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Quesque F, Nivet M, Etchepare A, Wauquiez G, Prouteau A, Desgranges B, Bertoux M. Social cognition in neuropsychology: A nationwide survey revealing current representations and practices. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. ADULT 2024; 31:689-702. [PMID: 35486070 DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2022.2061859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
As a key domain of cognition, social cognition abilities are altered in a wide range of clinical groups. Accordingly, many clinical tests and theories of social cognition have been developed these last decades. Contrasting this abundant development from a research perspective, recent evidence suggests that social cognition remains rarely addressed from a clinial perspective. The aim of the present research was to characterize the current practices, representations, and needs linked to social cognition from the perspective of professional neuropsychologists and graduate students. A nationwide survey allowed us to determine the classical field conception of social cognition and its associated symptoms or notions. It also allowed us to quantify practice activities and the use of the different clinical tools available. This study revealed that neuropsychologists lack confidence regarding social cognition assessment and its rehabilitation, and that students are in demand for more knowledge and training. Suggestions of change in practices and dissemination of knowledge are discussed. Considering the importance of social cognition, an extension of initial and continuous training alongside an enrichment of interactions between researchers and clinicians were key recommendations to formulate, as well as the need for a consensual lexicon of current concepts.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Quesque
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, LiCEND, DistALZ, Lille, France
- Centre National de Référence des Malformations et Maladies Congénitales du Cervelet, Département de Neurologie Pédiatrique, CHU de Lille, Lille, France
| | - Maxime Nivet
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, LiCEND, DistALZ, Lille, France
| | - Aurore Etchepare
- Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital Center of Jonzac, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Grégoire Wauquiez
- Organisation Française des Psychologues spécialisés en Neuropsychologie, Paris, France
- Service de rééducation neurologique, CHU de Dijon, Dijon, France
| | - Antoinette Prouteau
- Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital Center of Jonzac, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Béatrice Desgranges
- Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Université Paris, EPHE, Inserm, U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Maxime Bertoux
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, LiCEND, DistALZ, Lille, France
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2
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Metternich B, Gehrer N, Wagner K, Geiger MJ, Schütz E, Seifer B, Schulze-Bonhage A, Schönenberg M. Dynamic facial emotion recognition and affective prosody recognition are associated in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3935. [PMID: 38366055 PMCID: PMC10873350 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53401-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Deficits in facial emotion recognition have frequently been established in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, static, rather than dynamic emotion recognition paradigms have been applied. Affective prosody has been insufficiently studied in TLE, and there is a lack of studies investigating associations between auditory and visual emotion recognition. We wished to investigate potential deficits in a dynamic morph task of facial emotion recognition and in an affective prosody recognition task, as well as associations between both tasks. 25 patients with TLE and 24 healthy controls (CG) performed a morph task with faces continuously changing in their emotional intensity. They had to press a button, as soon as they were able to recognize the emotion expressed, and label it accordingly. In the auditory task, subjects listened to neutral sentences spoken in varying emotional tones, and labeled the emotions. Correlation analyses were conducted across both tasks. TLE patients showed significantly reduced prosody recognition compared to CG, and in the morph task, there was a statistical trend towards significantly reduced performance for TLE. Recognition rates in both tasks were significantly associated. TLE patients show deficits in affective prosody recognition, and they may also be impaired in a morph task with dynamically changing facial expressions. Impairments in basic social-cognitive tasks in TLE seem to be modality-independent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgitta Metternich
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Nina Gehrer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kathrin Wagner
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian J Geiger
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Elisa Schütz
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Britta Seifer
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Schulze-Bonhage
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Michael Schönenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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3
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Bell L, Duchaine B, Susilo T. Dissociations between face identity and face expression processing in developmental prosopagnosia. Cognition 2023; 238:105469. [PMID: 37216847 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105469] [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: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DPs) experience severe and lifelong deficits recognising faces, but whether their deficits are selective to the processing of face identity or extend to the processing of face expression remains unclear. Clarifying this issue is important for understanding DP impairments and advancing theories of face processing. We compared identity and expression processing in a large sample of DPs (N = 124) using three different matching tasks that each assessed identity and expression processing with identical experimental formats. We ran each task in upright and inverted orientations and we measured inversion effects to assess the integrity of upright-specific face processes. We report three main results. First, DPs showed large deficits at discriminating identity but only subtle deficits at discriminating expression. Second, DPs showed a reduced inversion effect for identity but a normal inversion effect for expression. Third, DPs' performance on the expression tasks were linked to autism traits, but their performance on the identity tasks were not. These results constitute several dissociations between identity and expression processing in DP, and they are consistent with the view that the core impairment in DP is highly selective to identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Bell
- Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
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4
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Rolls ET, Deco G, Huang CC, Feng J. Human amygdala compared to orbitofrontal cortex connectivity, and emotion. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 220:102385. [PMID: 36442728 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex have been implicated in emotion. To understand these regions better in humans, their effective connectivity with 360 cortical regions was measured in 171 humans from the Human Connectome Project, and complemented with functional connectivity and diffusion tractography. The human amygdala has effective connectivity from few cortical regions compared to the orbitofrontal cortex: primarily from auditory cortex A5 and the related superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole regions; the piriform (olfactory) cortex; the lateral orbitofrontal cortex 47m; somatosensory cortex; the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex, and parahippocampal TF; and from the cholinergic nucleus basalis. The amygdala has effective connectivity to the hippocampus, entorhinal and perirhinal cortex; to the temporal pole; and to the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. The orbitofrontal cortex has effective connectivity from gustatory, olfactory, and temporal visual, auditory and pole cortex, and to the pregenual anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, hippocampal system, and prefrontal cortex, and provides for rewards and punishers to be used in reported emotions, and memory and navigation to goals. Given the paucity of amygdalo-neocortical connectivity in humans, it is proposed that the human amygdala is involved primarily in autonomic and conditioned responses via brainstem connectivity, rather than in reported (declarative) emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edmund T Rolls
- Oxford Centre for Computational Neuroscience, Oxford, UK; Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK; Institute of Science and Technology for Brain Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona, 08018, Spain Brain and Cognition, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain
| | - Chu-Chung Huang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK; Institute of Science and Technology for Brain Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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5
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Takarae Y, McBeath MK, Krynen RC. Perception of Dynamic Point Light Facial Expression. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.134.4.0373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
This study uses point light displays both to investigate the roles of global and local motion analyses in the perception of dynamic facial expressions and to measure the information threshold for reliable recognition of emotions. We videotaped the faces of actors wearing black makeup with white dots while they dynamically produced each of 6 basic Darwin/Ekman emotional expressions. The number of point lights was varied to systematically manipulate amount of information available. For all but one of the expressions, discriminability (d′) increased approximately linearly with number of point lights, with most remaining largely discriminable with as few as only 6 point lights. This finding supports reliance on global motion patterns produced by facial muscles. However, discriminability for the happy expression was notably higher and largely unaffected by number of point lights and thus appears to rely on characteristic local motion, probably the unique upward curvature of the mouth. The findings indicate that recognition of facial expression is not a unitary process and that different expressions may be conveyed by different perceptual information, but in general, basic facial emotional expressions typically remain largely discriminable with as few as 6 dynamic point lights.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael K. McBeath
- Arizona State University and Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics
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6
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Abstract
The fact that the face is a source of diverse social signals allows us to use face and person perception as a model system for asking important psychological questions about how our brains are organised. A key issue concerns whether we rely primarily on some form of generic representation of the common physical source of these social signals (the face) to interpret them, or instead create multiple representations by assigning different aspects of the task to different specialist components. Variants of the specialist components hypothesis have formed the dominant theoretical perspective on face perception for more than three decades, but despite this dominance of formally and informally expressed theories, the underlying principles and extent of any division of labour remain uncertain. Here, I discuss three important sources of constraint: first, the evolved structure of the brain; second, the need to optimise responses to different everyday tasks; and third, the statistical structure of faces in the perceiver's environment. I show how these constraints interact to determine the underlying functional organisation of face and person perception.
