Selective processing of social stimuli in the superficial amygdala.
The human amygdala plays a pivotal role in the processing of socially significant information. Anatomical studies show that the human amygdala is not a single homogeneous structure but is composed of segregable subregions. These have recently been functionally delineated by using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and cytoarchitectonically defined probabilistic maps. However, the response characteristics and individual contribution of these subregions to the processing of social-emotional stimuli are little understood. Here, we used this novel technique to segregate intra-amygdalar responses to facial expressions and nonsocial control stimuli. We localized facial expression-evoked signal changes bilaterally in the superficial amygdala, which suggests that this subregion selectively extracts the social value of incoming sensory information.
Goossens
Liesbet
L
Department of Psychiatry & Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200AB, The Netherlands.
Kukolja
Juraj
J
Onur
Oezguer A
OA
Fink
Gereon R
GR
Maier
Wolfgang
W
Griez
Eric
E
Schruers
Koen
K
Hurlemann
Rene
R
D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011336:Probability; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen