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Zheng X, Zhou F, Fu M, Xu L, Wang J, Li J, Li K, Sindermann C, Montag C, Becker B, Zhan Y, Kendrick KM. Patterns of neural activity in response to threatening faces are predictive of autistic traits: modulatory effects of oxytocin receptor genotype. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:168. [PMID: 38553454 PMCID: PMC10980722 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02889-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Autistic individuals generally demonstrate impaired emotion recognition but it is unclear whether effects are emotion-specific or influenced by oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genotype. Here we implemented a dimensional approach using an implicit emotion recognition task together with functional MRI in a large cohort of neurotypical adult participants (N = 255, male = 131, aged 17-29 years) to establish associations between autistic traits and neural and behavioral responses to specific face emotions, together with modulatory effects of OXTR genotype. A searchlight-based multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) revealed an extensive network of frontal, basal ganglia, cingulate and limbic regions exhibiting significant predictability for autistic traits from patterns of responses to angry relative to neutral expression faces. Functional connectivity analyses revealed a genotype interaction (OXTR SNPs rs2254298, rs2268491) for coupling between the orbitofrontal cortex and mid-cingulate during angry expression processing, with a negative association between coupling and autistic traits in the risk-allele group and a positive one in the non-risk allele group. Overall, results indicate extensive emotion-specific associations primarily between patterns of neural responses to angry faces and autistic traits in regions processing motivation, reward and salience but not in early visual processing. Functional connections between these identified regions were not only associated with autistic traits but also influenced by OXTR genotype. Thus, altered patterns of neural responses to threatening faces may be a potential biomarker for autistic symptoms although modulatory influences of OXTR genotype need to be taken into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxiao Zheng
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Feng Zhou
- Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Meina Fu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Lei Xu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jiayuan Wang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jialin Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Keshuang Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Cornelia Sindermann
- University of Stuttgart, Computational Digital Psychology, Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christian Montag
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Benjamin Becker
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hongkong, Hongkong, China
| | - Yang Zhan
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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2
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Gamble RS, Henry JD, Decety J, Vanman EJ. The role of external factors in affect-sharing and their neural bases. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 157:105540. [PMID: 38211739 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105540] [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: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Affect-sharing, the ability to vicariously feel another person's emotions, is the primary component of empathy that is typically thought to rely on the observer's capacity to feel the emotions of others. However, external signals, such as the target's physical characteristics, have been demonstrated to influence affect-sharing in the neuroscientific literature that speaks to the underappreciated role of external factors in eliciting affect-sharing. We consider factors that influence affect-sharing, including physical cues, emotional cues, situational factors, and observer-target relationships, as well as the neural circuits involved in these processes. Our review reveals that, while neural network activation is primarily responsible for processing affect-sharing, external factors also co-activate a top-down cognitive processing network to modulate the conscious process of affect-sharing. From this knowledge, an integrative framework of external factor interactions with affect-sharing are explained in detail. Finally, we identify critical areas for future research in social and affective neuroscience, including research gaps and incorporation of ecologically valid paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger S Gamble
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
| | - Julie D Henry
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jean Decety
- Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Eric J Vanman
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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3
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Hudson M, Santavirta S, Putkinen V, Seppälä K, Sun L, Karjalainen T, Karlsson HK, Hirvonen J, Nummenmaa L. Neural responses to biological motion distinguish autistic and schizotypal traits. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad011. [PMID: 36847146 PMCID: PMC10032360 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad011] [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: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Difficulties in social interactions characterize both autism and schizophrenia and are correlated in the neurotypical population. It is unknown whether this represents a shared etiology or superficial phenotypic overlap. Both conditions exhibit atypical neural activity in response to the perception of social stimuli and decreased neural synchronization between individuals. This study investigated if neural activity and neural synchronization associated with biological motion perception are differentially associated with autistic and schizotypal traits in the neurotypical population. Participants viewed naturalistic social interactions while hemodynamic brain activity was measured with fMRI, which was modeled against a continuous measure of the extent of biological motion. General linear model analysis revealed that biological motion perception was associated with neural activity across the action observation network. However, intersubject phase synchronization analysis revealed neural activity to be synchronized between individuals in occipital and parietal areas but desynchronized in temporal and frontal regions. Autistic traits were associated with decreased neural activity (precuneus and middle cingulate gyrus), and schizotypal traits were associated with decreased neural synchronization (middle and inferior frontal gyri). Biological motion perception elicits divergent patterns of neural activity and synchronization, which dissociate autistic and schizotypal traits in the general population, suggesting that they originate from different neural mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Hudson
