1
|
Liu X, He D, Zhu M, Li Y, Lin L, Cai Q. Hemispheric dominance in reading system alters contribution to face processing lateralization across development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 69:101418. [PMID: 39059053 PMCID: PMC11331717 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Revised: 07/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Face processing dominates the right hemisphere. This lateralization can be affected by co-lateralization within the same system and influence between different systems, such as neural competition from reading acquisition. Yet, how the relationship pattern changes through development remains unknown. This study examined the lateralization of core face processing and word processing in different age groups. By comparing fMRI data from 36 school-aged children and 40 young adults, we investigated whether there are age and regional effects on lateralization, and how relationships between lateralization within and between systems change across development. Our results showed significant right hemispheric lateralization in the core face system and left hemispheric lateralization in reading-related areas for both age groups when viewing faces and texts passively. While all participants showed stronger lateralization in brain regions of higher functional hierarchy when viewing faces, only adults exhibited this lateralization when viewing texts. In both age cohorts, there was intra-system co-lateralization for face processing, whereas an inter-system relationship was only found in adults. Specifically, functional lateralization of Broca's area during reading negatively predicted functional asymmetry in the FFA during face perception. This study initially provides neuroimaging evidence for the reading-induced neural competition theory from a maturational perspective in Chinese cohorts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
| | - Danni He
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Miaomiao Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Yinghui Li
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Longnian Lin
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology, East China Normal University, China; NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, New York University, Shanghai, China; School of Life Science Department, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
| | - Qing Cai
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), Institute of Brain and Education Innovation, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai 200335, China; Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology, East China Normal University, China; NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, New York University, Shanghai, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Pitcher D. Visual neuroscience: A specialised neural pathway for social perception. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R1222-R1224. [PMID: 38052168 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Humans are an intensely social species. Our daily lives depend on understanding the behaviour and intentions of the people around us. A new study identifies a neural pathway specialised for interpreting the physical actions that we use to understand others.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Pitcher
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Pitcher D, Ianni GR, Holiday K, Ungerleider LG. Identifying the cortical face network with dynamic face stimuli: A large group fMRI study. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.26.559583. [PMID: 37886588 PMCID: PMC10602036 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.26.559583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have identified a network of face-selective regions distributed across the human brain. In the present study, we analyzed data from a large group of gender-balanced participants to investigate how reliably these face-selective regions could be identified across both cerebral hemispheres. Participants ( N =52) were scanned with fMRI while viewing short videos of faces, bodies, and objects. Results revealed that five face-selective regions: the fusiform face area (FFA), posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the amygdala were all larger in the right than in the left hemisphere. The occipital face area (OFA) was larger in the right hemisphere as well, but the difference between the hemispheres was not significant. The neural response to moving faces was also greater in face-selective regions in the right than in the left hemisphere. An additional analysis revealed that the pSTS and IFG were significantly larger in the right hemisphere compared to other face-selective regions. This pattern of results demonstrates that moving faces are preferentially processed in the right hemisphere and that the pSTS and IFG appear to be the strongest drivers of this laterality. An analysis of gender revealed that face-selective regions were typically larger in females ( N =26) than males ( N =26), but this gender difference was not statistically significant.
Collapse
|
4
|
Levakov G, Sporns O, Avidan G. Fine-scale dynamics of functional connectivity in the face-processing network during movie watching. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112585. [PMID: 37285265 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Mapping the human face-processing network is typically done during rest or using isolated, static face images, overlooking widespread cortical interactions obtained in response to naturalistic face dynamics and context. To determine how inter-subject functional correlation (ISFC) relates to face recognition scores, we measure cortical connectivity patterns in response to a dynamic movie in typical adults (N = 517). We find a positive correlation with recognition scores in edges connecting the occipital visual and anterior temporal regions and a negative correlation in edges connecting the attentional dorsal, frontal default, and occipital visual regions. We measure the inter-subject stimulus-evoked response at a single TR resolution and demonstrate that co-fluctuations in face-selective edges are related to activity in core face-selective regions and that the ISFC patterns peak during boundaries between movie segments rather than during the presence of faces. Our approach demonstrates how face processing is linked to fine-scale dynamics in attentional, memory, and perceptual neural circuitry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gidon Levakov
- Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
| | - Olaf Sporns
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Li B, Solanas MP, Marrazzo G, Raman R, Taubert N, Giese M, Vogels R, de Gelder B. A large-scale brain network of species-specific dynamic human body perception. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 221:102398. [PMID: 36565985 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
This ultrahigh field 7 T fMRI study addressed the question of whether there exists a core network of brain areas at the service of different aspects of body perception. Participants viewed naturalistic videos of monkey and human faces, bodies, and objects along with mosaic-scrambled videos for control of low-level features. Independent component analysis (ICA) based network analysis was conducted to find body and species modulations at both the voxel and the network levels. Among the body areas, the highest species selectivity was found in the middle frontal gyrus and amygdala. Two large-scale networks were highly selective to bodies, dominated by the lateral occipital cortex and right superior temporal sulcus (STS) respectively. The right STS network showed high species selectivity, and its significant human body-induced node connectivity was focused around the extrastriate body area (EBA), STS, temporoparietal junction (TPJ), premotor cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The human body-specific network discovered here may serve as a brain-wide internal model of the human body serving as an entry point for a variety of processes relying on body descriptions as part of their more specific categorization, action, or expression recognition functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Baichen Li
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, the Netherlands
| | - Marta Poyo Solanas
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, the Netherlands
| | - Giuseppe Marrazzo
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, the Netherlands
| | - Rajani Raman
- Laboratory for Neuro, and Psychophysiology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven Medical School, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Nick Taubert
- Section for Computational Sensomotorics, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience & Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University Clinic Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Martin Giese
- Section for Computational Sensomotorics, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience & Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University Clinic Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Rufin Vogels
- Laboratory for Neuro, and Psychophysiology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven Medical School, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Beatrice de Gelder
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, the Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Hodgson VJ, Lambon Ralph MA, Jackson RL. The cross-domain functional organization of posterior lateral temporal cortex: insights from ALE meta-analyses of 7 cognitive domains spanning 12,000 participants. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:4990-5006. [PMID: 36269034 PMCID: PMC10110446 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The posterior lateral temporal cortex is implicated in many verbal, nonverbal, and social cognitive domains and processes. Yet without directly comparing these disparate domains, the region's organization remains unclear; do distinct processes engage discrete subregions, or could different domains engage shared neural correlates and processes? Here, using activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses, the bilateral posterior lateral temporal cortex subregions engaged in 7 domains were directly compared. These domains comprised semantics, semantic control, phonology, biological motion, face processing, theory of mind, and representation of tools. Although phonology and biological motion were predominantly associated with distinct regions, other domains implicated overlapping areas, perhaps due to shared underlying processes. Theory of mind recruited regions implicated in semantic representation, tools engaged semantic control areas, and faces engaged subregions for biological motion and theory of mind. This cross-domain approach provides insight into how posterior lateral temporal cortex is organized and why.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Victoria J Hodgson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew A Lambon Ralph
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca L Jackson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology & York Biomedical Research Institute, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Pitcher D. Visual motion: Asymmetrical processing differences between the cerebral hemispheres. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R957-R960. [PMID: 36167045 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Hemispheric differences speak to the functional organisation of the human brain. A new study causally demonstrates such differences are present in bilateral motion-selective areas that are early in the visual cortical hierarchy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Pitcher
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Thome I, García Alanis JC, Volk J, Vogelbacher C, Steinsträter O, Jansen A. Let's face it: The lateralization of the face perception network as measured with fMRI is not clearly right dominant. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119587. [PMID: 36031183 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural face perception network is distributed across both hemispheres. However, the dominant role in humans is virtually unanimously attributed to the right hemisphere. Interestingly, there are, to our knowledge, no imaging studies that systematically describe the distribution of hemispheric lateralization in the core system of face perception across subjects in large cohorts so far. To address this, we determined the hemispheric lateralization of all core system regions (i.e., occipital face area (OFA), fusiform face area (FFA), posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS)) in 108 healthy subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We were particularly interested in the variability of hemispheric lateralization across subjects and explored how many subjects can be classified as right-dominant based on the fMRI activation pattern. We further assessed lateralization differences between different regions of the core system and analyzed the influence of handedness and sex on the lateralization with a generalized mixed effects regression model. As expected, brain activity was on average stronger in right-hemispheric brain regions than in their left-hemispheric homologues. This asymmetry was, however, only weakly pronounced in comparison to other lateralized brain functions (such as language and spatial attention) and strongly varied between individuals. Only half of the subjects in the present study could be classified as right-hemispheric dominant. Additionally, we did not detect significant lateralization differences between core system regions. Our data did also not support a general leftward shift of hemispheric lateralization in left-handers. Only the interaction of handedness and sex in the FFA revealed that specifically left-handed men were significantly more left-lateralized compared to right-handed males. In essence, our fMRI data did not support a clear right-hemispheric dominance of the face perception network. Our findings thus ultimately question the dogma that the face perception network - as measured with fMRI - can be characterized as "typically right lateralized".