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7
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Abstract
We used highly variable, so-called 'ambient' images to test whether expressions affect the identity recognition of real-world facial images. Using movie segments of two actors unknown to our participants, we created image pairs - each image within a pair being captured from the same film segment. This ensured that, within pairs, variables such as lighting were constant whilst expressiveness differed. We created two packs of cards, one containing neutral face images, the other, their expressive counterparts. Participants sorted the card packs into piles, one for each perceived identity. As with previous studies, the perceived number of identities was higher than the veridical number of two. Interestingly, when looking within piles, we found a strong difference between the expressive and neutral sorting tasks. With expressive faces, identity piles were significantly more likely to contain cards of both identities. This finding demonstrates that, over and above other image variables, expressiveness variability can cause identity confusion; evidently, expression is not disregarded or factored out when we classify facial identity in real-world images. Our results provide clear support for a face processing architecture in which both invariant and changeable facial information may be drawn upon to drive our decisions of identity.
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8
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Dalrymple KA, Visconti di Oleggio Castello M, Elison JT, Gobbini MI. Concurrent development of facial identity and expression discrimination. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179458. [PMID: 28617825 PMCID: PMC5472318 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 05/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial identity and facial expression processing both appear to follow a protracted developmental trajectory, yet these trajectories have been studied independently and have not been directly compared. Here we investigated whether these processes develop at the same or different rates using matched identity and expression discrimination tasks. The Identity task begins with a target face that is a morph between two identities (Identity A/Identity B). After a brief delay, the target face is replaced by two choice faces: 100% Identity A and 100% Identity B. Children 5-12-years-old were asked to pick the choice face that is most similar to the target identity. The Expression task is matched in format and difficulty to the Identity task, except the targets are morphs between two expressions (Angry/Happy, or Disgust/Surprise). The same children were asked to pick the choice face with the expression that is most similar to the target expression. There were significant effects of age, with performance improving (becoming more accurate and faster) on both tasks with increasing age. Accuracy and reaction times were not significantly different across tasks and there was no significant Age x Task interaction. Thus, facial identity and facial expression discrimination appear to develop at a similar rate, with comparable improvement on both tasks from age five to twelve. Because our tasks are so closely matched in format and difficulty, they may prove useful for testing face identity and face expression processing in special populations, such as autism or prosopagnosia, where one of these abilities might be impaired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten A. Dalrymple
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Jed T. Elison
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | - M. Ida Gobbini
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States of America
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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9
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Zamuner E, Oxner M, Hayward WG. Visual perception and visual mental imagery of emotional faces generate similar expression aftereffects. Conscious Cogn 2017; 48:171-179. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2015] [Revised: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Atkinson AP, Dittrich WH, Gemmell AJ, Young AW. Emotion Perception from Dynamic and Static Body Expressions in Point-Light and Full-Light Displays. Perception 2016; 33:717-46. [PMID: 15330366 DOI: 10.1068/p5096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 366] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Research on emotion recognition has been dominated by studies of photographs of facial expressions. A full understanding of emotion perception and its neural substrate will require investigations that employ dynamic displays and means of expression other than the face. Our aims were: (i) to develop a set of dynamic and static whole-body expressions of basic emotions for systematic investigations of clinical populations, and for use in functional-imaging studies; (ii) to assess forced-choice emotion-classification performance with these stimuli relative to the results of previous studies; and (iii) to test the hypotheses that more exaggerated whole-body movements would produce (a) more accurate emotion classification and (b) higher ratings of emotional intensity. Ten actors portrayed 5 emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness) at 3 levels of exaggeration, with their faces covered. Two identical sets of 150 emotion portrayals (full-light and point-light) were created from the same digital footage, along with corresponding static images of the ‘peak’ of each emotion portrayal. Recognition tasks confirmed previous findings that basic emotions are readily identifiable from body movements, even when static form information is minimised by use of point-light displays, and that full-light and even point-light displays can convey identifiable emotions, though rather less efficiently than dynamic displays. Recognition success differed for individual emotions, corroborating earlier results about the importance of distinguishing differences in movement characteristics for different emotional expressions. The patterns of misclassifications were in keeping with earlier findings on emotional clustering. Exaggeration of body movement (a) enhanced recognition accuracy, especially for the dynamic point-light displays, but notably not for sadness, and (b) produced higher emotional-intensity ratings, regardless of lighting condition, for movies but to a lesser extent for stills, indicating that intensity judgments of body gestures rely more on movement (or form-from-movement) than static form information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony P Atkinson
- Department of Psychology, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
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11
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Park HR, Lee JM, Moon HE, Lee DS, Kim BN, Kim J, Kim DG, Paek SH. A Short Review on the Current Understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Exp Neurobiol 2016; 25:1-13. [PMID: 26924928 PMCID: PMC4766109 DOI: 10.5607/en.2016.25.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by a deficit in social behaviors and nonverbal interactions such as reduced eye contact, facial expression, and body gestures in the first 3 years of life. It is not a single disorder, and it is broadly considered to be a multi-factorial disorder resulting from genetic and non-genetic risk factors and their interaction. Genetic studies of ASD have identified mutations that interfere with typical neurodevelopment in utero through childhood. These complexes of genes have been involved in synaptogenesis and axon motility. Recent developments in neuroimaging studies have provided many important insights into the pathological changes that occur in the brain of patients with ASD in vivo. Especially, the role of amygdala, a major component of the limbic system and the affective loop of the cortico-striatothalamo-cortical circuit, in cognition and ASD has been proved in numerous neuropathological and neuroimaging studies. Besides the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens is also considered as the key structure which is related with the social reward response in ASD. Although educational and behavioral treatments have been the mainstay of the management of ASD, pharmacological and interventional treatments have also shown some benefit in subjects with ASD. Also, there have been reports about few patients who experienced improvement after deep brain stimulation, one of the interventional treatments. The key architecture of ASD development which could be a target for treatment is still an uncharted territory. Further work is needed to broaden the horizons on the understanding of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hye Ran Park
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Jae Meen Lee
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Hyo Eun Moon
