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Sato W, Usui N, Kondo A, Kubota Y, Toichi M, Inoue Y. Impairment of unconscious emotional processing after unilateral medial temporal structure resection. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4269. [PMID: 38383855 PMCID: PMC10881984 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54868-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The role of the amygdala in unconscious emotional processing remains a topic of debate. Past lesion studies have indicated that amygdala damage leads to impaired electrodermal activity in response to subliminally presented emotional stimuli. However, electrodermal activity can reflect both emotional and nonemotional processes. To provide behavioral evidence highlighting the critical role of the amygdala in unconscious emotional processing, we examined patients (n = 16) who had undergone unilateral resection of medial temporal lobe structures, including the amygdala. We utilized the subliminal affective priming paradigm in conjunction with unilateral visual presentation. Fearful or happy dynamic facial expressions were presented in unilateral visual fields for 30 ms, serving as negative or positive primes. Subsequently, neutral target faces were displayed, and participants were tasked with rating the valence of these targets. Positive primes, compared to negative ones, enhanced valence ratings of the target to a greater extent when they stimulated the intact hemisphere (i.e., were presented in the contralateral visual field of the intact hemisphere) than when they stimulated the resected hemisphere (i.e., were presented in the contralateral visual field of the resected hemisphere). These results suggest that the amygdala is causally involved in unconscious emotional processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan.
| | - Naotaka Usui
- National Epilepsy Center, Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan.
| | - Akihiko Kondo
- National Epilepsy Center, Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga University, 1-1-1 Baba, Hikone, Shiga, 522-8522, Japan
| | - Motomi Toichi
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Yushi Inoue
- National Epilepsy Center, Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan
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2
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Kristjánsson Á, Kristjánsson T. Attentional priming in Go No-Go search tasks. Vision Res 2023; 213:108313. [PMID: 37689007 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Go/No-Go responses in visual search yield different estimates of the operation of visual attention than more standard present versus absent tasks. Such minor methodological tweaks have a surprisingly large effect on measures that have, for the last half-century or so, formed the backbone of prominent theories of visual attention. Secondly, priming effects in visual search have a dominating influence on visual search, accounting for effects that have been attributed to top-down guidance in standard theories. Priming effects in visual search have, however, never been investigated for searches involving Go/No-Go present/absent decisions. Here, Go/No-Go tasks were used to assess visual search for an odd-one-out face, defined either by color or facial expression. The Go/No-Go responses for the color-based task were very fast for both present and absent trials and notably, they resulted in negative slopes of RT and set size. Interestingly "Go" responses were even faster for the target absent case. The "Go" responses were, on the other hand, much slower for expression and became higher with increased set-size, particularly for the target-absent response. Priming effects were considerable for the feature search, but for expression, the target absent priming was strong, but did not occur for target present trials, arguing that repetition priming for this search mainly reflects priming of context rather than target features. Overall, the results reinforce the point that Go/No-Go tasks are highly informative for theoretical accounts of visual attention and are shown here to cast a new light on attentional priming.
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Saito A, Sato W, Yoshikawa S. Sex differences in the rapid detection of neutral faces associated with emotional value. Biol Sex Differ 2023; 14:84. [PMID: 37964327 PMCID: PMC10644416 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-023-00567-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rapid detection of faces with emotional meaning is essential for understanding the emotions of others, possibly promoting successful interpersonal relationships. Although few studies have examined sex differences in the ability to detect emotional faces, it remains unclear whether faces with emotional meaning capture the attention of females and males differently, because emotional faces have visual saliency that modulates visual attention. To overcome this issue, we tested the rapid detection of the neutral faces associated with and without learned emotional value, which are all regarded as free from visual saliency. We examined sex differences in the rapid detection of the neutral female and male faces associated with emotional value. METHODS First, young adult female and male participants completed an associative learning task in which neutral faces were associated with either monetary rewards, monetary punishments, or no monetary outcomes, such that the neutral faces acquired positive, negative, and no emotional value, respectively. Then, they engaged in a visual search task in which previously learned neutral faces were presented as discrepant faces among newly presented neutral distractor faces. During the visual search task, the participants were required to rapidly identify discrepant faces. RESULTS Female and male participants exhibited comparable learning abilities. The visual search results demonstrated that female participants achieved rapid detection of neutral faces associated with emotional value irrespective of the sex of the faces presented, whereas male participants showed this ability only for male faces. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrated that sex differences in the ability to rapidly detect neutral faces with emotional value were modulated by the sex of those faces. The results suggest greater sensitivity to faces with emotional significance in females, which might enrich interpersonal communication, regardless of sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akie Saito
- Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan.
