Amygdala responses to valence and its interaction by arousal revealed by MEG

Spatiotemporal responses to emotional conflict and its psychiatric correlates in adolescents with epilepsy using magnetoencephalography

People with epilepsy often suffer from comorbid psychiatric disorders, which negatively affects their quality of life. Emotion regulation is an important cognitive process that is impaired in individuals with psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Adults with epilepsy also show difficulties in emotion regulation, particularly during later-stage, higher-order cognitive processing. Yet, the spatiotemporal and frequency correlates of these functional brain deficits in epilepsy remain unknown, as do the nature of these deficits in adolescent epilepsy. Here, we aim to elucidate the spatiotemporal profile of emotional conflict processing in adolescents with epilepsy, relative to controls, using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and relate these findings to anxiety and depression symptom severity assessed with self-report scales. We hypothesized to see blunted brain activity during emotional conflict in adolescents with epilepsy, relative to controls, in the posterior parietal, prefrontal and cingulate cortices due to their role in explicit and implicit regulation around participant response (500-1000 ms). We analyzed MEG recordings from 53 adolescents (28 epilepsy [14focal,14generalized], 25 controls) during an emotional conflict task. We showed that while controls exhibited behavioral interference to emotional conflict, adolescents with epilepsy failed to exhibit this normative response time pattern. Adolescents with epilepsy showed blunted brain responses to emotional conflict in brain regions related to error evaluation and learning around the average response time (500-700 ms), and in regions involved in decision making during post-response monitoring (800-1000 ms). Interestingly, behavioral patterns and psychiatric symptom severity varied between epilepsy subgroups, wherein those with focal epilepsy showed preserved response time interference. Thus, brain responses were regressed with depression and anxiety levels for each epilepsy subgroup separately. Analyses revealed that under activation in error evaluation regions (500-600 ms) predicted anxiety and depression in focal epilepsy, while regions related to learning (600-700 ms) predicted anxiety in generalized epilepsy, suggesting differential mechanisms of dysfunction in these subgroups. Despite similar rates of anxiety and depression across the groups, adolescents with epilepsy still exhibited deficits in emotional conflict processing in brain and behavioral responses. This suggests that these deficits may exist independently from psychopathology and may stem from underlying dysfunctions that predispose these individuals to develop both disorders. Findings such as these may provide potential targets for future research and therapies.

Emotional arousal in patients with functional movement disorders: A pupillometry study

OBJECTIVE

Pathophysiology explanations for functional movement disorders often assume a role for emotional hyperarousal. Pupillometry is a validated method for evaluation of emotional arousal by detecting changes in pupil size in response to emotional stimuli. In a case-control study design, we aimed to study objective and subjective emotional arousal using pupillometry and affective ratings. To assess attentional engagement by affective stimuli, we used videooculographic tracking of eye movement patterns (scanpath).

METHODS

Twenty-five female patients with functional movement disorders (mean age: 40.9 [SD 12.7] years) and 23 age matched healthy female controls participated in the study. Using infrared high-resolution eye-tracker, both pupil size and eye movement pattern in response to emotionally charged erotic, adventure, threat, victim, and neutral pictures were recorded along with subjective ratings of emotional valence and arousal of the presented pictures.

RESULTS

A between-group comparison showed significantly smaller pupil dilation to adventure stimuli compared to neutral stimuli in patients compared to controls (P < 0.004, bootstrap, uncorr., adj. η2 = 0.00). No significant difference in pupillary response to other stimuli and scanpath parameters was found between the groups. Patients rated significantly lower emotional arousal to erotic pictures than controls (P < 0.001, bootstrap, uncorr., adj. η2 = 0.09).

CONCLUSION

This study did not find evidence of autonomous or subjective emotional hyperarousal. The mismatch between objective autonomic measures and subjective arousal ratings in patients is of pathophysiological interest and in line with recent findings of impaired interoception in functional movement disorders.

Significant increases of the amygdala between immediate and late postpartum: Pronounced effects within the superficial subregion

Research exploring the underlying neuroanatomical correlates of early motherhood seems to suggest that the period after giving birth is marked by tissue increases in the mother's brain. While some studies point to the amygdala as one of the areas undergoing postpartum changes, existing analyses did not discriminate between the different subregions of this functionally heterogeneous structure. Thus, to further extend this understudied field of research and to better understand the potential role of the amygdala when transitioning to motherhood, we applied an advanced region-of-interest technique that enabled us to analyze the amygdala as a whole as well as its different subareas, specifically the left and right centromedian (CM), laterobasal (LB), and superficial (SF) regions. Comparing the brains of 14 healthy women between immediate postpartum (within 1-2 days of childbirth) and late postpartum (at 4-6 weeks after childbirth), we revealed increases of the amygdala. However, effects manifested differentially across subareas, with particularly strong effects for the SF region, moderate effects for the CM region, and no effects for the LB region. These findings might reflect region-specific adaptations of the mother's brain tuning into the distinct and ever-changing needs of a newborn, either as a cause for it or as a consequence thereof.