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Dong Soo Lee
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Bung-Nyun Kim
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Jinhyun Kim
- Center for Functional Connectomics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Korea
| | - Dong Gyu Kim
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Sun Ha Paek
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea
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12
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Monti G, Meletti S. Emotion recognition in temporal lobe epilepsy: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 55:280-93. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2014] [Revised: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 05/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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13
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Bruneau EG, Jacoby N, Saxe R. Empathic control through coordinated interaction of amygdala, theory of mind and extended pain matrix brain regions. Neuroimage 2015; 114:105-19. [PMID: 25913703 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Revised: 03/24/2015] [Accepted: 04/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain regions in the "pain matrix", can be activated by observing or reading about others in physical pain. In previous research, we found that reading stories about others' emotional suffering, by contrast, recruits a different group of brain regions mostly associated with thinking about others' minds. In the current study, we examined the neural circuits responsible for deliberately regulating empathic responses to others' pain and suffering. In Study 1, a sample of college-aged participants (n=18) read stories about physically painful and emotionally distressing events during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), while either actively empathizing with the main character or trying to remain objective. In Study 2, the same experiment was performed with professional social workers, who are chronically exposed to human suffering (n=21). Across both studies activity in the amygdala was associated with empathic regulation towards others' emotional pain, but not their physical pain. In addition, psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis and Granger causal modeling (GCM) showed that amygdala activity while reading about others' emotional pain was preceded by and positively coupled with activity in the theory of mind brain regions, and followed by and negatively coupled with activity in regions associated with physical pain and bodily sensations. Previous work has shown that the amygdala is critically involved in the deliberate control of self-focused distress - the current results extend the central importance of amygdala activity to the control of other-focused empathy, but only when considering others' emotional pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emile G Bruneau
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA.
| | - Nir Jacoby
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
| | - Rebecca Saxe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
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14
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Mattavelli G, Sormaz M, Flack T, Asghar AUR, Fan S, Frey J, Manssuer L, Usten D, Young AW, Andrews TJ. Neural responses to facial expressions support the role of the amygdala in processing threat. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 9:1684-9. [PMID: 24097376 PMCID: PMC4221207 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2013] [Revised: 09/23/2013] [Accepted: 09/30/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala is known to play an important role in the response to facial expressions that convey fear. However, it remains unclear whether the amygdala's response to fear reflects its role in the interpretation of danger and threat, or whether it is to some extent activated by all facial expressions of emotion. Previous attempts to address this issue using neuroimaging have been confounded by differences in the use of control stimuli across studies. Here, we address this issue using a block design functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, in which we compared the response to face images posing expressions of fear, anger, happiness, disgust and sadness with a range of control conditions. The responses in the amygdala to different facial expressions were compared with the responses to a non-face condition (buildings), to mildly happy faces and to neutral faces. Results showed that only fear and anger elicited significantly greater responses compared with the control conditions involving faces. Overall, these findings are consistent with the role of the amygdala in processing threat, rather than in the processing of all facial expressions of emotion, and demonstrate the critical importance of the choice of comparison condition to the pattern of results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Mattavelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Mladen Sormaz
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Tessa Flack
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Aziz U R Asghar
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Siyan Fan
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Julia Frey
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Luis Manssuer
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Deniz Usten
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Andrew W Young
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
| | - Timothy J Andrews
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York YO10 5NY, UK, Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK, and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Hull, UK
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Sheardova K, Laczó J, Vyhnalek M, Andel R, Mokrisova I, Vlcek K, Amlerova J, Hort J. Famous landmark identification in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. PLoS One 2014; 9:e105623. [PMID: 25144755 PMCID: PMC4140812 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identification of famous landmarks (FLI), famous faces (FFI) and recognition of facial emotions (FER) is affected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). FFI, FER and FLI may represent domain specific tasks relying on activation of distinct regions of the medial temporal lobe, which are affected successively during the course of AD. However, the data on FFI and FER in MCI are controversial and FLI domain remains almost unexplored. OBJECTIVES To determine whether and how are these three specific domains impaired in head to head comparison of patients with amnestic MCI (aMCI) single domain (SD-aMCI) and multiple domain (MD-aMCI). We propose that FLI might be most reliable in differentiating SD-aMCI, which is considered to be an earlier stage of AD pathology spread out, from the controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 114 patients, 13 with single domain (SD-aMCI) and 30 with multiple domains (MD-aMCI), 29 with mild AD and 42 controls underwent standard neurological and neuropsychological evaluations as well as tests of FLI, FER and FFI. RESULTS Compared to the control group, AD subjects performed worse on FFI (p = 0.020), FER (p<0.001) and FLI (p<0.001), MD-aMCI group had significantly worse scores only on FLI (p = 0.002) and approached statistical significance on FER (0.053). SD-aMCI group performed significantly worse only on FLI (p = 0.028) compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS Patients with SD-aMCI had an isolated impairment restricted to FLI, while patients with MD-aMCI showed impairment in FLI as well as in FER. Patients with mild dementia due to AD have more extensive impairment of higher visual perception. The results suggest that FLI testing may contribute to identification of patients at risk of AD. We hypothesize that clinical examination of all three domains might reflect the spread of the disease from transentorhinal cortex, over amygdala to fusiform gyrus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Sheardova
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Laczó
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Vyhnalek
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ross Andel
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States of America
| | - Ivana Mokrisova
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Kamil Vlcek
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Neurophysiology of Memory, Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Amlerova
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Hort
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
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16