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ina Thome
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Marburg, Germany.
| | - José C García Alanis
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Marburg, Germany; Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Analysis and Modeling of Complex Data Lab, Institute of Psychology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Jannika Volk
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Marburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Vogelbacher
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Marburg, Germany
| | - Olaf Steinsträter
- Core-Facility BrainImaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Marburg, Germany; Core-Facility BrainImaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Research on Voice-Driven Facial Expression Film and Television Animation Based on Compromised Node Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks. COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 2022:8563818. [PMID: 35111214 PMCID: PMC8803464 DOI: 10.1155/2022/8563818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
With the continuous development of social economy, film and television animation, as the spiritual needs of ordinary people, is more and more popular. Especially for the development of emerging technologies, the corresponding voice can be used to change AI expression. But at the same time, how to ensure the synchronization of language sound and facial expression is one of the difficulties in animation transformation. Relying on the compromised node detection of wireless sensor networks, this paper combs the synchronous traffic flow between the speech signals and facial expressions, finds the pattern distribution of facial motion based on unsupervised classification, realizes training and learning through neural networks, and realizes one-to-one mapping to facial expressions by using the rhyme distribution of speech features. It avoids the defect of robustness of speech recognition, improves the learning ability of speech recognition, and realizes the driving analysis of facial expression film and television animation. The simulation results show that the compromised node detection in wireless sensor networks is effective and can support the analysis and research of speech-driven facial expression film and television animation.
Collapse
|
10
|
Positive hysteresis in emotion recognition: Face processing visual regions are involved in perceptual persistence, which mediates interactions between anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:1275-1289. [PMID: 35857280 PMCID: PMC9622546 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01024-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Facial emotion perception can be studied from the point of view of dynamic systems whose output may depend not only on current input but also on prior history - a phenomenon known as hysteresis. In cognitive neuroscience, hysteresis has been described as positive (perceptual persistence) or negative (fatigue of current percept) depending on whether perceptual switching occurs later or earlier than actual physical stimulus changes. However, its neural correlates remain elusive. We used dynamic transitions between emotional expressions and combined behavioral assessment with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the underlying circuitry of perceptual hysteresis in facial emotion recognition. Our findings revealed the involvement of face-selective visual areas - fusiform face area (FFA) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) - in perceptual persistence as well as the right anterior insula. Moreover, functional connectivity analyses revealed an interplay between the right anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex, which showed to be dependent on the presence of positive hysteresis. Our results support the hypothesis that high-order regions are involved in perceptual stabilization and decision during perceptual persistence (positive hysteresis) and add evidence to the role of the anterior insula as a hub of sensory information in perceptual decision-making.
Collapse
|
11
|
Hutchings R, Palermo R, Hazelton JL, Piguet O, Kumfor F. Considering Hemispheric Specialization in Emotional Face Processing: An Eye Tracking Study in Left- and Right-Lateralised Semantic Dementia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11091195. [PMID: 34573215 PMCID: PMC8472320 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Face processing relies on a network of occipito-temporal and frontal brain regions. Temporal regions are heavily involved in looking at and processing emotional faces; however, the contribution of each hemisphere to this process remains under debate. Semantic dementia (SD) is a rare neurodegenerative brain condition characterized by anterior temporal lobe atrophy, which is either predominantly left- (left-SD) or right-lateralised (right-SD). This syndrome therefore provides a unique lesion model to understand the role of laterality in emotional face processing. Here, we investigated facial scanning patterns in 10 left-SD and 6 right-SD patients, compared to 22 healthy controls. Eye tracking was recorded via a remote EyeLink 1000 system, while participants passively viewed fearful, happy, and neutral faces over 72 trials. Analyses revealed that right-SD patients had more fixations to the eyes than controls in the Fear (p = 0.04) condition only. Right-SD patients also showed more fixations to the eyes than left-SD patients in all conditions: Fear (p = 0.01), Happy (p = 0.008), and Neutral (p = 0.04). In contrast, no differences between controls and left-SD patients were observed for any emotion. No group differences were observed for fixations to the mouth, or the whole face. This study is the first to examine patterns of facial scanning in left- versus right- SD, demonstrating more of a focus on the eyes in right-SD. Neuroimaging analyses showed that degradation of the right superior temporal sulcus was associated with increased fixations to the eyes. Together these results suggest that right lateralised brain regions of the face processing network are involved in the ability to efficiently utilise changeable cues from the face.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rosalind Hutchings
- Brain & Mind Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (R.H.); (J.L.H.); (O.P.)
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia;
| | - Jessica L. Hazelton
- Brain & Mind Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (R.H.); (J.L.H.); (O.P.)
| | - Olivier Piguet
- Brain & Mind Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (R.H.); (J.L.H.); (O.P.)
| | - Fiona Kumfor
- Brain & Mind Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; (R.H.); (J.L.H.); (O.P.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +61-2-9114-4181
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Kegel LC, Frühholz S, Grunwald T, Mersch D, Rey A, Jokeit H. Temporal lobe epilepsy alters neural responses to human and avatar facial expressions in the face perception network. Brain Behav 2021; 11:e02140. [PMID: 33951323 PMCID: PMC8213650 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Revised: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Although avatars are now widely used in advertisement, entertainment, and business today, no study has investigated whether brain lesions in neurological patients interfere with brain activation in response to dynamic avatar facial expressions. The aim of our event-related fMRI study was to compare brain activation differences in people with epilepsy and controls during the processing of fearful and neutral dynamic expressions displayed by human or avatar faces. METHODS Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined brain responses to dynamic facial expressions of trained actors and their avatar look-alikes in 16 people with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 26 controls. The actors' fearful and neutral expressions were recorded on video and conveyed onto their avatar look-alikes by face tracking. RESULTS Our fMRI results show that people with TLE exhibited reduced response differences between fearful and neutral expressions displayed by humans in the right amygdala and the left superior temporal sulcus (STS). Further, TLE was associated with reduced response differences between human and avatar fearful expressions in the dorsal pathway of the face perception network (STS and inferior frontal gyrus) as well as in the medial prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, these findings suggest that brain responses to dynamic facial expressions are altered in people with TLE compared to neurologically healthy individuals-regardless of whether the face is human or computer-generated. In TLE, areas sensitive to dynamic facial features and associated with processes relating to the self and others are particularly affected when processing dynamic human and avatar expressions. Our findings highlight that the impact of TLE on facial emotion processing must be extended to artificial faces and should be considered when applying dynamic avatars in the context of neurological conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorena Chantal Kegel
- Swiss Epilepsy Center, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sascha Frühholz
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Dieter Mersch
- Institute for Critical Theory, Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anton Rey
- Institute for the Performing Arts and Film, Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hennric Jokeit
- Swiss Epilepsy Center, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Aktürk T, de Graaf TA, Abra Y, Şahoğlu-Göktaş S, Özkan D, Kula A, Güntekin B. Event-related EEG oscillatory responses elicited by dynamic facial expression. Biomed Eng Online 2021; 20:41. [PMID: 33906649 PMCID: PMC8077950 DOI: 10.1186/s12938-021-00882-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recognition of facial expressions (FEs) plays a crucial role in social interactions. Most studies on FE recognition use static (image) stimuli, even though real-life FEs are dynamic. FE processing is complex and multifaceted, and its neural correlates remain unclear. Transitioning from static to dynamic FE stimuli might help disentangle the neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying face processing and recognition of emotion expression. To our knowledge, we here present the first time-frequency exploration of oscillatory brain mechanisms underlying the processing of dynamic FEs. RESULTS Videos of joyful, fearful, and neutral dynamic facial expressions were presented to 18 included healthy young adults. We analyzed event-related activity in electroencephalography (EEG) data, focusing on the delta, theta, and alpha-band oscillations. Since the videos involved a transition from neutral to emotional expressions (onset around 500 ms), we identified time windows that might correspond to face perception initially (time window 1; first TW), and emotion expression recognition subsequently (around 1000 ms; second TW). First TW showed increased power and phase-locking values for all frequency bands. In the first TW, power and phase-locking values were higher in the delta and theta bands for emotional FEs as compared to neutral FEs, thus potentially serving as a marker for emotion recognition in dynamic face processing. CONCLUSIONS Our time-frequency exploration revealed consistent oscillatory responses to complex, dynamic, ecologically meaningful FE stimuli. We conclude that while dynamic FE processing involves complex network dynamics, dynamic FEs were successfully used to reveal temporally separate oscillation responses related to face processing and subsequently emotion expression recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tuba Aktürk
- Program of Electroneurophysiology, Vocational School, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Program of Neuroscience Ph.D, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Tom A de Graaf
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Yasemin Abra
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
- Institute for Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Universität Der Bundeswehr München, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Sevilay Şahoğlu-Göktaş
- Program of Neuroscience Ph.D, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Regenerative and Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Dilek Özkan
- Meram Faculty of Medicine, Konya Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey
| | - Aysun Kula
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
| | - Bahar Güntekin
- Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey.