Differential neurodynamics and connectivity in the dorsal and ventral visual pathways during perception of emotional crowds and individuals: a MEG study

Reading the prevailing emotion of groups of people ("crowd emotion") is critical to understanding their overall intention and disposition. It alerts us to potential dangers, such as angry mobs or panicked crowds, giving us time to escape. A critical aspect of processing crowd emotion is that it must occur rapidly, because delays often are costly. Although knowing the timing of neural events is crucial for understanding how the brain guides behaviors using coherent signals from a glimpse of multiple faces, this information is currently lacking in the literature on face ensemble coding. Therefore, we used magnetoencephalography to examine the neurodynamics in the dorsal and ventral visual streams and the periamygdaloid cortex to compare perception of groups of faces versus individual faces. Forty-six participants compared two groups of four faces or two individual faces with varying emotional expressions and chose which group or individual they would avoid. We found that the dorsal stream was activated as early as 68 msec after the onset of stimuli containing groups of faces. In contrast, the ventral stream was activated later and predominantly for individual face stimuli. The latencies of the dorsal stream activation peaks correlated with participants' response times for facial crowds. We also found enhanced connectivity earlier between the periamygdaloid cortex and the dorsal stream regions for crowd emotion perception. Our findings suggest that ensemble coding of facial crowds proceeds rapidly and in parallel by engaging the dorsal stream to mediate adaptive social behaviors, via a distinct route from single face perception.

The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing

This review paper provides an integrative account regarding neurophysiological correlates of positive emotions and affect that cumulatively contribute to the scaffolding for happiness and wellbeing in humans and other animals. This paper reviews the associations among neurotransmitters, hormones, brain networks, and cognitive functions in the context of positive emotions and affect. Consideration of lifespan developmental perspectives are incorporated, and we also examine the impact of healthy social relationships and environmental contexts on the modulation of positive emotions and affect. The neurophysiological processes that implement positive emotions are dynamic and modifiable, and meditative practices as well as flow states that change patterns of brain function and ultimately support wellbeing are also discussed. This review is part of "The Human Affectome Project" (http://neuroqualia.org/background.php), and in order to advance a primary aim of the Human Affectome Project, we also reviewed relevant linguistic dimensions and terminology that characterizes positive emotions and wellbeing. These linguistic dimensions are discussed within the context of the neuroscience literature with the overarching goal of generating novel recommendations for advancing neuroscience research on positive emotions and wellbeing.

Magnocellular and parvocellular pathway contributions to facial threat cue processing

Human faces evolved to signal emotions, with their meaning contextualized by eye gaze. For instance, a fearful expression paired with averted gaze clearly signals both presence of threat and its probable location. Conversely, direct gaze paired with facial fear leaves the source of the fear-evoking threat ambiguous. Given that visual perception occurs in parallel streams with different processing emphases, our goal was to test a recently developed hypothesis that clear and ambiguous threat cues would differentially engage the magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) pathways, respectively. We employed two-tone face images to characterize the neurodynamics evoked by stimuli that were biased toward M or P pathways. Human observers (N = 57) had to identify the expression of fearful or neutral faces with direct or averted gaze while their magnetoencephalogram was recorded. Phase locking between the amygdaloid complex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and fusiform gyrus increased early (0–300 ms) for M-biased clear threat cues (averted-gaze fear) in the β-band (13–30 Hz) while P-biased ambiguous threat cues (direct-gaze fear) evoked increased θ (4–8 Hz) phase locking in connections with OFC of the right hemisphere. We show that M and P pathways are relatively more sensitive toward clear and ambiguous threat processing, respectively, and characterize the neurodynamics underlying emotional face processing in the M and P pathways.