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Wolf RC, Philippi CL, Motzkin JC, Baskaya MK, Koenigs M. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex mediates visual attention during facial emotion recognition. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 137:1772-80. [PMID: 24691392 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is known to play a crucial role in regulating human social and emotional behaviour, yet the precise mechanisms by which it subserves this broad function remain unclear. Whereas previous neuropsychological studies have largely focused on the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in higher-order deliberative processes related to valuation and decision-making, here we test whether ventromedial prefrontal cortex may also be critical for more basic aspects of orienting attention to socially and emotionally meaningful stimuli. Using eye tracking during a test of facial emotion recognition in a sample of lesion patients, we show that bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage impairs visual attention to the eye regions of faces, particularly for fearful faces. This finding demonstrates a heretofore unrecognized function of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex-the basic attentional process of controlling eye movements to faces expressing emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard C Wolf
- 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin, 53719, USA2 Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Carissa L Philippi
- 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin, 53719, USA
| | - Julian C Motzkin
- 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin, 53719, USA2 Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA3 Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 750 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53705, USA
| | - Mustafa K Baskaya
- 4 Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53792, USA
| | - Michael Koenigs
- 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin, 53719, USA
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17
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Calabrese P, Markowitsch HJ, Carota A. The Perception of Facial Emotions - Cues from the Left Amygdaloid Complex. Eur Neurol 2014; 71:242-6. [DOI: 10.1159/000357204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2013] [Accepted: 11/10/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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18
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Varjassyová A, Hořínek D, Andel R, Amlerova J, Laczó J, Sheardová K, Magerová H, Holmerová I, Vyhnálek M, Bradáč O, Geda YE, Hort J. Recognition of facial emotional expression in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. J Alzheimers Dis 2013; 33:273-80. [PMID: 22954669 PMCID: PMC3918473 DOI: 10.3233/jad-2012-120148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
We examined whether recognition of facial emotional expression would be affected in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). A total of 50 elderly persons met the initial inclusion criteria; 10 were subsequently excluded (Geriatric Depression Score > 5). 22 subjects were classified with aMCI based on published criteria (single domain aMCI [SD-aMCI], n = 10; multiple domain aMCI [MD-aMCI], n = 12); 18 subjects were cognitively normal. All underwent standard neurological and neuropsychological evaluations as well as tests of facial emotion recognition (FER) and famous faces identification (FFI). Among normal controls, FFI was negatively correlated with Mini-Mental Status Examination scores and positively correlated with executive function. Among patients with aMCI, FER was correlated with attention/speed of processing. No other correlations were significant. In a multinomial logistic regression model adjusted for age, gender, and education, a poorer score on FER, but not on FFI, was associated with greater odds of being classified as MD-aMCI (odds ratio [OR], 3.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-13.91; p = 0.042). This association was not explained by memory or global cognitive score. There was no association between FER or FFI and SD-aMCI (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.36-3.57; p = 0.836). Therefore, FER, but not FFI, may be impaired in MD-aMCI. This implies that in MD-aMCI, the tasks of FER and FFI may involve segregated neurocognitive networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Varjassyová
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Hořínek
- Department of Neurosurgery, 1 Medical School, Charles University and Central Military Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Neurosurgery, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Ross Andel
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Jana Amlerova
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Laczó
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Kateřina Sheardová
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Magerová
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Martin Vyhnálek
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Bradáč
- Department of Neurosurgery, 1 Medical School, Charles University and Central Military Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Yonas E. Geda
- Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, Neurology, and Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Hort
- Memory Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
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19
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Balconi M, Pozzoli U. Encoding of Emotional Facial Expressions in Direct and Incidental Tasks: An Event-Related Potentials N200 Effect. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/10874208.2012.677659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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20
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Lauvin MA, Martineau J, Destrieux C, Andersson F, Bonnet-Brilhault F, Gomot M, El-Hage W, Cottier JP. Functional morphological imaging of autism spectrum disorders: Current position and theories proposed. Diagn Interv Imaging 2012; 93:139-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.diii.2012.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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21
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Bowen R, McDonald S. Recognition of Natural Expressions of Emotion by CVA Patients with Damage to the Left or Right Hemisphere. BRAIN IMPAIR 2012. [DOI: 10.1375/brim.3.1.42] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe present study investigated the ability of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) patients to perceive emotions portrayed by realistic stimuli. Statistical analyses demonstrated that CVA patients with damage to either the right or left cerebral hemisphere performed, on average, as well as controls did in perceiving emotions. However, a case study of one patient suggested that there may be a subset of CVA patients with right parieto-occipital damage who have deficits in the perception of negative emotions. The performance of this participant also indicated that deficits in emotion perception are ameliorated to some extent when patients are provided with realistic, complex stimuli that include a range of auditory and visual cues.
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22
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Foley E, Rippon G, Thai NJ, Longe O, Senior C. Dynamic Facial Expressions Evoke Distinct Activation in the Face Perception Network: A Connectivity Analysis Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2012; 24:507-20. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Very little is known about the neural structures involved in the perception of realistic dynamic facial expressions. In the present study, a unique set of naturalistic dynamic facial emotional expressions was created. Through fMRI and connectivity analysis, a dynamic face perception network was identified, which is demonstrated to extend Haxby et al.'s [Haxby, J. V., Hoffman, E. A., & Gobbini, M. I. The distributed human neural system for face perception. Trends in Cognitive Science, 4, 223–233, 2000] distributed neural system for face perception. This network includes early visual regions, such as the inferior occipital gyrus, which is identified as insensitive to motion or affect but sensitive to the visual stimulus, the STS, identified as specifically sensitive to motion, and the amygdala, recruited to process affect. Measures of effective connectivity between these regions revealed that dynamic facial stimuli were associated with specific increases in connectivity between early visual regions, such as the inferior occipital gyrus and the STS, along with coupling between the STS and the amygdala, as well as the inferior frontal gyrus. These findings support the presence of a distributed network of cortical regions that mediate the perception of different dynamic facial expressions.