- Regenerative and Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Lyu I, Bao S, Hao L, Yao J, Miller JA, Voorhies W, Taylor WD, Bunge SA, Weiner KS, Landman BA. Labeling lateral prefrontal sulci using spherical data augmentation and context-aware training. Neuroimage 2021; 229:117758. [PMID: 33497773 PMCID: PMC8366030 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The inference of cortical sulcal labels often focuses on deep (primary and secondary) sulcal regions, whereas shallow (tertiary) sulcal regions are largely overlooked in the literature due to the scarcity of manual/well-defined annotations and their large neuroanatomical variability. In this paper, we present an automated framework for regional labeling of both primary/secondary and tertiary sulci of the dorsal portion of lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) using spherical convolutional neural networks. We propose two core components that enhance the inference of sulcal labels to overcome such large neuroanatomical variability: (1) surface data augmentation and (2) context-aware training. (1) To take into account neuroanatomical variability, we synthesize training data from the proposed feature space that embeds intermediate deformation trajectories of spherical data in a rigid to non-rigid fashion, which bridges an augmentation gap in conventional rotation data augmentation. (2) Moreover, we design a two-stage training process to improve labeling accuracy of tertiary sulci by informing the biological associations in neuroanatomy: inference of primary/secondary sulci and then their spatial likelihood to guide the definition of tertiary sulci. In the experiments, we evaluate our method on 13 deep and shallow sulci of human LPFC in two independent data sets with different age ranges: pediatric (N=60) and adult (N=36) cohorts. We compare the proposed method with a conventional multi-atlas approach and spherical convolutional neural networks without/with rotation data augmentation. In both cohorts, the proposed data augmentation improves labeling accuracy of deep and shallow sulci over the baselines, and the proposed context-aware training offers further improvement in the labeling of shallow sulci over the proposed data augmentation. We share our tools with the field and discuss applications of our results for understanding neuroanatomical-functional organization of LPFC and the rest of cortex (https://github.com/ilwoolyu/SphericalLabeling).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilwoo Lyu
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, 37235 USA.
| | - Shuxing Bao
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, 37235 USA
| | - Lingyan Hao
- Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jewelia Yao
- Department of Psychology, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jacob A Miller
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Willa Voorhies
- Department of Psychology, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Warren D Taylor
- Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203 USA
| | - Silvia A Bunge
- Department of Psychology, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Kevin S Weiner
- Department of Psychology, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Bennett A Landman
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, 37235 USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Johnston A, Brown BB, Elson R. Synchronous facial action binds dynamic facial features. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7191. [PMID: 33785856 PMCID: PMC8010062 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86725-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
We asked how dynamic facial features are perceptually grouped. To address this question, we varied the timing of mouth movements relative to eyebrow movements, while measuring the detectability of a small temporal misalignment between a pair of oscillating eyebrows-an eyebrow wave. We found eyebrow wave detection performance was worse for synchronous movements of the eyebrows and mouth. Subsequently, we found this effect was specific to stimuli presented to the right visual field, implicating the involvement of left lateralised visual speech areas. Adaptation has been used as a tool in low-level vision to establish the presence of separable visual channels. Adaptation to moving eyebrows and mouths with various relative timings reduced eyebrow wave detection but only when the adapting mouth and eyebrows moved asynchronously. Inverting the face led to a greater reduction in detection after adaptation particularly for asynchronous facial motion at test. We conclude that synchronous motion binds dynamic facial features whereas asynchronous motion releases them, allowing adaptation to impair eyebrow wave detection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alan Johnston
- School of Psychology, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Ben B Brown
- School of Psychology, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Ryan Elson
- School of Psychology, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
O'Connell K, Marsh AA, Edwards DF, Dromerick AW, Seydell-Greenwald A. Emotion recognition impairments and social well-being following right-hemisphere stroke. Neuropsychol Rehabil 2021; 32:1337-1355. [PMID: 33615994 PMCID: PMC8379297 DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2021.1888756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Accurately recognizing and responding to the emotions of others is essential for proper social communication and helps bind strong relationships that are particularly important for stroke survivors. Emotion recognition typically engages cortical areas that are predominantly right-lateralized including superior temporal and inferior frontal gyri - regions frequently impacted by right-hemisphere stroke. Since prior work already links right-hemisphere stroke to deficits in emotion recognition, this research aims to extend these findings to determine whether impaired emotion recognition after right-hemisphere stroke is associated with worse social well-being outcomes. Eighteen right-hemisphere stroke patients (≥6 months post-stroke) and 21 neurologically healthy controls completed a multimodal emotion recognition test (Geneva Emotion Recognition Test - Short) and reported engagement in social/non-social activities and levels of social support. Right-hemisphere stroke was associated with worse emotion recognition accuracy, though not all patients exhibited impairment. In line with hypotheses, emotion recognition impairments were associated with greater loss of social activities after stroke, an effect that could not be attributed to stroke severity or loss of non-social activities. Impairments were also linked to reduced patient-reported social support. Results implicate emotion recognition difficulties as a potential antecedent of social withdrawal after stroke and warrant future research to test emotion recognition training post-stroke.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine O'Connell
- Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Abigail A Marsh
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Dorothy Farrar Edwards
- Department of Kinesiology and Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Alexander W Dromerick
- MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.,Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Anna Seydell-Greenwald
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Pitcher D, Ungerleider LG. Evidence for a Third Visual Pathway Specialized for Social Perception. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:100-110. [PMID: 33334693 PMCID: PMC7811363 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 164] [Impact Index Per Article: 54.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Existing models propose that primate visual cortex is divided into two functionally distinct pathways. The ventral pathway computes the identity of an object; the dorsal pathway computes the location of an object, and the actions related to that object. Despite remaining influential, the two visual pathways model requires revision. Both human and non-human primate studies reveal the existence of a third visual pathway on the lateral brain surface. This third pathway projects from early visual cortex, via motion-selective areas, into the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Studies demonstrating that the STS computes the actions of moving faces and bodies (e.g., expressions, eye-gaze, audio-visual integration, intention, and mood) show that the third visual pathway is specialized for the dynamic aspects of social perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Pitcher
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Leslie G Ungerleider
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Zhao Y, Rütgen M, Zhang L, Lamm C. Pharmacological fMRI provides evidence for opioidergic modulation of discrimination of facial pain expressions. Psychophysiology 2020; 58:e13717. [PMID: 33140886 PMCID: PMC7816233 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The endogenous opioid system is strongly involved in the modulation of pain. However, the potential role of this system in perceiving painful facial expressions from others has not been sufficiently explored as of yet. To elucidate the contribution of the opioid system to the perception of painful facial expressions, we conducted a double‐blind, within‐subjects pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, in which 42 participants engaged in an emotion discrimination task (pain vs. disgust expressions) in two experimental sessions, receiving either the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone or an inert substance (placebo). On the behavioral level, participants less frequently judged an expression as pain under naltrexone as compared to placebo. On the neural level, parametric modulation of activation in the (putative) right fusiform face area (FFA), which was correlated with increased pain intensity, was higher under naltrexone than placebo. Regression analyses revealed that brain activity in the right FFA significantly predicted behavioral performance in disambiguating pain from disgust, both under naltrexone and placebo. These findings suggest that reducing opioid system activity decreased participants' sensitivity for facial expressions of pain, and that this was linked to possibly compensatory engagement of processes related to visual perception, rather than to higher level affective processes, and pain regulation. The behavioral and neural findings of this psychopharmacological fMRI study shed light on a causal role of the opioid system in the discrimination of painful facial expressions, paving the way for further exploration of clinical implications in the domains of pain diagnosis and treatment, on the one hand, and future research on the relationship between basic socio‐perceptual processing and empathy, on the other.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yili Zhao
