Engagement of multifocal neural circuits during recall of autobiographical happy events

Abstract

Happy emotional states have not been extensively explored in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using autobiographic recall paradigms. We investigated the brain circuitry engaged during induction of happiness by standardized scriptdriven autobiographical recall in 11 healthy subjects (6 males), aged 32.4 ± 7.2 years, without physical or psychiatric disorders, selected according to their ability to vividly recall personal experiences. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) changes were recorded during auditory presentation of personal scripts of happiness, neutral content and negative emotional content (irritability). The same uniform structure was used for the cueing narratives of both emotionally salient and neutral conditions, in order to decrease the variability of findings. In the happiness relative to the neutral condition, there was an increased BOLD signal in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex and anterior insula, thalamus bilaterally, left hypothalamus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and midportions of the left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). Relative to the irritability condition, the happiness condition showed increased activity in the left insula, thalamus and hypothalamus, and in anterior and midportions of the inferior and middle temporal gyri bilaterally (P < 0.05, corrected), varying in size between 13 and 64 voxels. Findings of happiness-related increased activity in prefrontal and subcortical regions extend the results of previous functional imaging studies of autobiographical recall. The BOLD signal changes identified reflect general aspects of emotional processing, emotional control, and the processing of sensory and bodily signals associated with internally generated feelings of happiness. These results reinforce the notion that happiness induction engages a wide network of brain regions.

Cognitive control associated with irritability induction: an autobiographical recall fMRI study

“…2,3 Using this type of autobiographical recall paradigm, we found activation of the subgenual cingulate cortex during presentation of irritability scripts but not during presentation of happiness scripts. 15 This distinction supports the view that the engagement of this brain region is more closely related to the generation of negative rather than positive emotions. 1 It is also interesting that the pattern of subcallosal cingulate cortical activation reported here, together with the de-activation of inferior temporal regions, resembles the results of previous imaging studies that investigated the brain circuits involved in normal sadness or major depression.…”

“…15 These results are presented again here, as this contrast is relevant to the delineation of the brain activity patterns specifically related to the emergence of irritability, as opposed to an emotional reaction of positive valence. When contrasted with the happiness condition, the presentation of irritability scripts was associated with increased BOLD signal in similar locations as described in the paragraph above ( Figure 1 and Table 2), including the left subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus (BA25) extending towards the left head of the caudate nucleus, the dorsal anterolateral prefrontal cortex (BA10), and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (BA9).…”

“…Using this type of paradigm in a group of 11 healthy volunteers, we recently reported significant foci of activation in the prefrontal cortex, insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus and middle temporal gyrus during auditory presentation of happiness scripts. 15 We describe here the specific changes in brain activity provoked by induction of irritability states using this paradigm, both in comparison to presentation of neutral or happiness-inducing personal scripts. By delineating the brain circuitry involved in the normal experience of irritability, we aimed to provide clues that may help in the future elucidation of the neural basis of pathological irritability states associated with psychiatric disorders.…”

Padrões de funcionamento cerebral em voluntários saudáveis antes e após o uso de antidepressivo: estudo de ressonância magnética funcional durante indução emocional através de estimulação visual

“…Nos estudos de estimulação visual, durante os períodos de aquisição de imagens, são apresentadas cenas , fotografias (Hariri et al, 2003) ou expressões faciais de pessoas (Surguladze et al, 2003) com conteúdos emocionais evidentes. Já os estímulos auditivos mais comumente usados são gravações, por exemplo, de relatos autobiográficos de conteúdo emocional (Lanius et al, 2002;Cerqueira et al, 2008).…”

“…O grande número de estudos em voluntários saudáveis, usando PET ou RMf, ampliou o conhecimento a respeito dos circuitos cerebrais engajados durante o processamento de emoções distintas, tais como tristeza, irritabilidade, felicidade, medo, raiva e culpa Phan et al, 2002;Lange et al, 2003;Cerqueira et al, 2008;.…”