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23
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Meletti S, Cantalupo G, Benuzzi F, Mai R, Tassi L, Gasparini E, Tassinari CA, Nichelli P. Fear and happiness in the eyes: an intra-cerebral event-related potential study from the human amygdala. Neuropsychologia 2011; 50:44-54. [PMID: 22056505 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2011] [Revised: 10/15/2011] [Accepted: 10/20/2011] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
We present the response pattern of intracranial event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded from depth-electrodes in the human amygdala (four patients) to faces or face parts encoding fearful, happy or neutral expressions. The amygdala showed increased amplitude ERPs (from 200 to 400 ms post-stimulus) in response to the eye region of the face compared to whole faces and to the mouth region. In particular, a strong emotional valence effect was observed, both at group and at single-subject level, with a preferential response to fearful eyes respect to every other stimulus category from 200 to 400 ms after stimulus presentation. A preferential response to smiling eyes compared to happy faces and smiling mouths was also observed at group level from 300 to 400 ms post-stimulus presentation. A complementary time-frequency analysis was performed showing that an increase in the theta frequency band (4-7 Hz) accounted for the main event-related band power (ERBP) change during the 200-500 ms post stimulus interval. The analysis of the ERBPs changes according to their emotional valence showed a strong increase in theta ERBP to fearful eyes, which was higher respect to any other facial stimulus. Moreover, theta ERBP increase to "smiling eyes" was larger respect with that evoked by smiling mouths and whole happy faces. Minimal post-stimulus ERBPs changes were evoked by neutral stimuli. These data are consistent with a special role of the amygdala in processing facial signals, both with negative and positive valence, conveyed by the eye region of the face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Meletti
- Dept. Neuroscience, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Nuovo Ospedale Civile Sant'Agostino Estense, Via Giardini 41100 Modena, Italy.
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24
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Narme P, Bonnet AM, Dubois B, Chaby L. Understanding facial emotion perception in Parkinson's disease: The role of configural processing. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:3295-302. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2010] [Revised: 06/28/2011] [Accepted: 08/04/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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25
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Early processing of emotional faces in children with autism: An event-related potential study. J Exp Child Psychol 2011; 109:430-44. [PMID: 21458825 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2011.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2010] [Revised: 02/03/2011] [Accepted: 02/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Social deficits are one of the most striking manifestations of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Among these social deficits, the recognition and understanding of emotional facial expressions has been widely reported to be affected in ASDs. We investigated emotional face processing in children with and without autism using event-related potentials (ERPs). High-functioning children with autism (n=15, mean age=10.5±3.3 years) completed an implicit emotional task while visual ERPs were recorded. Two groups of typically developing children (chronological age-matched and verbal equivalent age-matched [both ns=15, mean age=7.7±3.8 years]) also participated in this study. The early ERP responses to faces (P1 and N170) were delayed, and the P1 was smaller in children with autism than in typically developing children of the same chronological age, revealing that the first stages of emotional face processing are affected in autism. However, when matched by verbal equivalent age, only P1 amplitude remained affected in autism. Our results suggest that the emotional and facial processing difficulties in autism could start from atypicalities in visual perceptual processes involving rapid feedback to primary visual areas and subsequent holistic processing.
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26
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Föcker J, Hölig C, Best A, Röder B. Crossmodal interaction of facial and vocal person identity information: An event-related potential study. Brain Res 2011; 1385:229-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.02.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2010] [Revised: 10/14/2010] [Accepted: 02/09/2011] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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27
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Belger A, Carpenter KLH, Yucel GH, Cleary KM, Donkers FCL. The neural circuitry of autism. Neurotox Res 2011; 20:201-14. [PMID: 21213096 DOI: 10.1007/s12640-010-9234-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2010] [Revised: 11/10/2010] [Accepted: 11/10/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by deficits in social emotional, and language domains, as well as repetitive restrictive behaviors. The vast heterogeneity of the clinical and behavioral symptoms has made it rather difficult to delineate the neural circuitry affiliated with these domains of dysfunction. The current review aims at broadly outlining the latest research into the neurobiology and neural circuitry underlying the core domains of deficits in autism. We further discuss new avenues of research that can further our understanding of the dimensions of this complex disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aysenil Belger
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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28
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Paul LK, Corsello C, Tranel D, Adolphs R. Does bilateral damage to the human amygdala produce autistic symptoms? J Neurodev Disord 2010; 2:165-173. [PMID: 20700516 PMCID: PMC2914867 DOI: 10.1007/s11689-010-9056-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2010] [Accepted: 06/25/2010] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
A leading neurological hypothesis for autism postulates amygdala dysfunction. This hypothesis has considerable support from anatomical and neuroimaging studies. Individuals with bilateral amygdala lesions show impairments in some aspects of social cognition. These impairments bear intriguing similarity to those reported in people with autism, such as impaired recognition of emotion in faces, impaired theory of mind abilities, failure to fixate eyes in faces, and difficulties in regulating personal space distance to others. Yet such neurological cases have never before been assessed directly to see if they meet criteria for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here we undertook such an investigation in two rare participants with developmental-onset bilateral amygdala lesions. We administered a comprehensive clinical examination, as well as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), together with several other standardized questionnaires. Results from the two individuals with amygdala lesions were compared with published norms from both healthy populations as well as from people with ASD. Neither participant with amygdala lesions showed any evidence of autism across the array of different measures. The findings demonstrate that amygdala lesions in isolation are not sufficient for producing autistic symptoms. We suggest instead that it may be abnormal connectivity between the amygdala and other structures that contributes to autistic symptoms at a network level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynn K. Paul
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
| | | | - Daniel Tranel
- Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA USA
| | - Ralph Adolphs
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
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Abstract