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Rütgen
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lei Zhang
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Neuropsychopharmacology and Biopsychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Neuropsychopharmacology and Biopsychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Prosodic influence in face emotion perception: evidence from functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Sci Rep 2020; 10:14345. [PMID: 32873844 PMCID: PMC7462865 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71266-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotion is communicated via the integration of concurrently presented information from multiple information channels, such as voice, face, gesture and touch. This study investigated the neural and perceptual correlates of emotion perception as influenced by facial and vocal information by measuring changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and acquiring psychometrics. HbO activity was recorded from 103 channels while participants ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) were presented with vocalizations produced in either a happy, angry or neutral prosody. Voices were presented alone or paired with an emotional face and compared with a face-only condition. Behavioral results indicated that when voices were paired with faces, a bias in the direction of the emotion of the voice was present. Subjects' responses also showed greater variance and longer reaction times when responding to the bimodal conditions when compared to the face-only condition. While both the happy and angry prosody conditions exhibited right lateralized increases in HbO compared to the neutral condition, these activations were segregated into posterior-anterior subdivisions by emotion. Specific emotional prosodies may therefore differentially influence emotion perception, with happy voices exhibiting posterior activity in receptive emotion areas and angry voices displaying activity in anterior expressive emotion areas.
Collapse
|
20
|
Unmasking the relevance of hemispheric asymmetries—Break on through (to the other side). Prog Neurobiol 2020; 192:101823. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
|
21
|
Packheiser J, Schmitz J, Metzen D, Reinke P, Radtke F, Friedrich P, Güntürkün O, Peterburs J, Ocklenburg S. Asymmetries in social touch-motor and emotional biases on lateral preferences in embracing, cradling and kissing. Laterality 2019; 25:325-348. [PMID: 31739761 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2019.1690496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
In human social interaction, affective touch plays an integral role to communicate intentions and emotions. Three of the most important forms of social touch are embracing, cradling and kissing. These behaviours have been demonstrated to be lateralized, but the underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. Both motor and emotive biases have been suggested to affect laterality of social touch. We aimed to systematically investigate how motor preferences and emotive biases influence the lateralization of embracing, cradling and kissing within the same sample. Participants performed all three forms of social touch in neutral, positive and negative emotional conditions. Like a previous study, we found a rightward bias for embracing that was modulated by both motor preferences and the emotional content of the situation. Kissing and cradling were not influenced by motor preferences. In general, a negative emotional connotation of the situation led to a reduction of lateral biases in social touch, independent of the individual direction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julian Packheiser
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Judith Schmitz
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Dorothea Metzen
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Petunia Reinke
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Fiona Radtke
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Patrick Friedrich
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jutta Peterburs
- Biological Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Sato W, Kochiyama T, Uono S, Yoshimura S, Kubota Y, Sawada R, Sakihama M, Toichi M. Atypical Amygdala-Neocortex Interaction During Dynamic Facial Expression Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:351. [PMID: 31680906 PMCID: PMC6813184 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Atypical reciprocal social interactions involving emotional facial expressions are a core clinical feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated that some social brain regions, including subcortical (e.g., amygdala) and neocortical regions (e.g., fusiform gyrus, FG) are less activated during the processing of facial expression stimuli in individuals with ASD. However, the functional networking patterns between the subcortical and cortical regions in processing emotional facial expressions remain unclear. We investigated this issue in ASD (n = 31) and typically developing (TD; n = 31) individuals using fMRI. Participants viewed dynamic facial expressions of anger and happiness and their corresponding mosaic images. Regional brain activity analysis revealed reduced activation of several social brain regions, including the amygdala, in the ASD group compared with the TD group in response to dynamic facial expressions vs. dynamic mosaics (p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.19). Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) analyses were then used to compare models with forward, backward, and bi-directional effective connectivity between the amygdala and neocortical networks. The results revealed that: (1) the model with effective connectivity from the amygdala to the neocortex best fit the data of both groups; and (2) the same model best accounted for group differences. Coupling parameter (i.e., effective connectivity) analyses showed that the modulatory effects of dynamic facial processing were substantially weaker in the ASD group than in the TD group. These findings suggest that atypical modulation from the amygdala to the neocortex underlies impairment in social interaction involving dynamic facial expressions in individuals with ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Sayaka Yoshimura
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga University, Hikone, Japan
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Developmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Developmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Sato W, Kochiyama T, Uono S, Sawada R, Kubota Y, Yoshimura S, Toichi M. Widespread and lateralized social brain activity for processing dynamic facial expressions. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:3753-3768. [PMID: 31090126 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2019] [Revised: 04/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Dynamic facial expressions of emotions constitute natural and powerful means of social communication in daily life. A number of previous neuroimaging studies have explored the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of dynamic facial expressions, and indicated the activation of certain social brain regions (e.g., the amygdala) during such tasks. However, the activated brain regions were inconsistent across studies, and their laterality was rarely evaluated. To investigate these issues, we measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a relatively large sample (n = 51) during the observation of dynamic facial expressions of anger and happiness and their corresponding dynamic mosaic images. The observation of dynamic facial expressions, compared with dynamic mosaics, elicited stronger activity in the bilateral posterior cortices, including the inferior occipital gyri, fusiform gyri, and superior temporal sulci. The dynamic facial expressions also activated bilateral limbic regions, including the amygdalae and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, more strongly versus mosaics. In the same manner, activation was found in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left cerebellum. Laterality analyses comparing original and flipped images revealed right hemispheric dominance in the superior temporal sulcus and IFG and left hemispheric dominance in the cerebellum. These results indicated that the neural mechanisms underlying processing of dynamic facial expressions include widespread social brain regions associated with perceptual, emotional, and motor functions, and include a clearly lateralized (right cortical and left cerebellar) network like that involved in language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga University, Hikone, Shiga, Japan
| | - Sayaka Yoshimura
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Neurodevelopmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Amygdala activation during unconscious visual processing of food. Sci Rep 2019; 9:7277. [PMID: 31086241 PMCID: PMC6513994 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43733-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Hedonic or emotional responses to food have important positive and negative effects on human life. Behavioral studies have shown that hedonic responses to food images are elicited rapidly, even in the absence of conscious awareness of food. Although a number of previous neuroimaging studies investigated neural activity during conscious processing of food images, the neural mechanisms underlying unconscious food processing remain unknown. To investigate this issue, we measured neural activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants viewed food and mosaic images presented subliminally and supraliminally. Conjunction analyses revealed that the bilateral amygdala was more strongly activated in response to food images than to mosaic images under both subliminal and supraliminal conditions. Interaction analyses revealed that the broad bilateral posterior regions, peaking at the posterior fusiform gyrus, were particularly active when participants viewed food versus mosaic images under the supraliminal compared with the subliminal condition. Dynamic causal modeling analyses supported the model in which the subcortical visual pathway from the pulvinar to the amygdala was modulated by food under the subliminal condition; in contrast, the model in which both subcortical and cortical (connecting the primary visual cortex, fusiform gyrus, and the amygdala) visual pathways were modulated by food received the most support under the supraliminal condition. These results suggest the possibility that unconscious hedonic responses to food may exert an effect through amygdala activation via the subcortical visual pathway.
