WWW.JNEUROSCI.ORG
-
The Journal of Neuroscience AAN Call for Abstracts
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
-


HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP
The Journal of Neuroscience, March 24, 2004, 24(12):2898-2904; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4977-03.2004

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (66)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Williams, M. A.
Right arrow Articles by Mattingley, J. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Williams, M. A.
Right arrow Articles by Mattingley, J. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Amygdala Responses to Fearful and Happy Facial Expressions under Conditions of Binocular Suppression

Mark A. Williams,1 Adam P. Morris,1 Francis McGlone,2 David F. Abbott,3 and Jason B. Mattingley1

1Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Behavioral Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia, 2Unilever Research Laboratories, Port Sunlight, Bebington, Wirral CH63 3JW, United Kingdom, and 3Brain Research Institute, Austin Health, Heidelberg West, Victoria 3081, Australia

The human amygdala plays a crucial role in processing affective information conveyed by sensory stimuli. Facial expressions of fear and anger, which both signal potential threat to an observer, result in significant increases in amygdala activity, even when the faces are unattended or presented briefly and masked. It has been suggested that afferent signals from the retina travel to the amygdala via separate cortical and subcortical pathways, with the subcortical pathway underlying unconscious processing. Here we exploited the phenomenon of binocular rivalry to induce complete suppression of affective face stimuli presented to one eye. Twelve participants viewed brief, rivalrous visual displays in which a fearful, happy, or neutral face was presented to one eye while a house was presented simultaneously to the other. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study activation in the amygdala and extrastriate visual areas for consciously perceived versus suppressed face and house stimuli. Activation within the fusiform and parahippocampal gyri increased significantly for perceived versus suppressed faces and houses, respectively. Amygdala activation increased bilaterally in response to fearful versus neutral faces, regardless of whether the face was perceived consciously or suppressed because of binocular rivalry. Amygdala activity also increased significantly for happy versus neutral faces, but only when the face was suppressed. This activation pattern suggests that the amygdala has a limited capacity to differentiate between specific facial expressions when it must rely on information received via a subcortical route. We suggest that this limited capacity reflects a tradeoff between specificity and speed of processing.

Key words: amygdala; binocular rivalry; emotion; faces; fMRI; unconscious perception

Received Nov 6, 2003; revised January 3, 2004; accepted January 31, 2004.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
S. Kouider, E. Eger, R. Dolan, and R. N. Henson
Activity in Face-Responsive Brain Regions is Modulated by Invisible, Attended Faces: Evidence from Masked Priming
Cereb Cortex, April 9, 2008; (2008) bhn048v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
A. V. Rauch, P. Ohrmann, J. Bauer, H. Kugel, A. Engelien, V. Arolt, W. Heindel, and T. Suslow
Cognitive Coping Style Modulates Neural Responses to Emotional Faces in Healthy Humans: A 3-T fMRI Study
Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2007; 17(11): 2526 - 2535.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
T. Akiyama, M. Kato, T. Muramatsu, S. Umeda, F. Saito, and H. Kashima
Unilateral Amygdala Lesions Hamper Attentional Orienting Triggered by Gaze Direction
Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2007; 17(11): 2593 - 2600.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
A. D. Engell, J. V. Haxby, and A. Todorov
Implicit trustworthiness decisions: automatic coding of face properties in the human amygdala.
J. Cogn. Neurosci., September 1, 2007; 19(9): 1508 - 1519.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeuroscientistHome page
L. M. Williams and E. Gordon
Dynamic Organization of the Emotional Brain: Responsivity, Stability, and Instability
Neuroscientist, August 1, 2007; 13(4): 349 - 370.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
C. M. Kipps, A. J. Duggins, E. A. McCusker, and A. J. Calder
Disgust and Happiness Recognition Correlate with Anteroventral Insula and Amygdala Volume Respectively in Preclinical Huntington's Disease.
J. Cogn. Neurosci., July 1, 2007; 19(7): 1206 - 1217.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soc Cogn Affect NeurosciHome page
C. van der Gaag, R. B. Minderaa, and C. Keysers
The BOLD signal in the amygdala does not differentiate between dynamic facial expressions
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, June 1, 2007; 2(2): 93 - 103.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R. Gaillard, A. Del Cul, L. Naccache, F. Vinckier, L. Cohen, and S. Dehaene
Nonconscious semantic processing of emotional words modulates conscious access
PNAS, May 9, 2006; 103(19): 7524 - 7529.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
L. Pessoa, S. Japee, D. Sturman, and L. G. Ungerleider
Target Visibility and Visual Awareness Modulate Amygdala Responses to Fearful Faces
Cereb Cortex, March 1, 2006; 16(3): 366 - 375.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
J. S. Winston, J. A. Gottfried, J. M. Kilner, and R. J. Dolan
Integrated Neural Representations of Odor Intensity and Affective Valence in Human Amygdala
J. Neurosci., September 28, 2005; 25(39): 8903 - 8907.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
D. H. Skuse, J. S. Morris, and R. J. Dolan
Functional dissociation of amygdala-modulated arousal and cognitive appraisal, in Turner syndrome
Brain, September 1, 2005; 128(9): 2084 - 2096.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
S. J. Bishop, J. Duncan, and A. D. Lawrence
State Anxiety Modulation of the Amygdala Response to Unattended Threat-Related Stimuli
J. Neurosci., November 17, 2004; 24(46): 10364 - 10368.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. Ishai, L. Pessoa, P. C. Bikle, and L. G. Ungerleider
Repetition suppression of faces is modulated by emotion
PNAS, June 29, 2004; 101(26): 9827 - 9832.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


-

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help
-
Copyright 2008 by Society for Neuroscience ONLINE ISSN: 1529-2401
-