scholarly journals Increased Amygdala Activations during the Emotional Experience of Death-Related Pictures in Complicated Grief: An fMRI Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Fernández-Alcántara ◽  
Juan Verdejo-Román ◽  
Francisco Cruz-Quintana ◽  
Miguel Pérez-García ◽  
Andrés Catena-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Complicated Grief ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Lower Activation ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Image Type

Complicated grief (CG) is associated with alterations in various components of emotional processing. The main aim of this study was to identify brain activations in individuals diagnosed with CG while they were observing positive, negative, and death-related pictures. The participants included 19 individuals with CG and 19 healthy non-bereaved (NB) individuals. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were obtained during an emotional experience task. The perception of death-related pictures differed between the CG group and the NB group, with a greater activation in the former of the amygdala, putamen, hypothalamus, middle frontal gyrus, and anterior cingulate cortex. Amygdala and putamen activations were significantly correlated with Texas Revised Inventory of Grief scores in the CG group, suggesting that the higher level of grief in this group was associated with a greater activation in both brain areas while watching death-related pictures. A significant interaction between image type and group was observed in the amygdala, midbrain, periaqueductal gray, cerebellum, and hippocampus, largely driven by the greater activation of these areas in the CG group when watching death-related pictures and the lower activation when watching positive-valence pictures. In this study, individuals with CG showed significantly distinct brain activations in response to different emotional images.

Trait Worry and Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 214-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Kristin Neudert ◽  
Rudolf Stark ◽  
Laura Kress ◽  
Andrea Hermann
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
Healthy Females

Abstract. Pathological worrying is of high transdiagnostic relevance and is related to maladaptive emotion regulation processes. Dysfunctional emotion regulation and its underlying neural mechanisms might contribute to the maintenance of fear over time. Therefore, this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aims at investigating the association of trait worry with neural correlates of emotion regulation. Twenty-six healthy females were instructed to passively look at aversive pictures, to distract themselves with a neutral thought, or to down- and up-regulate negative feelings via cognitive reappraisal in response to repeatedly presented aversive pictures. Trait worry was not related to cognitive reappraisal but to distraction, which leads to a greater reduction of self-reported negative feelings and insula activation in individuals with higher trait worry. The current study indicates that the neural mechanisms underlying distraction seem to be altered in pathological worrying and may prevent adaptive emotional processing of aversive stimuli leading to the maintenance of fear.

An fMRI study of face encoding and recognition in first-episode schizophrenia

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anantha P. P. Anilkumar ◽  
Veena Kumari ◽  
Ravi Mehrotra ◽  
Ingrid Aasen ◽  
Martina T. Mitterschiffthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
On Line ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia

Background:Schizophrenia has been associated with limited abilities to interact effectively in social situations. Face perception and ability to recognise familiar faces are critical for social interaction. Patients with chronic schizophrenia are known to show impaired face recognition. Studying first-episode (FE) patients allows the exclusion of confounding effects of chronicity, medication and institutionalisation in this deficit.Objective:To determine brain (dys)functions during a face encoding and recognition paradigm in FE schizophrenia.Methods:Thirteen antipsychotic-naïve FE schizophrenia patients and 13 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a face encoding and recognition paradigm. Behavioural responses were recorded on line.Results:Patients recognised significantly fewer of previously presented faces than the controls (p = 0.008). At the neural level, both groups activated a network of regions including the fusiform area, occipital, temporal and frontal regions. In brain activity, the two groups did not differ in any region during encoding or recognition conditions (p > 0.05, corrected or uncorrected).Conclusions:Our findings show impaired face recognition without a significant alteration of related brain activity in FE schizophrenia patients. It is possible that neural changes become more strongly evident with progression of the illness, and manifest themselves as behavioural impairments during the early course.

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