Collapse
|
25
|
Zhou M, Qu S, Zhao L, Kong N, Campy KS, Wang S. Trust collapse caused by the Changsheng vaccine crisis in China. Vaccine 2019; 37:3419-3425. [PMID: 31097351 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The public acceptance and implementation of vaccination programs is essential to prevent infectious diseases. However, vaccine adverse events may cause public panic and eventually lead to an increasing number of populations who were hesitant or refuse to participate in these vaccination programs. In 2018, the Changsheng vaccine crisis broke out in mainland China, and 252,600 unqualified DTP vaccines were reported to be used for child vaccination. In this study, we observed media and public reactions toward the vaccine crisis. METHODS This study conducted Internet surveillance by four mainstream indicators from July 15th to August 7th, including social media (WeChat, Sina Weibo), online news and Baidu search index. We also analyzed the emotional perceptions of people in crisis through an online questionnaire survey. RESULTS During the crisis, huge number of articles emerged on Internet, 125,882,894 articles (including forwarding) on WeChat friends circle, 1,877,660 Sina Weibo posts, 648,265 online news and 4,986,521 Baidu search indexes. Most of these articles were negative and expressed the public's weak confidence to the China-made vaccines. Public confidence in vaccines was undermined by the actions of the manufacturer and the government. CONCLUSIONS The DTP vaccine crisis led to panic about immunization and eroded trust in the immunization program and in the government. Restoring public confidence in Chinese-made vaccines will take a long time, and meticulous management in vaccine production, and strict government regulation will help to alleviate public anxiety about vaccine safety and ultimately restore confidence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Min Zhou
- College of Business Administration, Hunan University of Commerce, Changsha, China; School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
| | - Shujuan Qu
- The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
| | - Lindu Zhao
- School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
| | - Nan Kong
- Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
| | - Kathryn S Campy
- Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Song Wang
- College of Business Administration, Hunan University of Commerce, Changsha, China
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Sliwinska MW, Pitcher D. TMS demonstrates that both right and left superior temporal sulci are important for facial expression recognition. Neuroimage 2018; 183:394-400. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 08/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
|
27
|
Cheng C, Fan L, Xia X, Eickhoff SB, Li H, Li H, Chen J, Jiang T. Rostro-caudal organization of the human posterior superior temporal sulcus revealed by connectivity profiles. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:5112-5125. [PMID: 30273447 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2017] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) plays an important role in biological motion perception but is also thought to be essential for speech and facial processing. However, although there are many previous investigations of distinct functional modules within the pSTS, the functional organization of the pSTS in its full functional heterogeneity has not yet been established. Here we applied a connectivity-based parcellation strategy to delineate the human pSTS subregions based on distinct anatomical connectivity profiles and divided it into rostral and caudal subregions using diffusion tensor imaging. Subsequent multimodal connection pattern analyses revealed distinct subregional connectivity profiles. From this we inferred that the two subregions are involved in distinct functional circuits, the language processing loop and the cognition attention network. These results indicate a convergent functional architecture of the pSTS that can be revealed based on different types of connectivity and is reflected in different functions and interactions. In addition, when the subregions were performing their processing in the different functional circuits, we found asymmetry in the bilateral pSTS. Our findings may improve the understanding of the functional organization of the pSTS and provide new insights into its interactions and integration of information at the subregional level.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chen Cheng
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China.,Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lingzhong Fan
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoluan Xia
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China.,Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.,Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Hai Li
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Haifang Li
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China
| | - Junjie Chen
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China
| | - Tianzi Jiang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,The Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Weise CM, Chen K, Chen Y, Kuang X, Savage CR, Reiman EM. Left lateralized cerebral glucose metabolism declines in amyloid-β positive persons with mild cognitive impairment. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2018; 20:286-296. [PMID: 30101060 PMCID: PMC6084012 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Background Previous publications indicate that Alzheimer's Disease (AD) related cortical atrophy may develop in asymmetric patterns, with accentuation of the left hemisphere. Since fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) measurements of the regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRgl) provide a sensitive and specific marker of neurodegenerative disease progression, we sought to investigate the longitudinal pattern of rCMRgl in amyloid-positive persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, hypothesizing asymmetric declines of cerebral glucose metabolism. Methods Using florbetapir PET and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures to define amyloid-β (Aβ) positivity, 40 Aβ negative (Aβ-) cognitively unimpaired controls (CU; 76 ± 5y), 76 Aβ positive (Aβ+) persons with MCI (76 ± 7y) and 51 Aβ + persons with probable AD dementia (75 ± 7y) from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) were included in this study with baseline and 2-year follow-up FDG PET scans. The degree of lateralization of longitudinal rCMRgl declines in subjects with Aβ + MCI and AD in comparison with Aβ- CU were statistically quantified via bootstrapped lateralization indices [(LI); range − 1 (right) to 1 (left)]. Results Compared to Aβ- CU, Aβ + MCI patients showed marked left hemispheric lateralization (LI: 0.78). In contrast, modest right hemispheric lateralization (LI: −0.33) of rCMRgl declines was found in Aβ + persons with probable AD dementia. Additional comparisons of Aβ + groups (i.e. MCI and probable AD dementia) consequently indicated right hemispheric lateralization (LI: −0.79) of stronger rCMRgl declines in dementia stages of AD. For all comparisons, voxel-based analyses confirmed significant (pFWE<0.05) declines of rCMRgl within AD-typical brain regions. Analyses of cognitive data yielded predominant decline of memory functions in both MCI and dementia stages of AD. Conclusions These data indicate that in early stages, AD may be characterized by a more lateralized pattern of left hemispheric rCMRgl declines. However, metabolic differences between hemispheres appear to diminish with further progression of the disease. Lateralized cerebral glucose metabolism declines in Alzheimer's Disease. Early stages show strong left-hemispheric lateralization. Advanced stages show weak right-hemispheric lateralization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kewei Chen
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Neurogenomics Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Yinghua Chen
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Xiaoying Kuang
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Cary R Savage
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Eric M Reiman
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; School of Mathematics and Statistics (KC), Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center (EMR), Arizona State University, USA; Department of Neurology, College of Medicine - Phoenix (KC), Department of Psychiatry (EMR), University of Arizona, USA; Neurogenomics Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Banner-Arizona State University, Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, BioDesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
29
|
Lyu I, Kim SH, Woodward ND, Styner MA, Landman BA. TRACE: A Topological Graph Representation for Automatic Sulcal Curve Extraction. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL IMAGING 2018; 37:1653-1663. [PMID: 29969416 PMCID: PMC6889090 DOI: 10.1109/tmi.2017.2787589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
A proper geometric representation of the cortical regions is a fundamental task for cortical shape analysis and landmark extraction. However, a significant challenge has arisen due to the highly variable, convoluted cortical folding patterns. In this paper, we propose a novel topological graph representation for automatic sulcal curve extraction (TRACE). In practice, the reconstructed surface suffers from noise influences introduced during image acquisition/surface reconstruction. In the presence of noise on the surface, TRACE determines stable sulcal fundic regions by employing the line simplification method that prevents the sulcal folding pattern from being significantly smoothed out. The sulcal curves are then traced over the connected graph in the determined regions by the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. For validation, we used the state-of-the-art surface reconstruction pipelines on a reproducibility data set. The experimental results showed higher reproducibility and robustness to noise in TRACE than the existing method (Li et al. 2010) with over 20% relative improvement in error for both surface reconstruction pipelines. In addition, the extracted sulcal curves by TRACE were well-aligned with manually delineated primary sulcal curves. We also provided a choice of parameters to control quality of the extracted sulcal curves and showed the influences of the parameter selection on the resulting curves.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilwoo Lyu
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 USA
| | - Sun Hyung Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Neil D. Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 USA
| | - Martin A. Styner
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bennett A. Landman
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 USA
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: A suitable measure in comparative studies? Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 24:1686-1717. [PMID: 28092078 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-016-1224-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
For social animals, attending to and recognizing the emotional expressions of other individuals is of crucial importance for their survival and likely has a deep evolutionary origin. Gaining insight into how emotional expressions evolved as adaptations over the course of evolution can be achieved by making direct cross-species comparisons. To that extent, experimental paradigms that are suitable for investigating emotional processing across species need to be developed and evaluated. The emotional dot-probe task, which measures attention allocation toward emotional stimuli, has this potential. The task is implicit, and subjects need minimal training to perform the task successfully. Findings in nonhuman primates, although scarce, show that they, like humans, have an attentional bias toward emotional stimuli. However, the wide literature on human studies has shown that different factors can have important moderating effects on the results. Due to the large heterogeneity of this literature, these moderating effects often remain unnoticed. We here review this literature and show that subject characteristics and differences in experimental designs affect the results of the dot-probe task. We conclude with specific recommendations regarding these issues that are particularly relevant to take into consideration when applying this paradigm to study animals.