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
- Brain Research & Imaging Centre, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Research Way, Plymouth PL6 8BU, UK
| | - Severi Santavirta
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
| | - Vesa Putkinen
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
| | - Kerttu Seppälä
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
- Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
| | - Lihua Sun
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Tomi Karjalainen
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
| | - Henry K Karlsson
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
| | - Jussi Hirvonen
- Department of Radiology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku 20520, Finland
- Medical Imaging Centre, Department of Radiology, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere 33100, Finland
| | - Lauri Nummenmaa
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku 20520, Finland
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Kringelbach ML, Perl YS, Tagliazucchi E, Deco G. Toward naturalistic neuroscience: Mechanisms underlying the flattening of brain hierarchy in movie-watching compared to rest and task. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade6049. [PMID: 36638163 PMCID: PMC9839335 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade6049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Identifying the functional specialization of the brain has moved from using cognitive tasks and resting state to using ecological relevant, naturalistic movies. We leveraged a large-scale neuroimaging dataset to directly investigate the hierarchical reorganization of functional brain activity when watching naturalistic films compared to performing seven cognitive tasks and resting. A thermodynamics-inspired whole-brain model paradigm revealed the generative underlying mechanisms for changing the balance in causal interactions between brain regions in different conditions. Paradoxically, the hierarchy is flatter for movie-watching, and the level of nonreversibility is significantly smaller in comparison to both rest and tasks, where the latter in turn have the highest levels of hierarchy and nonreversibility. The underlying mechanisms were revealed by the model-based generative effective connectivity (GEC). Naturalistic films could therefore provide a fast and convenient way to measure important changes in GEC (integrating functional and anatomical connectivity) found in, for example, neuropsychiatric disorders. Overall, this study demonstrates the benefits of moving toward a more naturalistic neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morten L. Kringelbach
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yonatan Sanz Perl
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona 08018, Spain
- Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Enzo Tagliazucchi
- Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona 08018, Spain
- Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain
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5
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Yu F, Li J, Xu L, Zheng X, Fu M, Li K, Yao S, Kendrick KM, Montag C, Becker B. Opposing associations of Internet Use Disorder symptom domains with structural and functional organization of the striatum: A dimensional neuroimaging approach. J Behav Addict 2022; 11:1068-1079. [PMID: 36422683 PMCID: PMC9881660 DOI: 10.1556/2006.2022.00078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence suggests brain structural and functional alterations in Internet Use Disorder (IUD). However, conclusions are strongly limited due to the retrospective case-control design of the studies, small samples, and the focus on general rather than symptom-specific approaches. METHODS We here employed a dimensional multi-methodical MRI-neuroimaging design in a final sample of n = 203 subjects to examine associations between levels of IUD and its symptom-dimensions (loss of control/time management, craving/social problems) with brain structure, resting state and task-based (pain empathy, affective go/no-go) brain function. RESULTS Although the present sample covered the entire range of IUD, including normal, problematic as well as pathological levels, general IUD symptom load was not associated with brain structural or functional alterations. However, the symptom-dimensions exhibited opposing associations with the intrinsic and structural organization of the brain, such that loss of control/time management exhibited negative associations with intrinsic striatal networks and hippocampal volume, while craving/social problems exhibited a positive association with intrinsic striatal networks and caudate volume. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provided the first evidence for IUD symptom-domain specific associations with progressive alterations in the intrinsic structural and functional organization of the brain, particularly of striatal systems involved in reward, habitual and cognitive control processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangwen Yu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Jialin Li
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Lei Xu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China,Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Zheng
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China,Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Meina Fu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Keshuang Li
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Shuxia Yao
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Keith M. Kendrick
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Christian Montag
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China,Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Benjamin Becker
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China,Corresponding author. E-mail:
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6
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Li X, Lou W, Zhang W, Tong RKY, Hu L, Peng W. Ongoing first-hand pain facilitates somatosensory resonance but inhibits affective sharing in empathy for pain. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119599. [PMID: 36049698 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Alterations of empathy for others' pain among patients with chronic pain remained inconsistent. Here, applying a capsaicin-based ongoing pain model on healthy participants, this study investigated how ongoing first-hand pain influences empathic reactions to vicarious pain stimuli. Healthy participants were randomly treated with topical capsaicin cream (capsaicin group) or hand cream (control group) on the left forearm. Video clips showing limbs in painful and non-painful situations were used to induce empathic responses. The capsaicin group showed greater empathic neural responses in the right primary somatosensory cortex (S1) than the control group but smaller responses in the left anterior insula (AI) accompanied with smaller empathic pain-intensity ratings. Notably, the intensity of ongoing pain negatively correlated with empathy-related neural responses in the left AI. Inter-subject phase synchronization analysis was used to assess stimulus-dependent dynamic functional connectivity within or between brain regions engaged in pain empathy. The capsaicin group showed greater empathy-related neural synchronization within S1 and between S1 and AI, but less synchronization within AI and between AI and MCC. Behaviorally, the differential inter-subject pain-intensity rating alignment between painful and non-painful videos was more positive for the capsaicin group than for the control group, and this effect was partially mediated by the inter-subject neural synchronization between S1 and AI. These results suggest that ongoing first-hand pain facilitates neural activation and synchronization within brain regions associated with empathy-related somatosensory resonance at the cost of inhibiting activation and synchronization within brain regions engaged in empathy-related affective sharing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyun Li
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wutao Lou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wenyun Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Raymond Kai-Yu Tong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Li Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Weiwei Peng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
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7
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Russo AG, De Martino M, Elia A, Di Salle F, Esposito F. Negative correlation between word-level surprisal and intersubject neural synchronization during narrative listening. Cortex 2022; 155:132-149. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Ebisch SJH, Scalabrini A, Northoff G, Mucci C, Sergi MR, Saggino A, Aquino A, Alparone FR, Perrucci MG, Gallese V, Di Plinio S. Intrinsic Shapes of Empathy: Functional Brain Network Topology Encodes Intersubjective Experience and Awareness Traits. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12040477. [PMID: 35448008 PMCID: PMC9024660 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12040477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Trait empathy is an essential personality feature in the intricacy of typical social inclinations of individuals. Empathy is likely supported by multilevel neuronal network functioning, whereas local topological properties determine network integrity. In the present functional MRI study (N = 116), we aimed to trace empathic traits to the intrinsic brain network architecture. Empathy was conceived as composed of two dimensions within the concept of pre-reflective, intersubjective understanding. Vicarious experience consists of the tendency to resonate with the feelings of other individuals, whereas intuitive understanding refers to a natural awareness of others’ emotional states. Analyses of graph theoretical measures of centrality showed a relationship between the fronto-parietal network and psychometric measures of vicarious experience, whereas intuitive understanding was associated with sensorimotor and subcortical networks. Salience network regions could constitute hubs for information processing underlying both dimensions. The network properties related to empathy dimensions mainly concern inter-network information flow. Moreover, interaction effects implied several sex differences in the relationship between functional network organization and trait empathy. These results reveal that distinct intrinsic topological network features explain individual differences in separate dimensions of intersubjective understanding. The findings could help understand the impact of brain damage or stimulation through alterations of empathy-related network integrity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sjoerd J. H. Ebisch
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences (DNISC), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (A.A.); (F.R.A.); (M.G.P.); (S.D.P.)
- Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Andrea Scalabrini
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences (DiSPuTer), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
| | - Georg Northoff
- The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada;
- Brain and Mind Research Institute, Centre for Neural Dynamics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
- Mental Health Centre, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310030, China
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310030, China
- TMU Research Centre for Brain and Consciousness, Shuang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan
| | - Clara Mucci
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy;
| | - Maria Rita Sergi
- Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (M.R.S.); (A.S.)
| | - Aristide Saggino
- Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (M.R.S.); (A.S.)
| | - Antonio Aquino
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences (DNISC), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (A.A.); (F.R.A.); (M.G.P.); (S.D.P.)
| | - Francesca R. Alparone
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences (DNISC), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (A.A.); (F.R.A.); (M.G.P.); (S.D.P.)
| | - Mauro Gianni Perrucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences (DNISC), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (A.A.); (F.R.A.); (M.G.P.); (S.D.P.)
- Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Vittorio Gallese
- Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43121 Parma, Italy;
| | - Simone Di Plinio
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences (DNISC), G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy; (A.A.); (F.R.A.); (M.G.P.); (S.D.P.)
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9
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Medial prefrontal and occipito-temporal activity at encoding determines enhanced recognition of threatening faces after 1.5 years. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:1655-1672. [PMID: 35174416 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02462-5] [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: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Studies demonstrated that faces with threatening emotional expressions are better remembered than non-threatening faces. However, whether this memory advantage persists over years and which neural systems underlie such an effect remains unknown. Here, we employed an individual difference approach to examine whether the neural activity during incidental encoding was associated with differential recognition of faces with emotional expressions (angry, fearful, happy, sad and neutral) after a retention interval of > 1.5 years (N = 89). Behaviorally, we found a better recognition for threatening (angry, fearful) versus non-threatening (happy and neutral) faces after a delay of > 1.5 years, which was driven by forgetting of non-threatening faces compared with immediate recognition after encoding. Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) on the behavioral responses further confirmed the discriminative recognition performance between threatening and non-threatening faces. A voxel-wise whole-brain analysis on the concomitantly acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data during incidental encoding revealed that neural activity in bilateral inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and ventromedial prefrontal/orbitofrontal cortex (vmPFC/OFC) was associated with the individual differences in the discriminative emotional face recognition performance measured by an innovative behavioral pattern similarity analysis (BPSA). The left fusiform face area (FFA) was additionally determined using a regionally focused analysis. Overall, the present study provides evidence that threatening facial expressions lead to persistent face recognition over periods of > 1.5 years, and that differential encoding-related activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and occipito-temporal cortex may underlie this effect.
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10
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Zhou F, Li J, Zhao W, Xu L, Zheng X, Fu M, Yao S, Kendrick KM, Wager TD, Becker B. Empathic pain evoked by sensory and emotional-communicative cues share common and process-specific neural representations. eLife 2020; 9:e56929. [PMID: 32894226 PMCID: PMC7505665 DOI: 10.7554/elife.56929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain empathy can be evoked by multiple cues, particularly observation of acute pain inflictions or facial expressions of pain. Previous studies suggest that these cues commonly activate the insula and anterior cingulate, yet vicarious pain encompasses pain-specific responses as well as unspecific processes (e.g. arousal) and overlapping activations are not sufficient to determine process-specific shared neural representations. We employed multivariate pattern analyses to fMRI data acquired during observation of noxious stimulation of body limbs (NS) and painful facial expressions (FE) and found spatially and functionally similar cross-modality (NS versus FE) whole-brain vicarious pain-predictive patterns. Further analyses consistently identified shared neural representations in the bilateral mid-insula. The vicarious pain patterns were not sensitive to respond to non-painful high-arousal negative stimuli but predicted self-experienced thermal pain. Finally, a domain-general vicarious pain pattern predictive of self-experienced pain but not arousal was developed. Our findings demonstrate shared pain-associated neural representations of vicarious pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Zhou
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth CollegeHanoverUnited States
| | - Jialin Li
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Weihua Zhao
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Lei Xu
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Xiaoxiao Zheng
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Meina Fu
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Shuxia Yao
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Tor D Wager
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth CollegeHanoverUnited States
| | - Benjamin Becker
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
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Uddin LQ. Bring the Noise: Reconceptualizing Spontaneous Neural Activity. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 24:734-746. [PMID: 32600967 PMCID: PMC7429348 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Definitions of what constitutes the 'signal of interest' in neuroscience can be controversial, due in part to continuously evolving notions regarding the significance of spontaneous neural activity. This review highlights how the challenge of separating brain signal from noise has led to new conceptualizations of brain functional organization at both the micro- and macroscopic level. Recent debates in the functional neuroimaging community surrounding artifact removal processes have revived earlier discussions surrounding how to appropriately isolate and measure neuronal signals against a background of noise from various sources. Insights from electrophysiological studies and computational modeling can inform current theory and data analytic practices in human functional neuroimaging, given that signal and noise may be inextricably linked in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucina Q Uddin
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, PO Box 248185-0751, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA; Neuroscience Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
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