Assessing the Primacy of Human Amygdala-Inferotemporal Emotional Scene Discrimination with Rapid Whole-Brain fMRI. (15th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sabatinelli, Dean; Frank, David W.
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience. Volume 406(2019)
• Page Start: 212
• Page End: 224
• Publication Date: 2019-05-15
• Subjects: Amyg amygdala -- ACC anterior cingulate -- Ins anterior insula -- BF basal forebrain -- BOLD blood oxygen level dependent -- FDR false discovery rate -- FOV Field of view -- FEF frontal eye fields -- fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging -- FG fusiform gyrus -- IFG inferior frontal gyrus -- IAPS International Affective Picture System -- IPS intraparietal sulcus -- LGN lateral geniculate nucleus -- LOC lateral occipital cortex -- LC locus coeruleus -- MOG middle occipital gyrus -- OFC orbitofrontal cortex -- PHG parahippocampal gyrus -- Calc pericalcarine cortex -- ROI region of interest -- SAM Self-Assessment Mannikin -- SNR signal to noise ratio; emotion -- perception -- amygdala -- orbitofrontal cortex -- fMRI; Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurochimie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurochemistry; Neurophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.03.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4522

Abstract

Abstract: The comparative roles of the human amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in emotional processing are under substantial debate, supported prominently by invasive primate studies. Noninvasive studies in humans are restricted by the limitations of electro- and magneto-encephalographic methods, which are hampered by the closed-field architecture and deep location of these structures. Here we employ whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging at an effective sampling rate of 300 ms to define the latency of enhanced blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast within structures activated by emotionally evocative relative to neutral scenes, in an effort to assess the hypothesized primacy of amygdala-inferotemporal co-activity in human emotional perception, relative to orbitofrontal cortex. Consistent with much prior work, we identified heightened BOLD signal during pleasant and unpleasant scene presentations in extrastriate occipital, ventral temporal, and posterior parietal visual system, as well as enhanced activation in cortical regions including the dorsal frontoparietal network, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. Subcortical structures including the amygdala, locus coeruleus, and basal forebrain also showed reliably increased activity during emotional scene perception. The latency at which emotional BOLD signal enhancement varied considerably across structures, ranging from 2 to 6 seconds after scene onset. Though coarse, the spatiotemporal pattern of emotion-enhanced activity identified here is consistent with the idea that the amygdala and inferior temporal fusiform gyrus are the first regions to discriminate scene emotionality, which may then distribute this categorical information to other cortical and subcortical structures. Highlights: Evaluate the primacy of amygdala-inferotemporal activity in emotional scene perception Novel whole-brain functional imaging at an effective sampling rate of 300 ms Amygdala and fusiform gyrus BOLD signal initiate the discrimination of scene emotion