Unresolved-disorganized attachment adjusted for a general psychopathology factor associated with atypical amygdala resting-state functional connectivity

Background: Recent research has identified a general psychopathology factor (GPF), which explains overlap in presentation of psychopathological symptoms. Unresolved-disorganized attachment (Ud) is another transdiagnostic risk factor that may be relevant to explain differences in patient characteristics within diagnostic classifications. Objective: In the current study, we examined unique relations of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with Ud and GPF. Method: RSFC data were collected from a mixed group of adolescents (N = 74) with and without psychiatric disorder, as part of the Emotional Pathways' Imaging Study in Clinical Adolescents (EPISCA) study. Ud was measured using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Associations between Ud, GPF, and RSFC of the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and with amygdala-medial frontal connectivity were examined. Results: Ud was positively associated with greater functional connectivity between the left amygdala and the left lateral occipital cortex, precuneus, and superior parietal lobule. Furthermore, Ud was negatively associated with left amygdala-medial frontal cortex connectivity. GPF was not significantly associated with dACC or amygdala connectivity. Conclusions: Atypical amygdala connectivity may reflect a vulnerability factor rather than a biomarker of psychopathology. The unique association of Ud and amygdala RSFC, adjusted for a GPF, across participants with and without various classifications of psychopathology illustrates that dimensional approaches based on the AAI may complement psychiatric classifications in clinical research and practice.

Magnetoencephalography: Clinical and Research Practices

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a neurophysiological technique that detects the magnetic fields associated with brain activity. Synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM), a MEG magnetic source imaging technique, can be used to construct both detailed maps of global brain activity as well as virtual electrode signals, which provide information that is similar to invasive electrode recordings. This innovative approach has demonstrated utility in both clinical and research settings. For individuals with epilepsy, MEG provides valuable, nonredundant information. MEG accurately localizes the irritative zone associated with interictal spikes, often detecting epileptiform activity other methods cannot, and may give localizing information when other methods fail. These capabilities potentially greatly increase the population eligible for epilepsy surgery and improve planning for those undergoing surgery. MEG methods can be readily adapted to research settings, allowing noninvasive assessment of whole brain neurophysiological activity, with a theoretical spatial range down to submillimeter voxels, and in both humans and nonhuman primates. The combination of clinical and research activities with MEG offers a unique opportunity to advance translational research from bench to bedside and back.

Mapping the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Emotional Processing: An MEG Study Across Arousal and Valence Dimensions

Electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging findings indicate that the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of emotional dimensions (i.e., valence, arousal) constitute a spatially and temporally distributed emotional network, modulated by the arousal and/or valence of the emotional stimuli. We examined the time course and source distribution of gamma time-locked magnetoencephalographic activity in response to a series of emotional stimuli viewed by healthy adults. We used a beamformer and a sliding window analysis to generate a succession of spatial maps of event-related brain responses across distinct levels of valence (pleasant/unpleasant) and arousal (high/low) in 30–100 Hz. Our results show parallel emotion-related responses along specific temporal windows involving mainly dissociable neural pathways for valence and arousal during emotional picture processing. Pleasant valence was localized in the left inferior frontal gyrus, while unpleasant valence in the right occipital gyrus, the precuneus, and the left caudate nucleus. High arousal was processed by the left orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and inferior frontal gyrus, as well as the right middle temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and occipital gyrus. Pleasant by high arousal interaction was localized in the left inferior and superior frontal gyrus, as well as the right caudate nucleus, putamen, and gyrus rectus. Unpleasant by high arousal interaction was processed by the right superior parietal gyrus. Valence was prioritized (onset at ∼60 ms) to all other effects, while pleasant valence was short lived in comparison to unpleasant valence (offsets at ∼110 and ∼320 ms, respectively). Both arousal and valence × arousal interactions emerged relatively early (onset at ∼150 ms, and ∼170 ms, respectively). Our findings support the notion that brain regions differentiate between valence and arousal, and demonstrate, for the first time, that these brain regions may also respond to distinct combinations of these two dimensions within specific time windows.

Functional brain networks involved in decision-making under certain and uncertain conditions

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to describe imaging markers of decision-making under uncertain conditions in normal individuals, in order to provide baseline activity to compare to impaired decision-making in pathological states.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 19 healthy subjects ages 18-35 completed a novel decision-making card-matching task using a Phillips T3 Scanner and a 32-channel head coil. Functional data were collected in six functional runs. In one condition of the task, the participant was certain of the rule to apply to match the cards; in the other condition, the participant was uncertain. We performed cluster-based comparison of the two conditions using FSL fMRI Expert Analysis Tool and network-based analysis using MATLAB.

RESULTS

The uncertain > certain comparison yielded three clusters-a midline cluster that extended through the midbrain, the thalamus, bilateral prefrontal cortex, the striatum, and bilateral parietal/occipital clusters. The certain > uncertain comparison yielded bilateral clusters in the insula, parietal and temporal lobe, as well as a medial frontal cluster. A larger, more connected functional network was found in the uncertain condition.

CONCLUSION

The involvement of the insula, parietal cortex, temporal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex of the certain condition reinforces the notion that certainty is inherently rewarding. For the uncertain condition, the involvement of the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, striatum, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampal involvement was expected, as these are areas involved in resolving uncertainty and rule updating. The involvement of occipital cortical involvement and midbrain involvement may be attributed to increased visual attention and increased motor control.

Automatic and robust noise suppression in EEG and MEG: The SOUND algorithm

Electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) often suffer from noise- and artifact-contaminated channels and trials. Conventionally, EEG and MEG data are inspected visually and cleaned accordingly, e.g., by identifying and rejecting the so-called "bad" channels. This approach has several shortcomings: data inspection is laborious, the rejection criteria are subjective, and the process does not fully utilize all the information in the collected data. Here, we present noise-cleaning methods based on modeling the multi-sensor and multi-trial data. These approaches offer objective, automatic, and robust removal of noise and disturbances by taking into account the sensor- or trial-specific signal-to-noise ratios. We introduce a method called the source-estimate-utilizing noise-discarding algorithm (the SOUND algorithm). SOUND employs anatomical information of the head to cross-validate the data between the sensors. As a result, we are able to identify and suppress noise and artifacts in EEG and MEG. Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical background of SOUND and show that it is a special case of the well-known Wiener estimators. We explain how a completely data-driven Wiener estimator (DDWiener) can be used when no anatomical information is available. DDWiener is easily applicable to any linear multivariate problem; as a demonstrative example, we show how DDWiener can be utilized when estimating event-related EEG/MEG responses. We validated the performance of SOUND with simulations and by applying SOUND to multiple EEG and MEG datasets. SOUND considerably improved the data quality, exceeding the performance of the widely used channel-rejection and interpolation scheme. SOUND also helped in localizing the underlying neural activity by preventing noise from contaminating the source estimates. SOUND can be used to detect and reject noise in functional brain data, enabling improved identification of active brain areas.

Neurobiological Mediators of Squalor-dwelling Behavior

Squalor-dwelling behavior has been characterized as living in conditions so unsanitary that feelings of revulsion are elicited among visitors. This behavior is commonly associated with an insensitivity to distress/disgust and a failure to understand the direness of one's living situation, which leads to social isolation and impairment in quality of life. Etiologically, several associations have been described in the literature, including age-related decline, lower socioeconomic status, and rural dwelling status. Primary neuropsychiatric disorders, such as psychosis, alcoholism, dementia, personality disorders, developmental delays, and learning or physical disabilities are frequently seen in squalor-dwelling individuals. However, none of these disorders seems to be necessary or sufficient to explain the behavior. Neurobiologically, squalor-dwelling behavior has been associated with frontal lobe dysfunction as evidenced by executive dysfunction; however, cognitive impairments also fail to completely explain this behavior. The purpose of this report is to describe a typical case of squalor-dwelling behavior and use it as an example to illustrate the complexity of uncovering the neurobiological basis for this maladaptive personal and public health threat. Neuroimaging findings from our case and a review of the literature point toward decreased activity in the insular cortex and the amygdala as a unifying biological explanation for squalor-dwelling behaviors.

Heightened amygdala responsiveness in s-carriers of 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism reflects enhanced cortical rather than subcortical inputs: An MEG study

Short allele carriers (S-carriers) of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) show an elevated amygdala response to emotional stimuli relative to long allele carriers (LL-homozygous). However, whether this reflects increased responsiveness of the amygdala generally or interactions between the amygdala and the specific input systems remains unknown. It is argued that the amygdala receives input via a quick subcortical and a slower cortical pathway. If the elevated amygdala response in S-carriers reflects generally increased amygdala responding, then group differences in amygdala should be seen across the amygdala response time course. However, if the difference is a secondary consequence of enhanced amygdala-cortical interactions, then group differences might only be present later in the amygdala response. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we found an enhanced amygdala response to fearful expressions starting 40-50 ms poststimulus. However, group differences in the amygdala were only seen 190-200 ms poststimulus, preceded by increased superior temporal sulcus (STS) responses in S-carriers from 130 to 140 ms poststimulus. An enhanced amygdala response to angry expressions started 260-270 ms poststimulus with group differences in the amygdala starting at 160-170 ms poststimulus onset, preceded by increased STS responses in S-carriers from 150 to 160 ms poststimulus. These suggest that enhanced amygdala responses in S-carriers might reflect enhanced STS-amygdala connectivity in S-carriers. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4313-4321, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Disconnection from others in autism is more than just a feeling: whole-brain neural synchrony in adults during implicit processing of emotional faces