Collapse
|
31
|
Association between Neuroticism and Emotional Face Processing. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17669. [PMID: 29247161 PMCID: PMC5732281 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17706-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroticism is one of the “Big Five” personality factors and is characterized by a tendency to experience negative affect. We aimed to investigate how neuroticism influences the neural correlates for processing of emotional facial expressions. 68 healthy participants were presented with emotional dynamic facial stimuli, i.e. happy, neutral or angry, during functional MRI. Brain activations for the contrasts emotional vs. neutral, happy vs. neutral and angry vs. neutral were correlated with individuals’ neuroticism scores as obtained by the NEO Five Factor Inventory questionnaire and additionally investigated for gender differences. The bilateral medial temporal gyrus (MTG) was identified as key region in the processing of emotional faces and activations within this region correlated with individual neuroticism scores. Although female participants showed significantly stronger activation differences between emotional and neutral facial expressions in the left MTG, the correlation between activation and neuroticism scores did not show any significant gender differences. Our results offer for the first time a biological correlate within the face processing network for enhanced reactivity of neurotic individuals to emotional facial expressions which occurs similarly for both male and female participants.
Collapse
|
32
|
Perdikis D, Volhard J, Müller V, Kaulard K, Brick TR, Wallraven C, Lindenberger U. Brain synchronization during perception of facial emotional expressions with natural and unnatural dynamics. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0181225. [PMID: 28723957 PMCID: PMC5517022 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 06/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the perception of facial emotional expressions (FEEs) often uses static images that do not capture the dynamic character of social coordination in natural settings. Recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that dynamic FEEs (videos or morphs) enhance emotion perception. To identify mechanisms associated with the perception of FEEs with natural dynamics, the present EEG (Electroencephalography)study compared (i) ecologically valid stimuli of angry and happy FEEs with natural dynamics to (ii) FEEs with unnatural dynamics, and to (iii) static FEEs. FEEs with unnatural dynamics showed faces moving in a biologically possible but unpredictable and atypical manner, generally resulting in ambivalent emotional content. Participants were asked to explicitly recognize FEEs. Using whole power (WP) and phase synchrony (Phase Locking Index, PLI), we found that brain responses discriminated between natural and unnatural FEEs (both static and dynamic). Differences were primarily observed in the timing and brain topographies of delta and theta PLI and WP, and in alpha and beta WP. Our results support the view that biologically plausible, albeit atypical, FEEs are processed by the brain by different mechanisms than natural FEEs. We conclude that natural movement dynamics are essential for the perception of FEEs and the associated brain processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dionysios Perdikis
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Jakob Volhard
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Viktor Müller
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kathrin Kaulard
- Department of Human Perception, Cognition and Action, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Timothy R. Brick
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian Wallraven
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Ulman Lindenberger
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Sato W, Kochiyama T, Uono S, Yoshikawa S, Toichi M. Direction of Amygdala-Neocortex Interaction During Dynamic Facial Expression Processing. Cereb Cortex 2017; 27:1878-1890. [PMID: 26908633 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Dynamic facial expressions of emotion strongly elicit multifaceted emotional, perceptual, cognitive, and motor responses. Neuroimaging studies revealed that some subcortical (e.g., amygdala) and neocortical (e.g., superior temporal sulcus and inferior frontal gyrus) brain regions and their functional interaction were involved in processing dynamic facial expressions. However, the direction of the functional interaction between the amygdala and the neocortex remains unknown. To investigate this issue, we re-analyzed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 2 studies and magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from 1 study. First, a psychophysiological interaction analysis of the fMRI data confirmed the functional interaction between the amygdala and neocortical regions. Then, dynamic causal modeling analysis was used to compare models with forward, backward, or bidirectional effective connectivity between the amygdala and neocortical networks in the fMRI and MEG data. The results consistently supported the model of effective connectivity from the amygdala to the neocortex. Further increasing time-window analysis of the MEG demonstrated that this model was valid after 200 ms from the stimulus onset. These data suggest that emotional processing in the amygdala rapidly modulates some neocortical processing, such as perception, recognition, and motor mimicry, when observing dynamic facial expressions of emotion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine and
| | - Takanori Kochiyama
- Brain Activity Imaging Center, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan
| | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine and
| | - Sakiko Yoshikawa
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Anzellotti S, Caramazza A. Multimodal representations of person identity individuated with fMRI. Cortex 2017; 89:85-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Revised: 12/13/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
35
|
Schirmer A, Adolphs R. Emotion Perception from Face, Voice, and Touch: Comparisons and Convergence. Trends Cogn Sci 2017; 21:216-228. [PMID: 28173998 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2016] [Revised: 12/23/2016] [Accepted: 01/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Historically, research on emotion perception has focused on facial expressions, and findings from this modality have come to dominate our thinking about other modalities. Here we examine emotion perception through a wider lens by comparing facial with vocal and tactile processing. We review stimulus characteristics and ensuing behavioral and brain responses and show that audition and touch do not simply duplicate visual mechanisms. Each modality provides a distinct input channel and engages partly nonoverlapping neuroanatomical systems with different processing specializations (e.g., specific emotions versus affect). Moreover, processing of signals across the different modalities converges, first into multi- and later into amodal representations that enable holistic emotion judgments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Annett Schirmer
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany; National University of Singapore, Singapore.
