scholarly journals Neurocognitive Effects of Preceding Facial Expressions on Perception of Subsequent Emotions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Ah Kim ◽  
Sang Hee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Intensity Rating ◽  
The Right

In everyday life, individuals successively and simultaneously encounter multiple stimuli that are emotionally incongruent. Emotional incongruence elicited by preceding stimuli may alter emotional experience with ongoing stimuli. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of the modulatory influence of preceding emotional stimuli on subsequent emotional processing remain unclear. In this study, we examined self-reported and neural responses to negative and neutral pictures whose emotional valence was incongruent with that of preceding images of facial expressions. Twenty-five healthy participants performed an emotional intensity rating task inside a brain scanner. Pictures of negative and neutral scenes appeared, each of which was preceded by a pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant facial expression to elicit a degree of emotional incongruence. Behavioral results showed that emotional incongruence based on preceding facial expressions did not influence ratings of subsequent pictures’ emotional intensity. On the other hand, neuroimaging results revealed greater activation of the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) in response to pictures that were more emotionally incongruent with preceding facial expressions. The dmPFC had stronger functional connectivity with the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) during the presentation of negative pictures that followed pleasant facial expressions compared to those that followed unpleasant facial expressions. Interestingly, increased functional connectivity of the dmPFC was associated with the reduced modulatory influence of emotional incongruence on the experienced intensity of negative emotions. These results indicate that functional connectivity of the dmPFC contributes to the resolution of emotional incongruence, reducing the emotion modulation effect of preceding information on subsequent emotional processes.

scholarly journals Decreased Functional Connectivity in the Reward Network and Its Relationship With Negative Emotional Experience After Total Sleep Deprivation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Cimin Dai ◽  
Yongcong Shao ◽  
Jiaxi Peng ◽  
Yan Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Seed Region ◽  
Total Sleep Deprivation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reward Network

Sleep deprivation (SD) induces a negative emotional experience due to a prolonged time spent awake. However, few studies have focused on the mechanism underlying communication within brain networks or alterations during this emotional deterioration. We propose that negative reward judgment is important in poor emotional processing after SD, which will be reflected in functional connectivity in the reward network. We sought to analyze alterations in functional connectivity within the reward network and cerebral cortex. Furthermore, we analyzed changes in functional connectivity correlation with negative emotional experience after SD. Twenty-six healthy volunteers participated in this study. Two resting-state fMRI scans were obtained from the participants, once during resting wakefulness, and once after 36 h of total SD. The bilateral nucleus accumbens (NAc) was selected as a seed region for region of interest (ROI)-to-ROI functional connectivity analysis. Correlation analyses between functional connectivity alterations within the reward network and negative emotional experience were also performed. We found that SD decreased functional connectivity between the left NAc and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) compared with resting wakefulness. There was a decreased functional connectivity with the ACC and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) after SD in the right NAc. Furthermore, decreased functional connectivity between the right NAc and right IFG, and NAc and ACC was negatively correlated with emotional experience scores. Sleep deprivation decreased functional connectivity within the reward network. This may be associated with the enhanced negative emotional experience that was found after total sleep deprivation.

scholarly journals Spatializing Emotions Besides Magnitudes: Is There a Left-to-Right Valence or Intensity Mapping?

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 775
Author(s):  
Giulia Prete
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Intensity Mapping ◽  
The Right ◽  
Parity Judgment

The Spatial–Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC), namely the automatic association between smaller numbers and left space and between larger numbers and right space, is often attributed to a Mental Number Line (MNL), in which magnitudes would be placed left-to-right. Previous studies have suggested that the MNL could be extended to emotional processing. In this study, participants were asked to carry out a parity judgment task (categorizing one to five digits as even or odd) and an emotional judgment task, in which emotional smilies were presented with four emotional expressions (very sad, sad, happy, very happy). Half of the sample was asked to categorize the emotional valence (positive or negative valence), the other half was asked to categorize the emotional intensity (lower or higher intensity). The results of the parity judgment task confirmed the expected SNARC effect. In the emotional judgment task, the performance of both subgroups was better for happy than for sad expressions. Importantly, a better performance was found only in the valence task for lower intensity stimuli categorized with the left hand and for higher intensity stimuli categorized with the right hand, but only for happy smilies. The present results show that neither emotional valence nor emotional intensity alone are spatialized left-to-right, suggesting that magnitudes and emotions are processed independently from one another, and that the mental representation of emotions could be more complex than the bi-dimentional left-to-right spatialization found for numbers.

scholarly journals Risk for depression and neural responses to fearful facial expressions of emotion

2009 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella W. Y. Chan ◽  
Ray Norbury ◽  
Guy M. Goodwin ◽  
Catherine J. Harmer
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽  
The Right ◽  
Left Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Left Middle ◽  
Risk For Depression

BackgroundDepression is associated with neural abnormalities in emotional processing.AimsThis study explored whether these abnormalities underlie risk for depression.MethodWe compared the neural responses of volunteers who were at high and low-risk for the development of depression (by virtue of high and low neuroticism scores; high-N group and low-N group respectively) during the presentation of fearful and happy faces using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).ResultsThe high-N group demonstrated linear increases in response in the right fusiform gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus to expressions of increasing fear, whereas the low-N group demonstrated the opposite effect. The high-N group also displayed greater responses in the right amygdala, cerebellum, left middle frontal and bilateral parietal gyri to medium levels of fearful v. happy expressions.ConclusionsRisk for depression is associated with enhanced neural responses to fearful facial expressions similar to those observed in acute depression.

