The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Almeida, Inês
Data de Publicação: 2013
Outros Autores: van Asselen, Marieke, Castelo-Branco, Miguel
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.007
Resumo: In human cognition, most relevant stimuli, such as faces, are processed in central vision. However, it is widely believed that recognition of relevant stimuli (e.g. threatening animal faces) at peripheral locations is also important due to their survival value. Moreover, task instructions have been shown to modulate brain regions involved in threat recognition (e.g. the amygdala). In this respect it is also controversial whether tasks requiring explicit focus on stimulus threat content vs. implicit processing differently engage primitive subcortical structures involved in emotional appraisal. Here we have addressed the role of central vs. peripheral processing in the human amygdala using animal threatening vs. non-threatening face stimuli. First, a simple animal face recognition task with threatening and non-threatening animal faces, as well as non-face control stimuli, was employed in naïve subjects (implicit task). A subsequent task was then performed with the same stimulus categories (but different stimuli) in which subjects were told to explicitly detect threat signals. We found lateralized amygdala responses both to the spatial location of stimuli and to the threatening content of faces depending on the task performed: the right amygdala showed increased responses to central compared to left presented stimuli specifically during the threat detection task, while the left amygdala was better prone to discriminate threatening faces from non-facial displays during the animal face recognition task. Additionally, the right amygdala responded to faces during the threat detection task but only when centrally presented. Moreover, we have found no evidence for superior responses of the amygdala to peripheral stimuli. Importantly, we have found that striatal regions activate differentially depending on peripheral vs. central processing of threatening faces. Accordingly, peripheral processing of these stimuli activated more strongly the putaminal region, while central processing engaged mainly the caudate nucleus. We conclude that the human amygdala has a central bias for face stimuli, and that visual processing recruits different striatal regions, putaminal or caudate based, depending on the task and on whether peripheral or central visual processing is involved.
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spelling The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional contentAmygdalaBasal gangliaImplicit / explicitCentral / peripheral visionThreatFacesIn human cognition, most relevant stimuli, such as faces, are processed in central vision. However, it is widely believed that recognition of relevant stimuli (e.g. threatening animal faces) at peripheral locations is also important due to their survival value. Moreover, task instructions have been shown to modulate brain regions involved in threat recognition (e.g. the amygdala). In this respect it is also controversial whether tasks requiring explicit focus on stimulus threat content vs. implicit processing differently engage primitive subcortical structures involved in emotional appraisal. Here we have addressed the role of central vs. peripheral processing in the human amygdala using animal threatening vs. non-threatening face stimuli. First, a simple animal face recognition task with threatening and non-threatening animal faces, as well as non-face control stimuli, was employed in naïve subjects (implicit task). A subsequent task was then performed with the same stimulus categories (but different stimuli) in which subjects were told to explicitly detect threat signals. We found lateralized amygdala responses both to the spatial location of stimuli and to the threatening content of faces depending on the task performed: the right amygdala showed increased responses to central compared to left presented stimuli specifically during the threat detection task, while the left amygdala was better prone to discriminate threatening faces from non-facial displays during the animal face recognition task. Additionally, the right amygdala responded to faces during the threat detection task but only when centrally presented. Moreover, we have found no evidence for superior responses of the amygdala to peripheral stimuli. Importantly, we have found that striatal regions activate differentially depending on peripheral vs. central processing of threatening faces. Accordingly, peripheral processing of these stimuli activated more strongly the putaminal region, while central processing engaged mainly the caudate nucleus. We conclude that the human amygdala has a central bias for face stimuli, and that visual processing recruits different striatal regions, putaminal or caudate based, depending on the task and on whether peripheral or central visual processing is involved.PEst-C/SAU/UI3282/2011CENTRO-07-ST24-FEDER-00205FP7-HEALTH-2013-INNOVATION-1BIAL Foundation2013-07info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822http://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.007eng0028-3932https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393213002352?via%3DihubAlmeida, Inêsvan Asselen, MariekeCastelo-Branco, Miguelinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2020-05-25T12:18:07Zoai:estudogeral.uc.pt:10316/47822Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:53:39.531658Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
title The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
spellingShingle The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
Almeida, Inês
Amygdala
Basal ganglia
Implicit / explicit
Central / peripheral vision
Threat
Faces
title_short The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
title_full The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
title_fullStr The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
title_full_unstemmed The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
title_sort The role of the amygdala and the basal ganglia in visual processing of central vs. peripheral emotional content
author Almeida, Inês
author_facet Almeida, Inês
van Asselen, Marieke
Castelo-Branco, Miguel
author_role author
author2 van Asselen, Marieke
Castelo-Branco, Miguel
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Almeida, Inês
van Asselen, Marieke
Castelo-Branco, Miguel
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Amygdala
Basal ganglia
Implicit / explicit
Central / peripheral vision
Threat
Faces
topic Amygdala
Basal ganglia
Implicit / explicit
Central / peripheral vision
Threat
Faces
description In human cognition, most relevant stimuli, such as faces, are processed in central vision. However, it is widely believed that recognition of relevant stimuli (e.g. threatening animal faces) at peripheral locations is also important due to their survival value. Moreover, task instructions have been shown to modulate brain regions involved in threat recognition (e.g. the amygdala). In this respect it is also controversial whether tasks requiring explicit focus on stimulus threat content vs. implicit processing differently engage primitive subcortical structures involved in emotional appraisal. Here we have addressed the role of central vs. peripheral processing in the human amygdala using animal threatening vs. non-threatening face stimuli. First, a simple animal face recognition task with threatening and non-threatening animal faces, as well as non-face control stimuli, was employed in naïve subjects (implicit task). A subsequent task was then performed with the same stimulus categories (but different stimuli) in which subjects were told to explicitly detect threat signals. We found lateralized amygdala responses both to the spatial location of stimuli and to the threatening content of faces depending on the task performed: the right amygdala showed increased responses to central compared to left presented stimuli specifically during the threat detection task, while the left amygdala was better prone to discriminate threatening faces from non-facial displays during the animal face recognition task. Additionally, the right amygdala responded to faces during the threat detection task but only when centrally presented. Moreover, we have found no evidence for superior responses of the amygdala to peripheral stimuli. Importantly, we have found that striatal regions activate differentially depending on peripheral vs. central processing of threatening faces. Accordingly, peripheral processing of these stimuli activated more strongly the putaminal region, while central processing engaged mainly the caudate nucleus. We conclude that the human amygdala has a central bias for face stimuli, and that visual processing recruits different striatal regions, putaminal or caudate based, depending on the task and on whether peripheral or central visual processing is involved.
publishDate 2013
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2013-07
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822
http://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.007
url http://hdl.handle.net/10316/47822
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.007
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 0028-3932
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393213002352?via%3Dihub
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