title: Differential stimuli and task effects in the amygdala and sensory areas.
abstract: Whether the amygdala responds in a stimulus- or a task-specific way, and how it corresponds to such effects in sensory cortices is dubious. Eighteen volunteers participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which they were asked to identify either emotion or gender in visually presented scenes, faces, and sentences. Amygdala and the lateral occipital complex showed similar stimulus effect with greater activation to scenes than to faces and sentences, whereas the superior temporal complex responded preferentially to sentences. No task effect was observed in the amygdala, whereas lateral occipital complex and superior temporal complex showed left lateralized selectivity to the emotional task. These results suggest that the amygdala is more sensitive to stimulus than explicit task parameters when processing emotion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University Functional Brain Imaging Unit, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bleich-Cohen
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mintz
authors.forename: Pazit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pianka
authors.forename: Fani
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Andelman
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rotshtein
authors.forename: Talma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hendler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen