Human Amygdaloid Theta-Band Modulation During Non-Emotional Conflict Processing. (16th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gogia, Angad S; Chen, Kuang-Hsuan; del Campo-Vera, Roberto M; Sebastian, Rinu; Nune, George; Tang, Austin M; Kramer, Daniel R; Lee, Morgan B; Liu, Charles Y; Kellis, Spencer; Lee, Brian
• Is Part Of: Neurosurgery. Volume 67(2010)Supplement 1
• Publication Date: 2020-11-16
• Subjects: Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; 617.48005
• DOI: 10.1093/neuros/nyaa447_673
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0148-396X

Abstract

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: The human amygdala is a medial temporal lobe structure known to be involved in processing emotional conflict. However, its role and physiology in processing non-emotional conflict is not well understood. Previous work in a neighboring structure, the human hippocampus, with direct neural recordings has found theta-band (4-7 Hz) modulation during non-emotional color-word conflict scenarios such as the Stroop task. Here, we study human amygdaloid theta-power changes during non-emotional conflict processing in five patients with medically-refractory epilepsy. METHODS: Intracranial depth electrodes with macro contacts were implanted in five epileptic patients (3 female; age 21–62) for seizure localization and intracranial EEG monitoring. Patients performed a modified Stroop task and local field potential (LFP) recorded data were sampled at 2000 Hz for analysis. Significant time-frequency clusters for theta-band modulation were identified using a non-parametric cluster-based permutation t-test. RESULTS: Four out of five patients had a statistically significant increase in theta-band power during cue-processing (i.e. post-stimulus, pre-response) in the incongruent trial condition of the modified Stroop task (cluster-based correction for multiple comparison, P < .05). This theta-band power modulation was preserved in group analysis when combining all trials across all patients. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the human amygdaloid theta-band modulation plays a role in non-emotional conflict processing. To our knowledge, this is among the first reports implicating the human amygdala in non-emotional conflict processing with direct electrophysiological evidence.