scholarly journals The neural bases of tactile vitality forms and their modulation by social context

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Rizzolatti ◽  
A. D’Alessio ◽  
M. Marchi ◽  
G. Di Cesare
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Tactile Communication ◽  
Successful Business ◽  
Affective Components ◽  
Different Cultures

AbstractPeople communicate using speech, gestures, and, less frequently, touches. An example of tactile communication is represented by handshake. Customs surrounding handshake vary in different cultures. In Western societies is mostly used when meeting, parting, as a sign of congratulations or at the end of a successful business. Despite its importance in social life, the neural mechanism underlying the affective components conveyed by handshake (“tactile vitality forms”) is unknown. Here we combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electromyography (EMG), to investigate the neural affective activations during handshakes. We demonstrated that handshake conveying gentle or aggressive tactile vitality forms produces a stronger activation of the dorso-central insula. The simultaneous presence of emotional facial expressions modulates the activation of this insular sector. Finally, we provide evidence that the cingulate cortex is involved in the processing of facial expressions conveying different vitality forms.

scholarly journals Cerebral and autonomic responses to emotional facial expressions in depersonalisation disorder

2008 ◽  
Vol 193 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Lemche ◽  
Ananthapadmanabha Anilkumar ◽  
Vincent P. Giampietro ◽  
Michael J. Brammer ◽  
Simon A. Surguladze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotion Suppression ◽  
Autonomic Responses ◽  
Fmri Signal ◽  
Group 4 ◽  
Emotion Intensity

BackgroundDepersonalisation disorder is characterised by emotion suppression, but the cerebral mechanisms of this symptom are not yet fully understood.AimsTo compare brain activation and autonomic responses of individuals with the disorder and healthy controls.MethodHappy and sad emotion expressions in increasing intensities (neutral to intense) were presented in an implicit event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design with simultaneous measurement of autonomic responses.ResultsParticipants with depersonalisation disorder showed fMRI signal decreases, whereas the control group showed signal increases in response to emotion intensity increases in both happy and sad expressions. The analysis of evoked haemodynamic responses from regions exhibiting functional connectivity between central and autonomic nervous systems indicated that in depersonalisation disorder initial modulations of haemodynamic response occurred significantly earlier (2s post-stimulus) than in the control group (4–6s post-stimulus).ConclusionsThe results suggest that fMRI signal decreases are possible correlates of emotion suppression in depersonalisation disorder.

scholarly journals Fear-induced increases in loss aversion are linked to increased neural negative-value coding

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 661-670
Author(s):  
Stefan Schulreich ◽  
Holger Gerhardt ◽  
Dar Meshi ◽  
Hauke R Heekeren
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Loss Aversion ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fearful Faces ◽  
Value Coding

Abstract Human decisions are often influenced by emotions. An economically relevant example is the role of fear in generating loss aversion. Previous research implicates the amygdala as a key brain structure in the experience of fear and loss aversion. The neural mechanism behind emotional influences on loss aversion is, however, unclear. To address this, we measured brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants made decisions about monetary gambles after viewing fearful or neutral faces. We observed that loss aversion following the presentation of neutral faces was mainly predicted by greater deactivations for prospective losses (relative to activations for prospective gains) in several brain regions, including the amygdala. By contrast, increases in loss aversion following the presentation of fearful faces were mainly predicted by greater activations for prospective losses. These findings suggest a fear-induced shift from positive to negative value coding that reflects a context-dependent involvement of distinct valuation processes.

Neuroanatomical Evidence for Distinct Cognitive and Affective Components of Self

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1586-1594 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Moran ◽  
C. N. Macrae ◽  
T. F. Heatherton ◽  
C. L. Wyland ◽  
W. M. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Personal Relevance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Affective Components

This study examines whether the cognitive and affective components of self-reflection can be dissociated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Using a simple paradigm in which subjects judged the personal relevance of personality characteristics that were either favorable (e.g., “honest”) or unfavorable (e.g., “lazy”, we found that distinct neural circuits in adjacent regions of the prefrontal cortex subserve cognitive and emotional aspects of self-reflection. The medial prefrontal cortex responded only to material that was self-descriptive, and this did not differ as a function of the valence of the trait. When material was judged to be self-relevant, the valence of the material was resolved in an adjacent region of ventral anterior cingulate. The nature of self is one of the most enduring questions in science, and researchers are now beginning to be able to decompose the neural operations that give rise to a unitary sense of self.