Background

Socio-emotional difficulties in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are thought to reflect impaired functional connectivity within the “social brain”. Nonetheless, a whole-brain characterization of the fast responses in functional connectivity during implicit processing of emotional faces in adults with ASD is lacking.

Methods

The present study used magnetoencephalography to investigate early responses in functional connectivity, as measured by interregional phase synchronization, during implicit processing of angry, neutral and happy faces. The sample (n = 44) consisted of 22 young adults with ASD and 22 age- and sex-matched typically developed (TD) controls.

Results

Reduced phase-synchrony in the beta band around 300 ms emerged during processing of angry faces in the ASD compared to TD group, involving key areas of the social brain. In the same time window, de-synchronization in the beta band in the amygdala was reduced in the ASD group across conditions.

Conclusions

This is the first demonstration of atypical global and local synchrony patterns in the social brain in adults with ASD during implicit processing of emotional faces. The present results replicate and substantially extend previous findings on adolescents, highlighting that atypical brain synchrony during processing of socio-emotional stimuli is a hallmark of clinical sequelae in autism.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13229-017-0123-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Dissociable relations between amygdala subregional networks and psychopathy trait dimensions in conduct-disordered juvenile offenders

Psychopathy is a serious psychiatric phenomenon characterized by a pathological constellation of affective (e.g., callous, unemotional), interpersonal (e.g., manipulative, egocentric), and behavioral (e.g., impulsive, irresponsible) personality traits. Though amygdala subregional defects are suggested in psychopathy, the functionality and connectivity of different amygdala subnuclei is typically disregarded in neurocircuit-level analyses of psychopathic personality. Hence, little is known of how amygdala subregional networks may contribute to psychopathy and its underlying trait assemblies in severely antisocial people. We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral (BLA) and centromedial (CMA) amygdala networks in relation to affective, interpersonal, and behavioral traits of psychopathy, in conduct-disordered juveniles with a history of serious delinquency (N = 50, mean age = 16.83 ± 1.32). As predicted, amygdalar connectivity profiles exhibited dissociable relations with different traits of psychopathy. Interpersonal psychopathic traits not only related to increased connectivity of BLA and CMA with a corticostriatal network formation accommodating reward processing, but also predicted stronger CMA connectivity with a network of cortical midline structures supporting sociocognitive processes. In contrast, affective psychopathic traits related to diminished CMA connectivity with a frontolimbic network serving salience processing and affective responding. Finally, behavioral psychopathic traits related to heightened BLA connectivity with a frontoparietal cluster implicated in regulatory executive functioning. We suggest that these trait-specific shifts in amygdalar connectivity could be particularly relevant to the psychopathic phenotype, as they may fuel a self-centered, emotionally cold, and behaviorally disinhibited profile. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4017-4033, 2016. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Amygdala subnuclei response and connectivity during emotional processing

The involvement of the human amygdala in emotion-related processing has been studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for many years. However, despite the amygdala being comprised of several subnuclei, most studies investigated the role of the entire amygdala in processing of emotions. Here we combined a novel anatomical tracing protocol with event-related high-resolution fMRI acquisition to study the responsiveness of the amygdala subnuclei to negative emotional stimuli and to examine intra-amygdala functional connectivity. The greatest sensitivity to the negative emotional stimuli was observed in the centromedial amygdala, where the hemodynamic response amplitude elicited by the negative emotional stimuli was greater and peaked later than for neutral stimuli. Connectivity patterns converge with extant findings in animals, such that the centromedial amygdala was more connected with the nuclei of the basal amygdala than with the lateral amygdala. Current findings provide evidence of functional specialization within the human amygdala.