| | - Wataru Sato
- Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan
- Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
| | - Sakiko Yoshikawa
- Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
- Faculty of the Art and Design, Kyoto University of The Arts, 2-116 Uryuuzan, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
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Guex R, Ros T, Mégevand P, Spinelli L, Seeck M, Vuilleumier P, Domínguez-Borràs J. Prestimulus amygdala spectral activity is associated with visual face awareness. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:1044-1057. [PMID: 35353177 PMCID: PMC9930624 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Alpha cortical oscillations have been proposed to suppress sensory processing in the visual, auditory, and tactile domains, influencing conscious stimulus perception. However, it is unknown whether oscillatory neural activity in the amygdala, a subcortical structure involved in salience detection, has a similar impact on stimulus awareness. Recording intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) from 9 human amygdalae during face detection in a continuous flash suppression task, we found increased spectral prestimulus power and phase coherence, with most consistent effects in the alpha band, when faces were undetected relative to detected, similarly as previously observed in cortex with this task using scalp-EEG. Moreover, selective decreases in the alpha and gamma bands preceded face detection, with individual prestimulus alpha power correlating negatively with detection rate in patients. These findings reveal for the first time that prestimulus subcortical oscillations localized in human amygdala may contribute to perceptual gating mechanisms governing subsequent face detection and offer promising insights on the role of this structure in visual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael Guex
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva – Campus Biotech, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva – HUG, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva 1202, Switzerland
| | - Tomas Ros
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, Functional Brain Mapping Laboratory, Campus Biotech, University of Geneva, Geneva 1202, Switzerland
- Lemanic Biomedical Imaging Centre (CIBM), Geneva 1202, Switzerland
| | - Pierre Mégevand
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva – Campus Biotech, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva – HUG, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Spinelli
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva – HUG, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Margitta Seeck
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva – HUG, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva – Campus Biotech, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva 1202, Switzerland
| | - Judith Domínguez-Borràs
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva – Campus Biotech, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08035, Spain
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5
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Bouvarel D, Gardette J, Saint-Macary M, Hot P. Emotional scene remembering: A combination of disturbing and facilitating effects of emotion? Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:992242. [PMID: 36275852 PMCID: PMC9582611 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.992242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
An emotion-induced memory trade-off effect is frequently reported when participants have to memorize complex items that include both neutral and emotional features. This bias corresponds to better remembering of central emotional information accompanied by poor performance related to neutral background information. Although the trade-off effect has been mainly associated with attentional bias toward emotional content, findings suggest that other non-attentional cognitive processes could also be involved. The aim of this work was to assess whether emotional effects would be reported apart from their influence on attentional processing in an immediate delay memory task. Three studies were conducted. In Study 1, manipulation of the diffusion quality of emotional content allowed us to select focal emotional pictures vs. diffuse emotional pictures, which prevented attentional focus. The two studies that followed consisted of a recognition task of low- and high-complexity pictures in which we used partial visual cues during the test that could display either the emotional elements (i.e., central patch cues, Study 2) or the peripheral elements (i.e., peripheral patch cues, Study 3) of the focal emotional pictures. Results from Studies 2 and 3 replicated traditional trade-off effects only for high-complexity pictures. In addition, diffuse emotional pictures were associated with lower memory performance than were neutral pictures, suggesting that emotion features could both disturb and enhance (via their attentional effect) encoding processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Bouvarel
- LPNC, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Savoie Mont Blanc-Chambery, Grenoble, France
| | - Jeremy Gardette
- LPNC, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Savoie Mont Blanc-Chambery, Grenoble, France
| | - Manon Saint-Macary
- LPNC, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Savoie Mont Blanc-Chambery, Grenoble, France
| | - Pascal Hot
- LPNC, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Savoie Mont Blanc-Chambery, Grenoble, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
- *Correspondence: Pascal Hot,
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6
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Sawada R, Sato W, Nakashima R, Kumada T. How are emotional facial expressions detected rapidly and accurately? A diffusion model analysis. Cognition 2022; 229:105235. [PMID: 35933796 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105235] [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: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Previous psychological studies have shown that people detect emotional facial expressions more rapidly and accurately than neutral facial expressions. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying the efficient detection of emotional facial expressions remain unclear. To investigate this issue, we used diffusion model analyses to estimate the cognitive parameters of a visual search task in which participants detected faces with normal expressions of anger and happiness and their anti-expressions within a crowd of neutral faces. The anti-expressions were artificially created to control the visual changes of facial features but were usually recognized as emotionally neutral. We tested the hypothesis that the emotional significance of the target's facial expressions modulated the non-decisional time and the drift rate. We also conducted an exploratory investigation of the effect of facial expressions on threshold separation. The results showed that the non-decisional time was shorter, and the drift rate was larger for targets with normal expressions than with anti-expressions. Subjective emotional arousal ratings of facial targets were negatively related to the non-decisional time and positively associated with the drift rate. In addition, the threshold separation was larger for normal expressions than for anti-expressions and positively associated with arousal ratings for facial targets. These results suggest that the efficient detection of emotional facial expressions is accomplished via the faster and more cautious accumulation of emotional information of facial expressions which is initiated more rapidly by enhanced attentional allocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reiko Sawada
- Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan.