scholarly journals The Neural Mechanisms of Tinnitus: A Perspective From Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghua Hu ◽  
Jinluan Cui ◽  
Jin-Jing Xu ◽  
Xindao Yin ◽  
Yuanqing Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Sound Perception

Tinnitus refers to sound perception in the absence of external sound stimulus. It has become a worldwide problem affecting all age groups especially the elderly. Tinnitus often accompanies hearing loss and some mood disorders like depression and anxiety. The comprehensive adverse effects of tinnitus on people determine the severity of tinnitus. Understanding the mechanisms of tinnitus and related discomfort may be beneficial to the prevention and treatment, and then getting patients out of tinnitus distress. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful technique for characterizing the intrinsic brain activity and making us better understand the tinnitus neural mechanism. In this article, we review fMRI studies published in recent years on the neuroimaging mechanisms of tinnitus. The results have revealed various neural network alterations in tinnitus patients, including the auditory system, limbic system, default mode network, attention system, and some other areas involved in memory, emotion, attention, and control. Moreover, changes in functional connectivity and neural activity in these networks are related to the perception, persistence, and severity of tinnitus. In summary, the neural mechanism of tinnitus is a complex regulatory mechanism involving multiple networks. Future research is needed to study these neural networks more accurately to refine the tinnitus models.

Mirror Neuron System Differentially Activated by Facial Expressions and Social Hand Gestures: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1866-1877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly J. Montgomery ◽  
James V. Haxby
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mirror Neuron System ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Neuron System ◽  
Frontal Operculum

Facial expressions and hand gestures are utilized in nonverbal communication to convey socially relevant information. One key process that mediates nonverbal communication is simulation. The mirror neuron system (MNS), which maps observed actions onto the motor representations used when producing those actions, likely plays a role in simulation. Previous neuroimaging experiments have identified a putative human MNS that includes the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and the frontal operculum. Although understanding nonverbal communication presumably involves the MNS, it is unknown whether these two forms of nonverbal social communication have distinct representations within that system. Here we report the results of a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment in which participants viewed, imitated, and produced facial expressions and social hand gestures. The observation and execution of facial expressions and social hand gestures activated the MNS, but the magnitude of response differed. Activation in the IPL was greater for social hand gestures, whereas activation in the frontal operculum was greater for viewing facial expressions. The locations of neural activity evoked by viewing facial expressions and social hand gestures in the frontal operculum were significantly different. These data argue that there are distinct representations of different types of social nonverbal communication in the MNS.

scholarly journals Meta-analytic activation maps can help identify affective processes captured by contrast-based task fMRI: the case of threat-related facial expressions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Justin Kim ◽  
Annchen R. Knodt ◽  
Ahmad R. Hariri
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Independent Dataset ◽  
Pattern Similarity ◽  
Affective Processes ◽  
Amygdala Activity

AbstractMeta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is an effective method for capturing the distributed patterns of brain activity supporting discrete cognitive and affective processes. One opportunity presented by the resulting meta-analysis maps (MAMs) is as a reference for better understanding the nature of individual contrast maps (ICMs) derived from specific task fMRI data. Here, we compared MAMs from 148 neuroimaging studies representing the broad emotion categories of fear, anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness with ICMs from fearful > neutral and angry > neutral facial expressions from an independent dataset of task fMRI (n = 1263). Analyses revealed that both fear and anger ICMs exhibited the greatest pattern similarity to fear MAMs. As the number of voxels included for the computation of pattern similarity became more selective, the specificity of MAM-ICM correspondence decreased. Notably, amygdala activity long considered critical for processing threat-related facial expressions was neither sufficient nor necessary for detecting MAM-ICM pattern similarity effects. Our analyses suggest that both fearful and angry facial expressions are best captured by distributed patterns of brain activity associated with fear. More generally, our analyses demonstrate how MAMs can be leveraged to better understand affective processes captured by ICMs in task fMRI data.

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