| | - Ralph Adolphs
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Ocklenburg S, Schmitz J, Moinfar Z, Moser D, Klose R, Lor S, Kunz G, Tegenthoff M, Faustmann P, Francks C, Epplen JT, Kumsta R, Güntürkün O. Epigenetic regulation of lateralized fetal spinal gene expression underlies hemispheric asymmetries. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28145864 PMCID: PMC5295814 DOI: 10.7554/elife.22784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Lateralization is a fundamental principle of nervous system organization but its molecular determinants are mostly unknown. In humans, asymmetric gene expression in the fetal cortex has been suggested as the molecular basis of handedness. However, human fetuses already show considerable asymmetries in arm movements before the motor cortex is functionally linked to the spinal cord, making it more likely that spinal gene expression asymmetries form the molecular basis of handedness. We analyzed genome-wide mRNA expression and DNA methylation in cervical and anterior thoracal spinal cord segments of five human fetuses and show development-dependent gene expression asymmetries. These gene expression asymmetries were epigenetically regulated by miRNA expression asymmetries in the TGF-β signaling pathway and lateralized methylation of CpG islands. Our findings suggest that molecular mechanisms for epigenetic regulation within the spinal cord constitute the starting point for handedness, implying a fundamental shift in our understanding of the ontogenesis of hemispheric asymmetries in humans. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22784.001
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Judith Schmitz
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Zahra Moinfar
- Department of Neuroanatomy and Molecular Brain Research, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Dirk Moser
- Department of Genetic Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Rena Klose
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Stephanie Lor
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Georg Kunz
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Johannes Hospital, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Martin Tegenthoff
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany
| | - Pedro Faustmann
- Department of Neuroanatomy and Molecular Brain Research, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Clyde Francks
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Jörg T Epplen
- Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Robert Kumsta
- Department of Genetic Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Amygdala atrophy affects emotion-related activity in face-responsive regions in frontotemporal degeneration. Cortex 2016; 82:179-191. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2016] [Revised: 05/11/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
38
|
Shen X, Wu Q, Zhao K, Fu X. Electrophysiological Evidence Reveals Differences between the Recognition of Microexpressions and Macroexpressions. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1346. [PMID: 27630610 PMCID: PMC5005928 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Microexpressions are fleeting facial expressions that are important for judging people's true emotions. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying the recognition of microexpressions (with duration of less than 200 ms) and macroexpressions (with duration of greater than 200 ms). We used an affective priming paradigm in which a picture of a facial expression is the prime and an emotional word is the target, and electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine neural activities associated with recognizing microexpressions and macroexpressions. The results showed that there were significant main effects of duration and valence for N170/vertex positive potential. The main effect of congruence for N400 is also significant. Further, sLORETA showed that the brain regions responsible for these significant differences included the inferior temporal gyrus and widespread regions of the frontal lobe. Furthermore, the results suggested that the left hemisphere was more involved than the right hemisphere in processing a microexpression. The main effect of duration for the event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) was significant, and the theta oscillations (4 to 8 Hz) increased in recognizing expressions with a duration of 40 ms compared with 300 ms. Thus, there are different EEG/ERPs neural mechanisms for recognizing microexpressions compared to recognizing macroexpressions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xunbing Shen
- Department of Psychology, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese MedicineNanchang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| | - Qi Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
- Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal UniversityChangsha, China
| | - Ke Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| | - Xiaolan Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Atypical Asymmetry for Processing Human and Robot Faces in Autism Revealed by fNIRS. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0158804. [PMID: 27389017 PMCID: PMC4936708 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Deficits in the visual processing of faces in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) individuals may be due to atypical brain organization and function. Studies assessing asymmetric brain function in ASD individuals have suggested that facial processing, which is known to be lateralized in neurotypical (NT) individuals, may be less lateralized in ASD. Here we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to first test this theory by comparing patterns of lateralized brain activity in homologous temporal-occipital facial processing regions during observation of faces in an ASD group and an NT group. As expected, the ASD participants showed reduced right hemisphere asymmetry for human faces, compared to the NT participants. Based on recent behavioral reports suggesting that robots can facilitate increased verbal interaction over human counterparts in ASD, we also measured responses to faces of robots to determine if these patterns of activation were lateralized in each group. In this exploratory test, both groups showed similar asymmetry patterns for the robot faces. Our findings confirm existing literature suggesting reduced asymmetry for human faces in ASD and provide a preliminary foundation for future testing of how the use of categorically different social stimuli in the clinical setting may be beneficial in this population.
Collapse
|
40
|
Brauer J, Xiao Y, Poulain T, Friederici AD, Schirmer A. Frequency of Maternal Touch Predicts Resting Activity and Connectivity of the Developing Social Brain. Cereb Cortex 2016; 26:3544-52. [PMID: 27230216 PMCID: PMC4961023 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous behavioral research points to a positive relationship between maternal touch and early social development. Here, we explored the brain correlates of this relationship. The frequency of maternal touch was recorded for 43 five-year-old children during a 10 min standardized play session. Additionally, all children completed a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Investigating the default mode network revealed a positive relation between the frequency of maternal touch and activity in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) extending into the temporo-parietal junction. Using this effect as a seed in a functional connectivity analysis identified a network including extended bilateral regions along the temporal lobe, bilateral frontal cortex, and left insula. Compared with children with low maternal touch, children with high maternal touch showed additional connectivity with the right dorso-medial prefrontal cortex. Together these results support the notion that childhood tactile experiences shape the developing "social brain" with a particular emphasis on a network involved in mentalizing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jens Brauer
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Yaqiong Xiao
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tanja Poulain
- LIFE Research Center, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Annett Schirmer
- Department of Psychology and LSI Neurobiology/Ageing Programme, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Duke/NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Venezia JH, Fillmore P, Matchin W, Isenberg AL, Hickok G, Fridriksson J. Perception drives production across sensory modalities: A network for sensorimotor integration of visual speech. Neuroimage 2016; 126:196-207. [PMID: 26608242 PMCID: PMC4733636 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2015] [Revised: 11/09/2015] [Accepted: 11/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory information is critical for movement control, both for defining the targets of actions and providing feedback during planning or ongoing movements. This holds for speech motor control as well, where both auditory and somatosensory information have been shown to play a key role. Recent clinical research demonstrates that individuals with severe speech production deficits can show a dramatic improvement in fluency during online mimicking of an audiovisual speech signal suggesting the existence of a visuomotor pathway for speech motor control. Here we used fMRI in healthy individuals to identify this new visuomotor circuit for speech production. Participants were asked to perceive and covertly rehearse nonsense syllable sequences presented auditorily, visually, or audiovisually. The motor act of rehearsal, which is prima facie the same whether or not it is cued with a visible talker, produced different patterns of sensorimotor activation when cued by visual or audiovisual speech (relative to auditory speech). In particular, a network of brain regions including the left posterior middle temporal gyrus and several frontoparietal sensorimotor areas activated more strongly during rehearsal cued by a visible talker versus rehearsal cued by auditory speech alone. Some of these brain regions responded exclusively to rehearsal cued by visual or audiovisual speech. This result has significant implications for models of speech motor control, for the treatment of speech output disorders, and for models of the role of speech gesture imitation in development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan H Venezia
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States.
| | - Paul Fillmore
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, United States
| | - William Matchin
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
| | - A Lisette Isenberg
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States
| | - Julius Fridriksson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, United States
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Zhai H, Yu Y, Zhang W, Chen G, Jia F. ACC and IPL networks in the perception of the faces of parents during selective tasks. Brain Imaging Behav 2015; 10:1172-1183. [PMID: 26613720 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-015-9486-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The perception of the faces of parents is different from that of other faces. Mother's face perception is associated with childbearing and parenting and has specific cognitive processing properties. Yet, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. We investigated the neural network that is involved in the perception of parent's face based upon parental face selective tasks that were completed by 23 normal adults. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a task block design with fixation cross sign control fMRI were used. The faces activated the right inferior frontal gyrus, the left and right middle frontal gyri, and the left and right inferior parietal lobule. In addition, the parental faces task resulted in more activation than the control tasks in the left and right anterior cingulate, left middle (superior) temporal gyrus, right and left inferior frontal gyrus. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) are central nodes of the brain network, while the parental face perception network includes the anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal gyrus (ACC-STG)/parahippocampal network as well as the inferior frontal and inferior parietal lobule (IFG-IPL) network. The network of father's face perception involves the left inferior parietal lobule and left middle frontal gyrus/right middle frontal gyrus/right inferior frontal gyrus, while mother's face perception involves the right inferior parietal lobe and frontal network (MFG.L/IFG.R). The experiments showed that the ACC-STG/parahippocampal network and IFG-IPL network are neural networks used in parental face perception, and the ACC and IPL are central nodes in the network. The neural pathway of parental face perception is similar to the perception of a stranger's face, as both include the STG, but is different in that the perception of the stranger's face involves a connected STG and IPL as a specific neural pathway.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongchang Zhai
- Educational College, Guangzhou University, No.230 Waihuan West Road, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, 510006.