| | - Wataru Sato
- Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan; Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, Japan
| | - Ryoichi Nakashima
- Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan
| | - Takatsune Kumada
- Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan
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7
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Weidner EM, Schindler S, Grewe P, Moratti S, Bien CG, Kissler J. Emotion and attention in face processing: Complementary evidence from surface event-related potentials and intracranial amygdala recordings. Biol Psychol 2022; 173:108399. [PMID: 35850159 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Face processing is biased by emotional and voluntarily directed attention, both of which modulate processing in distributed cortical areas. The amygdala is assumed to contribute to an attentional bias for emotional faces, although its interaction with directed attention awaits further clarification. Here, we studied the interaction of emotion and attention during face processing via scalp EEG potentials of healthy participants and intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings of the right amygdala in one patient. Three randomized blocks consisting of angry, neutral, and happy facial expressions were presented, and one expression was denoted as the target category in each block. Happy targets were detected fastest and most accurately both in the group study and by the iEEG patient. Occipital scalp potentials revealed emotion differentiation for happy faces in the early posterior negativity (EPN) around 300 ms after stimulus onset regardless of the target condition. A similar response to happy faces occurred in the amygdala only for happy targets. On the scalp, a late positive potential (LPP, around 600 ms) enhancement for targets occurred for all target conditions alike. A simultaneous late signal in the amygdala was largest for emotional targets. No late signal enhancements were found for neutral targets in the amygdala. Cortical modulations, by contrast, showed both attention-independent effects of emotion and emotion-independent effects of attention. These results demonstrate an attention-dependence of amygdala activity during the processing of facial expressions and partly independent cortical mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enya M Weidner
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | - Sebastian Schindler
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Philip Grewe
- Clinical Neuropsychology and Epilepsy Research, Medical School OWL, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany; Department of Epileptology (Krankenhaus Mara), Bielefeld University, Medical School OWL, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Stephan Moratti
- Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Biomedical Technology, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Christian G Bien
- Department of Epileptology (Krankenhaus Mara), Bielefeld University, Medical School OWL, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Johanna Kissler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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8
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Murray EA, Fellows LK. Prefrontal cortex interactions with the amygdala in primates. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:163-179. [PMID: 34446829 PMCID: PMC8616954 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01128-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
This review addresses functional interactions between the primate prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the amygdala, with emphasis on their contributions to behavior and cognition. The interplay between these two telencephalic structures contributes to adaptive behavior and to the evolutionary success of all primate species. In our species, dysfunction in this circuitry creates vulnerabilities to psychopathologies. Here, we describe amygdala-PFC contributions to behaviors that have direct relevance to Darwinian fitness: learned approach and avoidance, foraging, predator defense, and social signaling, which have in common the need for flexibility and sensitivity to specific and rapidly changing contexts. Examples include the prediction of positive outcomes, such as food availability, food desirability, and various social rewards, or of negative outcomes, such as threats of harm from predators or conspecifics. To promote fitness optimally, these stimulus-outcome associations need to be rapidly updated when an associative contingency changes or when the value of a predicted outcome changes. We review evidence from nonhuman primates implicating the PFC, the amygdala, and their functional interactions in these processes, with links to experimental work and clinical findings in humans where possible.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lesley K Fellows
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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9
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Domínguez-Borràs J, Vuilleumier P. Amygdala function in emotion, cognition, and behavior. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2022; 187:359-380. [PMID: 35964983 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823493-8.00015-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The amygdala is a core structure in the anterior medial temporal lobe, with an important role in several brain functions involving memory, emotion, perception, social cognition, and even awareness. As a key brain structure for saliency detection, it triggers and controls widespread modulatory signals onto multiple areas of the brain, with a great impact on numerous aspects of adaptive behavior. Here we discuss the neural mechanisms underlying these functions, as established by animal and human research, including insights provided in both healthy and pathological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Domínguez-Borràs
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology & Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
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10
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The effect of personality characteristics combined with behavioral activation system (BAS) / behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and sport emotional induction on working memory. BIOMEDICAL HUMAN KINETICS 2021. [DOI: 10.2478/bhk-2022-0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study aim: To investigate the interactive effects of behavioral activation or behavioral inhibition and induced pleasant or unpleasant emotions on working memory performance among young adults.