The amygdala has received intense recent attention from neuroscientists investigating its function at the molecular, cellular, systems, cognitive, and clinical level. It clearly contributes to processing emotionally and socially relevant information, yet a unifying description and computational account have been lacking. The difficulty of tying together the various studies stems in part from the sheer diversity of approaches and species studied, in part from the amygdala's inherent heterogeneity in terms of its component nuclei, and in part because different investigators have simply been interested in different topics. Yet, a synthesis now seems close at hand in combining new results from social neuroscience with data from neuroeconomics and reward learning. The amygdala processes a psychological stimulus dimension related to saliency or relevance; mechanisms have been identified to link it to processing unpredictability; and insights from reward learning have situated it within a network of structures that include the prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum in processing the current value of stimuli. These aspects help to clarify the amygdala's contributions to recognizing emotion from faces, to social behavior toward conspecifics, and to reward learning and instrumental behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralph Adolphs
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
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30
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Rademacher L, Krach S, Kohls G, Irmak A, Gründer G, Spreckelmeyer KN. Dissociation of neural networks for anticipation and consumption of monetary and social rewards. Neuroimage 2009; 49:3276-85. [PMID: 19913621 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 236] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2009] [Revised: 10/28/2009] [Accepted: 10/30/2009] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Human behaviour is generally guided by the anticipation of potential outcomes that are considered to be rewarding. Reward processing can thus be dissected into a phase of reward anticipation and a phase of reward consumption. A number of brain structures have been suggested to be involved in reward processing. However, it is unclear whether anticipation and consumption are mediated by the same or different neural networks. We examined the neural basis of these processes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an incentive delay task offering either money or social approval. In both conditions participants (N=28) were given a cue indicating potential reward. In order to receive reward a target button had to be pushed within a certain time window (adapted for individual reaction time). Cues triggering either monetary or social reward anticipation were presented sessionwise. Imaging was performed on a 1.5-Tesla Philips scanner in an event-related design. Anticipation of both reward types activated brain structures constituting the brain reward system including the ventral striatum. In contrast to the task independent activity in the anticipation phase, reward consumption evoked different patterns of activation for money and social approval, respectively. While social stimuli were mainly associated with amygdala activation, the thalamus was more strongly activated by the presentation of monetary rewards. Our results identify dissociable neural networks for the anticipation and consumption of reward. The findings implicate that the neural mechanisms underlying reward consumption are more modality-specific than those for reward anticipation, and that they are mediated by subjective reward value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Rademacher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, and JARA-Translational Brain Medicine, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
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Yang Y, Raine A, Narr KL, Colletti P, Toga AW. Localization of deformations within the amygdala in individuals with psychopathy. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009; 66:986-94. [PMID: 19736355 DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 185] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Despite the repeated findings of impaired fear conditioning and affective recognition in psychopathic individuals, there has been a paucity of brain imaging research on the amygdala and no evidence suggesting which regions within the amygdala may be structurally compromised in individuals with psychopathy. OBJECTIVE To detect global and regional anatomical abnormalities in the amygdala in individuals with psychopathy. DESIGN Cross-sectional design using structural magnetic resonance imaging. SETTING Participants were recruited from high-risk communities (temporary employment agencies) in the Los Angeles, California, area and underwent imaging at a hospital research facility at the University of Southern California. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-seven psychopathic individuals as defined by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and 32 normal controls matched on age, sex, and ethnicity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Amygdala volumes were examined using traditional volumetric analyses and surface-based mesh modeling methods were used to localize regional surface deformations. RESULTS Individuals with psychopathy showed significant bilateral volume reductions in the amygdala compared with controls (left, 17.1%; right, 18.9%). Surface deformations were localized in regions in the approximate vicinity of the basolateral, lateral, cortical, and central nuclei of the amygdala. Significant correlations were found between reduced amygdala volumes and increased total and facet psychopathy scores, with correlations strongest for the affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy. CONCLUSIONS Results provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of focal amygdala abnormalities in psychopathic individuals and corroborate findings from previous lesion studies. Findings support prior hypotheses of amygdala deficits in individuals with psychopathy and indicate that amygdala abnormalities contribute to emotional and behavioral symptoms of psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaling Yang
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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32
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Abstract
Autism spectrum conditions are neuro-developmental syndromes with strong heritability. Cognitive theories have had some success in explaining why the cluster of features should co-occur. Empathizing deficits have the potential to make sense of one triad of impairments (social difficulties, communication difficulties and imagining others' minds), and may have a brain basis in the amygdala and left medial frontal cortex. A strong systemizing drive may account for a distinct triad of strengths (good attention to detail, deep, narrow interests and islets of ability). The brain basis of systemizing is yet to be understood. Family genetics studies suggest that these same cognitive dimensions (reduced empathizing alongside a strong drive to systemize) may also characterize the 'broader phenotype' among first-degree relatives. Molecular genetic studies are underway and any candidate genes for autism will ultimately need to be tested in relation to the observed differences in the brain, cognition and behaviour. The ethics of genetic screening or gene therapy should be thought about well ahead of these becoming available, since there is by no means any consensus that these would be desirable given the wide range of phenotypic traits, not all of which are disabling. Future research will need to focus on evaluating the extent to which any form of intervention reduces the triad of impairments whilst supporting the triad of strengths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
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van de Riet WAC, Grèzes J, de Gelder B. Specific and common brain regions involved in the perception of faces and bodies and the representation of their emotional expressions. Soc Neurosci 2009; 4:101-20. [DOI: 10.1080/17470910701865367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Carter EJ, Pelphrey KA. Friend or foe? Brain systems involved in the perception of dynamic signals of menacing and friendly social approaches. Soc Neurosci 2008; 3:151-63. [PMID: 18633856 DOI: 10.1080/17470910801903431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
During every social approach, humans must assess each other's intentions. Facial expressions provide cues to assist in these assessments via associations with emotion, the likelihood of affiliation, and personality. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants viewed animated male characters approaching them in a hallway and making either a happy or an angry facial expression. An expected increase in amygdala and superior temporal sulcus activation to the expression of anger was found. Notably, two other social brain regions also had an increased hemodynamic response to anger relative to happiness, including the lateral fusiform gyrus and a region centered in the middle temporal gyrus. Other brain regions showed little differentiation or an increased level of activity to the happy stimuli. These findings provide insight into the brain mechanisms involved in reading the intentions of other human beings in an overtly social context. In particular, they demonstrate brain regions sensitive to social signals of dominance and affiliation.