| | - Yuan Yu
- Educational College, Guangzhou University, No.230 Waihuan West Road, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, 510006
| | - Wei Zhang
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Fucang Jia
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1068, Xueyuan Avenue, Xili University Town, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China, 518055.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Ocklenburg S, Arning L, Gerding WM, Hengstler JG, Epplen JT, Güntürkün O, Beste C, Akkad DA. Left-Right Axis Differentiation and Functional Lateralization: a Haplotype in the Methyltransferase Encoding Gene SETDB2 Might Mediate Handedness in Healthy Adults. Mol Neurobiol 2015; 53:6355-6361. [PMID: 26572639 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-015-9534-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Accepted: 11/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Handedness is a multifactorial trait, and genes contributing to the differentiation of the left-right axis during embryogenesis have been identified as a major gene group associated with this trait. The methyltransferase SETDB2 (SET domain, bifurcated 2) has been shown to regulate structural left-right asymmetry in the vertebrate central nervous system by suppressing fgf8 expression. Here, we investigated the relation of genetic variation in SETDB2-and its paralogue SETDB1-with different handedness phenotypes in 950 healthy adult participants. We identified a haplotype on SETDB2 for which homozygous individuals showed a significantly lower lateralization quotient for handedness than the rest of the cohort after correction for multiple comparisons. Moreover, direction of handedness was significantly associated with genetic variation in this haplotype. This effect was mainly, but not exclusively, driven by the sequence variation rs4942830, as individuals homozygous for the A allele of this single nucleotide polymorphism had a significantly lower lateralization quotient than individuals with at least one T allele. These findings further confirm a role of genetic pathways relevant for structural left-right axis differentiation for functional lateralization. Moreover, as the protein encoded by SETDB2 regulates gene expression epigenetically by histone H3 methylation, our findings highlight the importance of investigating the role of epigenetic modulations of gene expression in relation to handedness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Larissa Arning
- Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Wanda M Gerding
- Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jan G Hengstler
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Jörg T Epplen
- Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany
- Faculty of Health, University Witten-Herdecke, 58448, Witten, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, 01309, Dresden, Germany
| | - Denis A Akkad
- Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
|
45
|
Li WO, Yuen KSL. The perception of time while perceiving dynamic emotional faces. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1248. [PMID: 26347701 PMCID: PMC4543824 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 08/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotion plays an essential role in the perception of time such that time is perceived to “fly” when events are enjoyable, while unenjoyable moments are perceived to “drag.” Previous studies have reported a time-drag effect when participants are presented with emotional facial expressions, regardless of the emotion presented. This effect can hardly be explained by induced emotion given the heterogeneous nature of emotional expressions. We conducted two experiments (n = 44 and n = 39) to examine the cognitive mechanism underlying this effect by presenting dynamic sequences of emotional expressions to participants. Each sequence started with a particular expression, then morphed to another. The presentation of dynamic facial expressions allows a comparison between the time-drag effect of homogeneous pairs of emotional expressions sharing similar valence and arousal to heterogeneous pairs. Sequences of seven durations (400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600 ms) were presented to participants, who were asked to judge whether the sequences were closer to 400 or 1600 ms in a two-alternative forced choice task. The data were then collated according to conditions and fit into cumulative Gaussian curves to estimate the point of subjective equivalence indicating the perceived duration of 1000 ms. Consistent with previous reports, a feeling of “time dragging” is induced regardless of the sequence presented, such that 1000 ms is perceived to be longer than 1000 ms. In addition, dynamic facial expressions exert a greater effect on perceived time drag than static expressions. The effect is most prominent when the dynamics involve an angry face or a change in valence. The significance of this sensitivity is discussed in terms of emotion perception and its evolutionary significance for our attention mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wang On Li
- Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University Braemar Hill, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kenneth S L Yuen
- Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz Mainz, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Vonck S, Swinnen SP, Wenderoth N, Alaerts K. Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Recognition of Bodily Emotions from Point-Light Displays. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:438. [PMID: 26283952 PMCID: PMC4522557 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2014] [Accepted: 07/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceiving human motion, recognizing actions, and interpreting emotional body language are tasks we perform daily and which are supported by a network of brain areas including the human posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). Here, we applied transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with anodal (excitatory) or cathodal (inhibitory) electrodes mounted over right pSTS (target) and orbito-frontal cortex (reference) while healthy participants performed a bodily emotion recognition task using biological motion point-light displays (PLDs). Performance (accuracy and reaction times) was also assessed on a control task which was matched to the emotion recognition task in terms of cognitive and motor demands. Each subject participated in two experimental sessions, receiving either anodal or cathodal stimulation, which were separated by one week to avoid residual effects of previous stimulations. Overall, tDCS brain stimulation did not affect the recognition of emotional states from PLDs. However, when emotions with a negative or positive-neutral emotional valence were analyzed separately, effects of stimulation were shown for recognizing emotions with a negative emotional valence (sadness and anger), indicating increased recognition performance when receiving anodal (excitatory) stimulation compared to cathodal (inhibitory) stimulation over pSTS. No stimulation effects were shown for the recognition of emotions with positive-neutral emotional valences. These findings extend previous studies showing structure-function relationships between STS and biological motion processing from PLDs and provide indications that stimulation effects may be modulated by the emotional valence of the stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sharona Vonck
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium ; Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University , Hasselt , Belgium
| | - Stephan Patrick Swinnen
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium
| | - Nicole Wenderoth
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium ; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland
| | - Kaat Alaerts
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Impaired recognition of body expressions in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia. Neuropsychologia 2015; 75:496-504. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2015] [Revised: 05/28/2015] [Accepted: 06/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
|
48
|
Abstract
Several neuroimaging studies have revealed that the superior temporal sulcus (STS) is highly implicated in the processing of facial motion. A limitation of these investigations, however, is that many of them utilize unnatural stimuli (e.g., morphed videos) or those which contain many confounding spatial cues. As a result, the underlying mechanisms may not be fully engaged during such perception. The aim of the current study was to build upon the existing literature by implementing highly detailed and accurate models of facial movement. Accordingly, neurologically healthy participants viewed simultaneous sequences of rigid and nonrigid motion that was retargeted onto a standard computer generated imagery face model. Their task was to discriminate between different facial motion videos in a two-alternative forced choice paradigm. Presentations varied between upright and inverted orientations. In corroboration with previous data, the perception of natural facial motion strongly activated a portion of the posterior STS. The analysis also revealed engagement of the lingual gyrus, fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, and cerebellum. These findings therefore suggest that the processing of dynamic facial information is supported by a network of visuomotor substrates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christine Girges
- a College of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Psychology , Brunel University , London , UK
| | - Justin O'Brien
- a College of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Psychology , Brunel University , London , UK
| | - Janine Spencer
- a College of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Psychology , Brunel University , London , UK
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Li X, Liu Y, Luo S, Wu B, Wu X, Han S. Mortality salience enhances racial in-group bias in empathic neural responses to others' suffering. Neuroimage 2015; 118:376-85. [PMID: 26074201 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2015] [Revised: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 06/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral research suggests that mortality salience (MS) leads to increased in-group identification and in-group favoritism in prosocial behavior. What remains unknown is whether and how MS influences brain activity that mediates emotional resonance with in-group and out-group members and is associated with in-group favoritism in helping behavior. The current work investigated MS effects on empathic neural responses to racial in-group and out-group members' suffering. Experiments 1 and 2 respectively recorded event related potentials (ERPs) and blood oxygen level dependent signals to pain/neutral expressions of Asian and Caucasian faces from Chinese adults who had been primed with MS or negative affect (NA). Experiment 1 found that an early frontal/central activity (P2) was more strongly modulated by pain vs. neutral expressions of Asian than Caucasian faces, but this effect was not affected by MS vs. NA priming. However, MS relative to NA priming enhanced racial in-group bias in long-latency neural response to pain expressions over the central/parietal regions (P3). Experiment 2 found that MS vs. NA priming increased racial in-group bias in empathic neural responses to pain expression in the anterior and mid-cingulate cortex. Our findings indicate that reminding mortality enhances brain activity that differentiates between racial in-group and out-group members' emotional states and suggest a neural basis of in-group favoritism under mortality threat.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyang Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University
| | - Bing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xinhuai Wu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Shihui Han
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University.
| |
Collapse
|