Material and methods: Eighty participants (age 18–32 years) were randomly classified into 2 groups behavioral activation or inhibition and then sub-divided further via whether they received inductions in either pleasant emotions or unpleasant emotions. A pre-test measure of the working memory test was recorded and repeated after emotional induction.
Results: The ANOVA analysis indicated significant effect of PERSONALITY factor (F1,76 = 4.760, p = 0.0322, ηp
2 = 0.059) on results of the working memory test. The memory performance of the behavioral activation group that received positive emotion was better than the other groups, and the working memory performance of the behavioral inhibition group that received positive emotion was poorer than the other groups. Furthermore, the working memory performance of the behavioral activation group (positive emotion) was better than the other groups. Also, the working memory performance of the behavioral inhibition group (positive emotion) was poorer than the other groups.
Conclusions: Finally, the findings support the different effects of the brain behavioral systems and sport emotional induction on working memory.
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11
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Campanella F, West T, Dell'Acqua CC, Skrap M. Cognitive and affective theory of mind double dissociation after parietal and temporal lobe tumours. Brain 2021; 145:1818-1829. [PMID: 34919647 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awab441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Extensive neuroimaging literature suggests that understanding others' thoughts and emotions engages a wide network encompassing parietal, temporal and medial frontal brain areas. However, the causal role played by these regions in social inferential abilities is still unclear. Moreover very little is known about ToM deficits in brain tumours and whether potential anatomical substrates are comparable to those identified in fMRI literature. This study evaluated the performance of 105 tumour patients, before and immediately after brain surgery, on a cartoon-based non-verbal task evaluating Cognitive (Intention Attribution) and Affective (Emotion Attribution) ToM, as well as a non-social control condition (Causal Inference). Across multiple analyses, we found converging evidence of a double dissociation between patients with right superior parietal damage, selectively impaired in Intention Attribution, and those with right antero-medial temporal lesion, exhibiting deficits only in Emotion attribution. Instead, patients with damage to the frontal cortex were impaired in all kinds of inferential processes, including those from the non-social control conditions. Overall, our data provides novel reliable causal evidence of segregation between different aspects of the ToM network from both the cognitive and also the anatomical point of view.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Campanella
- Neurosurgery Unit, Presidio Ospedaliero Universitario "S. Maria della Misericordia", Udine, Italy.,Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34100 Trieste, Italy
| | - Thomas West
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34100 Trieste, Italy
| | | | - Miran Skrap
- Neurosurgery Unit, Presidio Ospedaliero Universitario "S. Maria della Misericordia", Udine, Italy
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12
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Sato W, Usui N, Sawada R, Kondo A, Toichi M, Inoue Y. Impairment of emotional expression detection after unilateral medial temporal structure resection. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20617. [PMID: 34663869 PMCID: PMC8523523 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99945-y] [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: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Detecting emotional facial expressions is an initial and indispensable component of face-to-face communication. Neuropsychological studies on the neural substrates of this process have shown that bilateral amygdala lesions impaired the detection of emotional facial expressions. However, the findings were inconsistent, possibly due to the limited number of patients examined. Furthermore, whether this processing is based on emotional or visual factors of facial expressions remains unknown. To investigate this issue, we tested a group of patients (n = 23) with unilateral resection of medial temporal lobe structures, including the amygdala, and compared their performance under resected- and intact-hemisphere stimulation conditions. The participants were asked to detect normal facial expressions of anger and happiness, and artificially created anti-expressions, among a crowd with neutral expressions. Reaction times for the detection of normal expressions versus anti-expressions were shorter when the target faces were presented to the visual field contralateral to the intact hemisphere (i.e., stimulation of the intact hemisphere; e.g., right visual field for patients with right hemispheric resection) compared with the visual field contralateral to the resected hemisphere (i.e., stimulation of the resected hemisphere). Our findings imply that the medial temporal lobe structures, including the amygdala, play an essential role in the detection of emotional facial expressions, according to the emotional significance of the expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Psychological Process Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan.
| | - Naotaka Usui
- National Epilepsy Center, NHO Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan.
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Akihiko Kondo
- National Epilepsy Center, NHO Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan
| | - Motomi Toichi
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Yushi Inoue
- National Epilepsy Center, NHO Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Urushiyama 886, Shizuoka, 420-8688, Japan
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