How brains beware: neural mechanisms of emotional attention
Patrik Vuilleumier2005, Trends in Cognitive Sciences
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Abstract
Emotional processes not only serve to record the value of sensory events, but also to elicit adaptive responses and modify perception. Recent research using functional brain imaging in human subjects has begun to reveal neural substrates by which sensory processing and attention can be modulated by the affective significance of stimuli. The amygdala plays a crucial role in providing both direct and indirect top-down signals on sensory pathways, which can influence the representation of emotional events, especially when related to threat. These modulatory effects implement specialized mechanisms of 'emotional attention' that might supplement but also compete with other sources of top-down control on perception. This work should help to elucidate the neural processes and temporal dynamics governing the integration of cognitive and affective influences in attention and behaviour.
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Critchley et al., 2000a), as well as the association be-Weizmann Institute for Science tween visual cortex and amygdala activation during Rehovot emotional stimulation (Dolan and Morris, 2000). Israel By contrast, lesion studies in humans demonstrated double dissociation between visual perception and the related emotional processes (Young et al., 1993; Summary Adolphs et al., 1995; Aggleton and Young, 2000). Thus, face recognition could be impaired with no impairment Emotionally loaded visual stimuli have shown inin the ability to recognize the related emotional exprescreased activation in visual and cortex limbic areas. sion as shown in prosopagnostic (Sergent and Villemure, However, differences in visual features of such images 1989; de Gelder et al., 2000; Bauer, 1984; Tranel and could confound these findings. In order to manipulate Damasio, 1988) or hemifield blind-sight patient (de valence of stimuli while keeping visual features largely Gelder et al., 1999). In equivalent vein, emotional deficits unchanged, we took advantage of an "expressional did not entail visual deficits in patients with amygdala transfiguration" (ET) effect of faces. In addition, we lesions (Adolphs et al., 1994, 1995; Young et al., 1995, used repetition effects, which enabled us to test more 1996; Calder et al., 1996; Bechara et al., 1995). Finally, incisively the impact of the ET effect. Using the ET single cell recordings in primates showed that magnimanipulation, we have shown that the activation in tude of neuronal activation in the inferior temporal cortex lateral occipital complex (LOC) was unaffected by vawas not affected by the associated valence of the stimlence attributes, but produced significant modulation uli, generated by reward (Rolls et al., 1977). Similarly, of fMR adaptation. Contrary to LOC, amygdala activafunctional brain imaging in humans showed that negation was increased by ET manipulation unrelated to tively conditioned faces did not elicit different activation the adaptation. A correlation between amygdala and in the visual cortex compared to unconditioned faces LOC adaptation points to a possible modulatory role of (Buchel et al., 1998). Thus, emotional context alone does the amygdala upon visual cortex short-term plasticity. not seem to affect visual cortex activation. One possible explanation for the above discrepancy D. (2000a). Explicit and implicit neural mechanisms for processing of social information from facial expressions: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Hum. Brain Mapp. 9, 93-105. Adolphs, R., Tranel, D., Damasio, H., and Damasio, A.R. (1994). Impaired recognition of emotion in facial expressions following bilat-Critchley, H.D., Elliott, R., Mathias, C., and Dolan, R. (2000b). Neural eral damage to the human amygdala. Nature 372, 669-672. activity relating to generation and representation of galvanic skin conductance responses: a functional magnetic resonance imaging Adolphs, R., Tranel, D., Damasio, H., and Damasio, A.R. (1995). Fear study. J. Neurosci. 20, 3033-3040. and the human amygdala. J. Neurosci. 15, 5879-5891. Davis, M. (1992). The role of the amygdala in fear and anxiety. Annu. Aggleton, J.P., and Young, A.W. (2000). The enigma of the amygdala: Rev. Neurosci. 15, 353-375. on its contribution to human emotion.
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