title: Real-time fMRI of cortico-limbic brain activity during emotional processing.
abstract: The ability to detect dynamic changes in brain activity during affective processing within individual subjects in real-time can advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms of emotion, psychiatric illness, and therapeutic intervention. We investigated whether activity in limbic and paralimbic regions elicited by blocks of aversive (AV) and neutral (NEU) pictures can be detected by real-time fMRI. Real-time analysis of signal change during each block revealed that activations in insula and medial frontal cortex were more frequent during AV than NEU epochs. Single subject and group analysis off-line with conventional statistical parametric mapping methods matched the results obtained in real-time. Detecting cortico-limbic brain activation during perception and experience of emotionally salient visual stimuli with real-time fMRI technology is feasible.
authors.affiliation: Brain Imaging Research Division, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 9B University Health Center-Rm. 18, 4201 St. Antoine Blvd, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. kphan@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: K Luan
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Kunxiu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Manuel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tancer
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Posse
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003199:Computer Systems; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation