the grasping action, i.e., abductor digiti minimi, ADM, while participants were watching the same videos shown during the “Context plus Movement-APB” condition (“Context plus Movement-ADM” condition). Results showed a greater increase of cortical excitability only during the observation of the hand moving in the context eliciting disgust, and these changes were specific for the muscle involved in the observed action. Our findings show that the emotional context in which a movement occurs modulates motor resonance and that the combination of negative valence/high arousal drives the greater response in the observer’s mirror neuron system in a strictly muscle specific fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Ambra Bisio
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessia Raffo De Ferrari
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Piero Ruggeri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
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50
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Tracking the Time Course of Top-Down Contextual Effects on Motor Responses during Action Comprehension. J Neurosci 2017; 36:11590-11600. [PMID: 27852769 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.4340-15.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2015] [Revised: 06/19/2016] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Context plays a key role in coding high-level components of others' behavior, including the goal and the intention of an observed action. However, little is known about its possible role in shaping lower levels of action processing, such as simulating action kinematics and muscular activity. Furthermore, there is no evidence regarding the time course and the neural mechanisms subserving this modulation. To address these issues, we combined single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation and motor-evoked potentials while healthy humans watched videos of everyday actions embedded in congruent, incongruent, or ambiguous contexts. Video endings were occluded from view and participants had to predict action unfolding. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered at 80, 240, and 400 ms after action onset. An earlier selective facilitation of motor resonance occurring at 240 ms was observed for actions embedded in congruent contexts, compared with those occurring in incongruent and ambiguous ones. Later on, at 400 ms, a selective inhibition of motor resonance was found for actions embedded in incongruent contexts, compared with those taking place in congruent and ambiguous ones. No modulations were observed at 80 ms. Together, these findings indicate that motor resonance can be modulated by contextual information with different timings, depending on the (in)congruency between the different levels of action representation. Furthermore, the different time course of these effects suggests that they stem from partially independent mechanisms, with the early facilitation directly involving M1, and the later inhibition recruiting high-level structures outside the motor system. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Previous studies indicate that, when we observe other people's actions, the context in which actions take place influences intention understanding. However, little is known about the precise mechanisms involved in the contextual modulation of action representation (i.e., inhibition vs facilitation) and how they unfold in time. The present study sheds light on these aspects. Specifically, we show an early top-down facilitation (at ∼240 ms) and a later inhibition (at ∼400 ms) of motor resonance in response to actions observed in congruent and incongruent contexts, respectively.
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