Abnormal functional architecture of amygdala-centered networks in adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, debilitating, and difficult to treat psychiatric disorder. Very little is known of how PTSD affects neuroplasticity in the developing adolescent brain. Whereas multiple lines of research implicate amygdala-centered network dysfunction in the pathophysiology of adult PTSD, no study has yet examined the functional architecture of amygdala subregional networks in adolescent PTSD. Using intrinsic functional connectivity analysis, we investigated functional connectivity of the basolateral (BLA) and centromedial (CMA) amygdala in 19 sexually abused adolescents with PTSD relative to 23 matched controls. Additionally, we examined whether altered amygdala subregional connectivity coincides with abnormal grey matter volume of the amygdaloid complex. Our analysis revealed abnormal amygdalar connectivity and morphology in adolescent PTSD patients. More specifically, PTSD patients showed diminished right BLA connectivity with a cluster including dorsal and ventral portions of the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices (p < 0.05, corrected). In contrast, PTSD patients showed increased left CMA connectivity with a cluster including the orbitofrontal and subcallosal cortices (p < 0.05, corrected). Critically, these connectivity changes coincided with diminished grey matter volume within BLA and CMA subnuclei (p < 0.05, corrected), with CMA connectivity shifts additionally relating to more severe symptoms of PTSD. These findings provide unique insights into how perturbations in major amygdalar circuits could hamper fear regulation and drive excessive acquisition and expression of fear in PTSD. As such, they represent an important step toward characterizing the neurocircuitry of adolescent PTSD, thereby informing the development of reliable biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.

Human amygdala activations during nasal chemoreception

This review serves as a comprehensive discussion of chemosensory stimulation of the amygdala in healthy humans. Following an introduction of the neuroanatomy of chemosensory processing in primary and secondary olfactory structures, functional resonance magnetic imaging and positron imaging tomography studies are systematically categorized based on valence of stimuli, stimulus concentration, and paradigm-dependent amygdala activation. The amygdala shows patterns of lateralization due to stimulus valence. Main findings include pleasant odors being associated with bilateral or left amygdala activation, and unpleasant odors being associated with activation of the right amygdala, suggesting a crucial role of the right amygdala in evolutionary preservation. Potentially threatening social stimuli, however, might be processed apart from the olfactory system and tend to activate the left amygdala. Amygdala response to chemosensory stimuli correlated with simultaneous activation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), piriform cortex (PC), and insula, suggesting a close-knit network of these areas during stimulus processing.

The neural mechanisms of re-experiencing mental fatigue sensation: a magnetoencephalography study

There have been several studies which have tried to clarify the neural mechanisms of fatigue sensation; however fatigue sensation has multiple aspects. We hypothesized that past experience related to fatigue sensation is an important factor which contributes to future formation of fatigue sensation through the transfer to memories that are located within specific brain structures. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms of fatigue sensation related to memory. In the present study, we investigated the neural activity caused by re-experiencing the fatigue sensation that had been experienced during a fatigue-inducing session. Thirteen healthy volunteers participated in fatigue and non-fatigue experiments in a crossover fashion. In the fatigue experiment, they performed a 2-back test session for 40 min to induce fatigue sensation, a rest session for 15 min to recover from fatigue, and a magnetoencephalography (MEG) session in which they were asked to re-experience the state of their body with fatigue that they had experienced in the 2-back test session. In the non-fatigue experiment, the participants performed a free session for 15 min, a rest session for 15 min, and an MEG session in which they were asked to re-experience the state of their body without fatigue that they had experienced in the free session. Spatial filtering analyses of oscillatory brain activity showed that the delta band power in the left Brodmann's area (BA) 39, alpha band power in the right pulvinar nucleus and the left BA 40, and beta band power in the left BA 40 were lower when they re-experienced the fatigue sensation than when they re-experienced the fatigue-free sensation, indicating that these brain regions are related to re-experiencing the fatigue sensation. Our findings may help clarify the neural mechanisms underlying fatigue sensation.

Subcortical amygdala pathways enable rapid face processing

Human faces may signal relevant information and are therefore analysed rapidly and effectively by the brain. However, the precise mechanisms and pathways involved in rapid face processing are unclear. One view posits a role for a subcortical connection between early visual sensory regions and the amygdala, while an alternative account emphasises cortical mediation. To adjudicate between these functional architectures, we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) evoked fields in human subjects to presentation of faces with varying emotional valence. Early brain activity was better explained by dynamic causal models containing a direct subcortical connection to the amygdala irrespective of emotional modulation. At longer latencies, models without a subcortical connection had comparable evidence. Hence, our results support the hypothesis that a subcortical pathway to the amygdala plays a role in rapid sensory processing of faces, in particular during early stimulus processing. This finding contributes to an understanding of the amygdala as a behavioural relevance detector.