What you morph is not what you get: Subjective and neural responses to facial expressions of emotion depend on perceived intensity/arousal (not on amount of morphing)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Ferreira-Santos ◽  
Mariana R. Pereira ◽  
Tiago O. Paiva ◽  
Pedro R. Almeida ◽  
Eva C. Martins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽  
Processing Techniques

The behavioral and electrophysiological study of the emotional intensity of facial expressions of emotions has relied on image processing techniques termed ‘morphing’ to generate realistic facial stimuli in which emotional intensity can be manipulated. This is achieved by blending neutral and emotional facial displays and treating the percent of morphing between the two stimuli as an objective measure of emotional intensity. Here we argue that the percentage of morphing between stimuli does not provide an objective measure of emotional intensity and present supporting evidence from affective ratings and neural (event-related potential) responses. We show that 50% morphs created from high or moderate arousal stimuli differ in subjective and neural responses in a sensible way: 50% morphs are perceived as having approximately half of the emotional intensity of the original stimuli, but if the original stimuli differed in emotional intensity to begin with, then so will the morphs. We suggest a re-examination of previous studies that used percentage of morphing as a measure of emotional intensity and highlight the value of more careful experimental control of emotional stimuli and inclusion of proper manipulation checks.

Altered Resting-State Frontoparietal Control Network in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiang-Yuan Lin ◽  
Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng ◽  
Meng-Chuan Lai ◽  
Kayako Matsuo ◽  
Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Anterior Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
The Right ◽  
Frontoparietal Control Network

AbstractThe frontoparietal control network, anatomically and functionally interposed between the dorsal attention network and default mode network, underpins executive control functions. Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) commonly exhibit deficits in executive functions, which are mainly mediated by the frontoparietal control network. Involvement of the frontoparietal control network based on the anterior prefrontal cortex in neurobiological mechanisms of ADHD has yet to be tested. We used resting-state functional MRI and seed-based correlation analyses to investigate functional connectivity of the frontoparietal control network in a sample of 25 children with ADHD (7–14 years; mean 9.94±1.77 years; 20 males), and 25 age-, sex-, and performance IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children. All participants had limited in-scanner head motion. Spearman’s rank correlations were used to test the associations between altered patterns of functional connectivity with clinical symptoms and executive functions, measured by the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test and Spatial Span in the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Compared with TD children, children with ADHD demonstrated weaker connectivity between the right anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the right ventrolateral PFC, and between the left anterior PFC and the right inferior parietal lobule. Furthermore, this aberrant connectivity of the frontoparietal control network in ADHD was associated with symptoms of impulsivity and opposition-defiance, as well as impaired response inhibition and attentional control. The findings support potential integration of the disconnection model and the executive dysfunction model for ADHD. Atypical frontoparietal control network may play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of ADHD. (JINS, 2015, 21, 271–284)

scholarly journals The Lateral and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Work as a Dynamic Integrated System: Evidence from fMRI Connectivity Analysis

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Longe ◽  
Carl Senior ◽  
Gina Rippon
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Anterior Cingulate

Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigations of the interaction between cognition and reward processing have found that the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) areas are preferentially activated to both increasing cognitive demand and reward level. Conversely, ventromedial PFC (VMPFC) areas show decreased activation to the same conditions, indicating a possible reciprocal relationship between cognitive and emotional processing regions. We report an fMRI study of a rewarded working memory task, in which we further explore how the relationship between reward and cognitive processing is mediated. We not only assess the integrity of reciprocal neural connections between the lateral PFC and VMPFC brain regions in different experimental contexts but also test whether additional cortical and subcortical regions influence this relationship. Psychophysiological interaction analyses were used as a measure of functional connectivity in order to characterize the influence of both cognitive and motivational variables on connectivity between the lateral PFC and the VMPFC. Psychophysiological interactions revealed negative functional connectivity between the lateral PFC and the VMPFC in the context of high memory load, and high memory load in tandem with a highly motivating context, but not in the context of reward alone. Physiophysiological interactions further indicated that the dorsal anterior cingulate and the caudate nucleus modulate this pathway. These findings provide evidence for a dynamic interplay between lateral PFC and VMPFC regions and are consistent with an emotional gating role for the VMPFC during cognitively demanding tasks. Our findings also support neuropsychological theories of mood disorders, which have long emphasized a dysfunctional relationship between emotion/motivational and cognitive processes in depression.

