A 7 Tesla fMRI Study of Amygdala Responses to Fearful Faces

Zwaag, Wietske van der; Costa, Sandra Da; Zürcher, Nicole R.; Adams, Reginald B.; Hadjikhani, Nouchine

doi:10.1007/s10548-012-0219-0

Cited by 32 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Importantly, both emotions are represented by different neural networks. It has been shown that fear is associated with activation of brain structures involved in the automatic detection of evolutionarily threats, mainly the amygdala (van der Zwaag et al, 2012), while disgust increases activity in the insula, among others structures connected to the sensory domain, i.e., sensation of bad taste (Nieuwenhuys, 2012). Based on the aforementioned studies, it could be debated whether the dynamic modality of stimuli plays a different role in the perception of fear and disgust.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Empathy and Facial Mimicry for Static and Dynamic Facial Expressions of Fear and Disgust

et al. 2016

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Facial mimicry is the tendency to imitate the emotional facial expressions of others. Increasing evidence suggests that the perception of dynamic displays leads to enhanced facial mimicry, especially for happiness and anger. However, little is known about the impact of dynamic stimuli on facial mimicry for fear and disgust. To investigate this issue, facial EMG responses were recorded in the corrugator supercilii, levator labii, and lateral frontalis muscles, while participants viewed static (photos) and dynamic (videos) facial emotional expressions. Moreover, we tested whether emotional empathy modulated facial mimicry for emotional facial expressions. In accordance with our predictions, the highly empathic group responded with larger activity in the corrugator supercilii and levator labii muscles. Moreover, dynamic compared to static facial expressions of fear revealed enhanced mimicry in the high-empathic group in the frontalis and corrugator supercilii muscles. In the low-empathic group the facial reactions were not differentiated between fear and disgust for both dynamic and static facial expressions. We conclude that highly empathic subjects are more sensitive in their facial reactions to the facial expressions of fear and disgust compared to low empathetic counterparts. Our data confirms that personal characteristics, i.e., empathy traits as well as modality of the presented stimuli, modulate the strength of facial mimicry. In addition, measures of EMG activity of the levator labii and frontalis muscles may be a useful index of empathic responses of fear and disgust.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Empathy and Facial Mimicry for Static and Dynamic Facial Expressions of Fear and Disgust

et al. 2016

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“…Although investigators need to be cautious when assigning specific labels (e.g., BL, BST, Ce) to activation clusters in imaging studies, we encourage them to describe the relative position of activation peaks (e.g., dorsal-posterior amygdala) and interpret their results on the basis of the most likely subcomponent of the extended amygdala (e.g., ‘in the region of the BST’). The use of high-field MRI or specialized analytic approaches (e.g., using spatially unsmoothed data) may also prove useful (Avery et al, 2014; Sladky et al, 2013; Torrisi et al, 2015; van der Zwaag, Da Costa, Zurcher, Adams, & Hadjikhani, 2012). …”

Section: Future Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neurobiology of Dispositional Negativity and Attentional Biases to Threat: Implications for Understanding Anxiety Disorders in Adults and Youth

Shackman

Stockbridge

Tillman

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychopathology

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When extreme, anxiety can become debilitating. Anxiety disorders, which often first emerge early in development, are common and challenging to treat, yet the neurocognitive mechanisms that confer increased risk have only recently begun to come into focus. Here we review recent work highlighting the importance of neural circuits centered on the amygdala. We begin by describing dispositional negativity, a core dimension of childhood temperament and adult personality and an important risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders and other kinds of stress-sensitive psychopathology. Converging lines of epidemiological, neurophysiological, and mechanistic evidence indicate that the amygdala supports stable individual differences in dispositional negativity across the lifespan and contributes to the etiology of anxiety disorders in adults and youth. Hyper-vigilance and attentional biases to threat are prominent features of the anxious phenotype and there is growing evidence that they contribute to the development of psychopathology. Anatomical studies show that the amygdala is a hub, poised to govern attention to threat via projections to sensory cortex and ascending neuromodulatory systems. Imaging and lesion studies demonstrate that the amygdala plays a key role in selecting and prioritizing the processing of threat-related cues. Collectively, these observations provide a neurobiologically-grounded framework for understanding the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in adults and youth and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

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“…Neuroscientists have been using braining imaging studies to understand anatomical signatures for emotional states [1][2][3][4][5][6], establishing the brain regions that are activated in synchrony in a given emotion or mood. Emotions generate not only brain signatures but also body (somatic) signatures in the form of responses in the peripheral nervous system and behavioral expression.…”

Section: Effect Of Emotion On Breathingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Correlation between Breathing and Emotional States

Sarkar¹

2017

MOJAP

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Breathing changes in response to emotional states, such as sadness, happiness, anxiety or fear. On the other hand, emotional states change the pattern, rate and depth of breathing. A complex coordination, not yet fully understood, involving widely dispersed brain centers in the cerebral cortex, limbic system, medullary and pontine areas, together control the correlation between breathing and emotion. This intricate correlation between breathing and emotion is essential to synchronize metabolism, energetics and other physiological parameters of homeostasis with changes in the environment. Adept correlation of breathing with emotional states not only maintains homeostasis but is also essential for survival. IntroductionAlmost everyone is intuitively aware of a connection between breathing and emotion. We know that when we are agitated and anxious our breath is rapid and shallow and when we're relaxed and content our breath is slow and deep. We might be somewhat less aware, however that when we compel our breath to be rapid and shallow we become agitated and anxious and when we compel our breath to be slow and deep we promote relaxation and contentment. Breathing is the only essential physiological function that is both under voluntary and involuntary control. For example, the heart needs to beat for us to live but we cannot increase or decrease our heart rate at will. Breathing on the other hand is more amenable to conscious regulation.Three areas of the brain regulate breathing and respiration. Here, breathing is defined as the physiological process of inhalation and exhalation that carries oxygen laden air into the alveoli of the lungs and expels carbon dioxide laden air into the atmosphere, whereas respiration is defined as the cellular metabolism process of oxygen transfer and the combustion of high energy biomolecules that maintains homeostasis. Widely dispersed centers located in the brainstem, the limbic system and the cerebral cortex regulate breathing and respiration. The regulation of breath by the brain stem is largely unconscious and serves to maintain homeostasis whereas the regulation of breath by the limbic system generates emotional repercussions, while the higher cognitive centers of the cerebral cortex exert voluntary and intentional control on breathing. Effect of emotion on breathingNeuroscientists have been using braining imaging studies to understand anatomical signatures for emotional states [1-6], establishing the brain regions that are activated in synchrony in a given emotion or mood. Emotions generate not only brain signatures but also body (somatic) signatures in the form of responses in the peripheral nervous system and behavioral expression. Emotion changes heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance and breathing [7], largely unconsciously.Animal model studies have revealed detailed mechanisms underlying the neural control of breathing and the coordination of emotion and breathing. For example, sighs, that are long deep breaths and express sadness, relief or exhaustion are r...

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A 7 Tesla fMRI Study of Amygdala Responses to Fearful Faces

Cited by 32 publications

References 14 publications

Emotional Empathy and Facial Mimicry for Static and Dynamic Facial Expressions of Fear and Disgust

Emotional Empathy and Facial Mimicry for Static and Dynamic Facial Expressions of Fear and Disgust

The Neurobiology of Dispositional Negativity and Attentional Biases to Threat: Implications for Understanding Anxiety Disorders in Adults and Youth

Functional Correlation between Breathing and Emotional States

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