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36
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Levy Y, Bentin S. Interactive processes in matching identity and expressions of unfamiliar faces: evidence for mutual facilitation effects. Perception 2008; 37:915-30. [PMID: 18686710 DOI: 10.1068/p5925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the interactions between matching identity and expressions of unfamiliar faces. In experiment 1, participants matched expressions in frontal and in oblique views, while we manipulated facial identity. In experiment 2, participants matched identity in frontal and in oblique views, while facial expressions were manipulated. Labeling of expressions was not required. Results showed mutual facilitation between matching facial identity and facial expressions, in accuracy as well as in reaction times. Thus, matching expressions was better and faster for same-identity images in oblique as well as in frontal views (experiment 1), and matching identity was better and faster for same-expression images in oblique as well as in frontal views (experiment 2). The discussion focuses on the implications of these results for the structural encoding of facial identity and facial expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonata Levy
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel.
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Johnston L, Miles L, McKinlay A. A critical review of the eyes test as a measure of social-cognitive impairment. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2008. [DOI: 10.1080/00049530701449521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Johnston
- Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Lynden Miles
- Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Audrey McKinlay
- Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Mpakopoulou M, Gatos H, Brotis A, Paterakis KN, Fountas KN. Stereotactic amygdalotomy in the management of severe aggressive behavioral disorders. Neurosurg Focus 2008; 25:E6. [PMID: 18590383 DOI: 10.3171/foc/2008/25/7/e6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECT Stereotactic amygdalotomy has been utilized as a surgical treatment for severe aggressive behavioral disorders. Several clinical studies have been reported since the first description of the procedure. In the current study, the authors reviewed the literature and evaluated the surgical results, neuropsychological outcome, and complication rate in patients who had undergone stereotactic amygdalotomy for severe aggressive behavioral disorders. METHODS The PubMed database was searched using the following terms: "amygdalotomy," "amygdalectomy," "amygdaloidectomy," "psychosurgery," "aggressive disorder," and "behavioral disorder." Clinical series with more than 5 patients undergoing stereotactic amygdalotomy for aggressive or other behavioral disorders were included in this review. The surgical technique, anatomical target, improvement in psychiatric symptomatology, postoperative employment and social rehabilitation, postoperative neurocognitive function, procedure-related complications, and long-term follow-up were evaluated. RESULTS Thirteen clinical studies met our inclusion criteria. Reported postoperative improvement in aggressive behavior varied between 33 and 100%. Procedure-related complication rates ranged from 0 to 42%, whereas the mortality rate was as high as 3.8%. In the majority of the reviewed clinical series, the performance of stereotactic amygdalotomy did not compromise a patient's learning, language, and intellectual capabilities. The long-term follow-up, although very limited, revealed that initially observed improvement was maintained in most cases. CONCLUSIONS Stereotactic amygdalotomy can be considered a valid surgical treatment option for carefully selected patients with medically refractory aggressive behavioral disorders. Recent advances in imaging and stereotactic navigation can further improve outcome and minimize the complication rate associated with this psychosurgical procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Mpakopoulou
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Larissa, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
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39
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Alam M, Barrett KC, Hodapp RM, Arndt KA. Botulinum toxin and the facial feedback hypothesis: Can looking better make you feel happier? J Am Acad Dermatol 2008; 58:1061-72. [PMID: 18485989 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2007.10.649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2005] [Revised: 10/08/2007] [Accepted: 10/29/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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40
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Decreased differential activity in the amygdala in response to fearful expressions in Type D personality. Neurophysiol Clin 2008; 38:163-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2008.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2008] [Accepted: 03/09/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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41
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Goukon A, Noguchi K, Hosokawa T. Is processing emotional signals necessary for performance on tasks requiring understanding a "theory of mind". Psychol Rep 2008; 101:469-74. [PMID: 18175486 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.101.2.469-474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In this case study, HY had lived in a persistent vegetative state for 6 years after onset of encephalitis at age 10. His processing of emotionally and socially meaningful information was impaired by the age of 20, as it is in individuals with amygdala damage; however, his performance on tasks requiring understanding a "theory of mind" improved by age 22. A series of responses to photographs of facial expressions and to a gambling task were obtained to evaluate his functioning related to the amygdala. He was particularly impaired in recognizing fear. One may tentatively suggest that processing emotional signals, i.e., functioning related to the amygdala, may not play an important role in the neural systems supporting development of understanding a "theory of mind".
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumu Goukon
- Faculty of Education, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu-shi 514-8507, Japan
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42
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Dobel C, Geiger L, Bruchmann M, Putsche C, Schweinberger SR, Junghöfer M. On the interplay between familiarity and emotional expression in face perception. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2007; 72:580-6. [PMID: 18066587 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-007-0132-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2006] [Accepted: 11/20/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Traditional models of face perception (e.g. Bruce and Young 1986) stress independent routes for processing identity and emotional expression. We investigated the interplay between familiarity and emotional expression by systematically varying both factors. In contrast to earlier studies which used binary forced-choice decisions, participants had to judge the familiarity of the presented face and the emotional hedonic valence and emotional arousal of its expressed emotion (angry, happy or neutral), using rating scales. The results demonstrated symmetric, strong interactions between familiarity and expressed emotion. Thus, this study supports more recent models of face perception (Haxby et al. 2000) that were mostly based on brain imaging data. These data together with our behavioural results emphasize the interaction of emotional expression and personal identity and support approaches that propose a relative segregation of these processes, rather than completely independent coding (Calder and Young 2005).
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Dobel
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany.
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43
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Balconi M. Exploring consciousness in emotional face decoding: an event-related potential analysis. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007; 132:129-50. [PMID: 17663356 DOI: 10.3200/mono.132.2.129-150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The author analyzed the role of consciousness in emotional face comprehension. The author recorded psychophysiological measures of event-related potentials (ERPs), elicited by supraliminal and subliminal stimuli when participants viewed emotional facial expressions of 4 emotions or neutral stimuli. The author analyzed an ERP emotion-specific effect (N200 peak variation; temporal interval was 180-300 ms poststimulus) in terms of peak amplitude and latency variables. The results indicated 4 important findings. First, there was an emotional-specific ERP deflection only for emotional stimuli, not for neutral stimuli. Second, the unaware information processing was quite similar to that of aware in terms of peak morphology, but not in terms of latency. In fact, unconscious stimulation produced a more delayed peak variation than did conscious stimulation. Third, valence of facial stimulus (positive or negative) was supraliminally and subliminally decoded because it was showed by differences of peak deflection between negative high arousing (fear and anger) and low arousing (happiness, sadness, and neutral) stimuli. Finally, the author found a more posterior distribution of ERP as a function of emotional content of the stimulus. Cortical lateralization (right or left) was not correlated to conscious or unconscious stimulation. The author discussed the functional significance of her results in terms of supraliminal and subliminal conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Balconi
- Department of Psychology Catholic University of Milan, Italy.