scholarly journals Functional Connectivity of Nucleus Accumbens and Medial Prefrontal Cortex With Other Brain Regions During Early-Abstinence Is Associated With Alcohol Dependence and Relapse: A Resting-Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Yang ◽  
Ya-jing Meng ◽  
Yu-jie Tao ◽  
Ren-hao Deng ◽  
Hui-yao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Anterior Cortex ◽  
The Right

Background: Alcohol dependence (AD) is a chronic recurrent brain disease that causes a heavy disease burden worldwide, partly due to high relapse rates after detoxification. Verified biomarkers are not available for AD and its relapse, although the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) may play important roles in the mechanism of addiction. This study investigated AD- and relapse-associated functional connectivity (FC) of the NAc and mPFC with other brain regions during early abstinence.Methods: Sixty-eight hospitalized early-abstinence AD male patients and 68 age- and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-functional magnetic resonance imaging (r-fMRI). Using the NAc and mPFC as seeds, we calculated changes in FC between the seeds and other brain regions. Over a follow-up period of 6 months, patients were measured with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) scale to identify relapse outcomes (AUDIT ≥ 8).Results: Thirty-five (52.24%) of the AD patients relapsed during the follow-up period. AD displayed lower FC of the left fusiform, bilateral temporal superior and right postcentral regions with the NAc and lower FC of the right temporal inferior, bilateral temporal superior, and left cingulate anterior regions with the mPFC compared to controls. Among these FC changes, lower FC between the NAc and left fusiform, lower FC between the mPFC and left cingulate anterior cortex, and smoking status were independently associated with AD. Subjects in relapse exhibited lower FC of the right cingulate anterior cortex with NAc and of the left calcarine sulcus with mPFC compared to non-relapsed subjects; both of these reductions in FC independently predicted relapse. Additionally, FC between the mPFC and right frontal superior gyrus, as well as years of education, independently predicted relapse severity.Conclusion: This study found that values of FC between selected seeds (i.e., the NAc and the mPFC) and some other reward- and/or impulse-control-related brain regions were associated with AD and relapse; these FC values could be potential biomarkers of AD or for prediction of relapse. These findings may help to guide further research on the neurobiology of AD and other addictive disorders.

scholarly journals Transcranial Focused Ultrasound to the Right Prefrontal Cortex Improves Mood and Alters Functional Connectivity in Humans

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Sanguinetti ◽  
Stuart Hameroff ◽  
Ezra E. Smith ◽  
Tomokazu Sato ◽  
Chris M. W. Daft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Focused Ultrasound ◽  
The Right ◽  
Transcranial Focused Ultrasound

Neural Correlates of Emotional Contagion Induced by Happy and Sad Expressions

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tokiko Harada ◽  
Akiko Hayashi ◽  
Norihiro Sadato ◽  
Tetsuya Iidaka
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Emotional Contagion ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Facial Movements ◽  
Parietal Lobes ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
The Right

Abstract. Facial expressions play a significant role in displaying feelings. A person’s facial expression automatically induces a similar emotional feeling in an observer; this phenomenon is known as emotional contagion. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying such emotional responses. We conducted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to examine the neural substrates involved in automatic responses and emotional feelings induced by movies of another person’s happy and sad facial expressions. The fMRI data revealed observing happiness (vs. sadness) evoked activity in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, which is known to be responsible for positive emotional processing and fear inhibition. Conversely, observing sadness (vs. happiness) increased activity in the right superior temporal sulcus and bilateral inferior parietal lobes, which have been reported to be involved in negative emotional processing and the representation of facial movements. In addition, both expressions evoked activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus. These patterns of activity suggest that the observation of dynamic facial expressions automatically elicited dissociable and partially overlapping responses for happy and sad emotions.

An Exploratory TMS Study on Prefrontal Lateralization in Valence Categorization of Facial Expressions

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Ferrari ◽  
Lucile Gamond ◽  
Marcello Gallucci ◽  
Tomaso Vecchi ◽  
Zaira Cattaneo
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Left Dlpfc ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Abstract. Converging neuroimaging and patient data suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in emotional processing. However, it is still not clear whether the DLPFC in the left and right hemisphere is differentially involved in emotion recognition depending on the emotion considered. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed light on the possible causal role of the left and right DLPFC in encoding valence of positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Participants were required to indicate whether a series of faces displayed a positive or negative expression, while TMS was delivered over the right DLPFC, the left DLPFC, and a control site (vertex). Interfering with activity in both the left and right DLPFC delayed valence categorization (compared to control stimulation) to a similar extent irrespective of emotion type. Overall, we failed to demonstrate any valence-related lateralization in the DLPFC by using TMS. Possible methodological limitations are discussed.

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