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44
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Adolphs R. Recognizing emotion from facial expressions: psychological and neurological mechanisms. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007; 1:21-62. [PMID: 17715585 DOI: 10.1177/1534582302001001003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 748] [Impact Index Per Article: 44.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Recognizing emotion from facial expressions draws on diverse psychological processes implemented in a large array of neural structures. Studies using evoked potentials, lesions, and functional imaging have begun to elucidate some of the mechanisms. Early perceptual processing of faces draws on cortices in occipital and temporal lobes that construct detailed representations from the configuration of facial features. Subsequent recognition requires a set of structures, including amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, that links perceptual representations of the face to the generation of knowledge about the emotion signaled, a complex set of mechanisms using multiple strategies. Although recent studies have provided a wealth of detail regarding these mechanisms in the adult human brain, investigations are also being extended to nonhuman primates, to infants, and to patients with psychiatric disorders.
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45
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Loveland KA, Bachevalier J, Pearson DA, Lane DM. Fronto-limbic functioning in children and adolescents with and without autism. Neuropsychologia 2007; 46:49-62. [PMID: 17936314 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2006] [Revised: 08/08/2007] [Accepted: 08/18/2007] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We used neuropsychological tasks to investigate integrity of brain circuits linking orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala (orbitofrontal-amygdala), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus), in 138 individuals aged 7-18 years, with and without autism. We predicted that performance on orbitofrontal-amygdala tasks would be poorer in the Autism group compared to the Non-Autism group regardless of intellectual level (verbal mental age, VMA) and that performance on dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus tasks would be associated primarily with intellectual level. Predicted differences between Autism and Non-Autism groups on orbitofrontal-amygdala tasks were present but greater in individuals with higher VMA. On dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus tasks, poorer performance by the Autism compared to the Non-Autism group was found at all VMA levels. Group differences suggest both brain circuits are impaired in autism, but performance on all tasks is also associated with intellectual level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine A Loveland
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77030, United States.
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46
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Matsumoto D. Emotion judgments do not differ as a function of perceived nationality. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2007. [DOI: 10.1080/00207590601050926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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47
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Fountas KN, Smith JR, Lee GP. Bilateral Stereotactic Amygdalotomy for Self-Mutilation Disorder. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2007; 85:121-8. [PMID: 17228178 DOI: 10.1159/000098527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Bilateral stereotactic amygdalotomy for the management of patients with severe aggressive behavior disturbances was first introduced by Hideki Narabayashi in 1961. Since then, more than 500 cases have been reported in scientific literature, with a variety of cited behavior improvement rates. The advances of psychopharmacology along with the existent skepticism of the medical community in regards to psychosurgery have resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of amygdalotomies performed worldwide. In our current communication, we report a case of bilateral stereotactic amygdalotomy for a medically refractory self-mutilation disorder. We also review the pertinent literature with an emphasis on the selection of the most appropriate anatomical targets, the procedure-related complications and the outcomes of this occasionally helpful procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kostas N Fountas
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA.
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48
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GOUKON AYUMU. IS PROCESSING EMOTIONAL SIGNALS NECESSARY FOR PERFORMANCE ON TASKS REQUIRING UNDERSTANDING A "THEORY OF MIND". Psychol Rep 2007. [DOI: 10.2466/pr0.101.6.469-474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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49
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Kim SE, Kim JW, Kim JJ, Jeong BS, Choi EA, Jeong YG, Kim JH, Ku J, Ki SW. The neural mechanism of imagining facial affective expression. Brain Res 2006; 1145:128-37. [PMID: 17359942 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.12.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2006] [Revised: 09/10/2006] [Accepted: 12/08/2006] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
To react appropriately in social relationships, we have a tendency to simulate how others think of us through mental imagery. In particular, simulating other people's facial affective expressions through imagery in social situations enables us to enact vivid affective responses, which may be inducible from other people's affective responses that are predicted as results of our mental imagery of future behaviors. Therefore, this ability is an important cognitive feature of diverse advanced social cognition in humans. We used functional magnetic imaging to examine brain activation during the imagery of emotional facial expressions as compared to neutral facial expressions. Twenty-one right-handed subjects participated in this study. We observed the activation of the amygdala during the imagining of emotional facial affect versus the imagining of neutral facial affects. In addition, we also observed the activation of several areas of the brain, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral premotor cortex, superior temporal sulcus, parahippocampal gyrus, lingual gyrus, and the midbrain. Our results suggest that the areas of the brain known to be involved in the actual perception of affective facial expressions are also implicated in the imagery of affective facial expressions. In particular, given that the processing of information concerning the facial patterning of different emotions and the enactment of behavioral responses, such as autonomic arousal, are central components of the imagery of emotional facial expressions, we postulate the central role of the amygdala in the imagery of emotional facial expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Eun Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Konyang University, 685 Gasoowon-Dong, Seo-Gu, Daejeon, and Republic of Korea
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50
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Sambataro F, Dimalta S, Di Giorgio A, Taurisano P, Blasi G, Scarabino T, Giannatempo G, Nardini M, Bertolino A. Preferential responses in amygdala and insula during presentation of facial contempt and disgust. Eur J Neurosci 2006; 24:2355-62. [PMID: 17042790 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.05120.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Some authors consider contempt to be a basic emotion while others consider it a variant of disgust. The neural correlates of contempt have not so far been specifically contrasted with disgust. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural networks involved in the processing of facial contempt and disgust in 24 healthy subjects. Facial recognition of contempt was lower than that of disgust and of neutral faces. The imaging data indicated significant activity in the amygdala and in globus pallidus and putamen during processing of contemptuous faces. Bilateral insula and caudate nuclei and left as well as right inferior frontal gyrus were engaged during processing of disgusted faces. Moreover, direct comparisons of contempt vs. disgust yielded significantly different activations in the amygdala. On the other hand, disgusted faces elicited greater activation than contemptuous faces in the right insula and caudate. Our findings suggest preferential involvement of different neural substrates in the processing of facial emotional expressions of contempt and disgust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Sambataro
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 9, 70124 Bari, Italy
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