The timing of emotional discrimination in human amygdala and ventral visual cortex.
Models of visual emotional perception suggest a reentrant organization of the ventral visual system with the amygdala. Using focused functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans with a sampling rate of 100 ms, here we determine the relative timing of emotional discrimination in amygdala and ventral visual cortical structures during emotional perception. Results show that amygdala and inferotemporal visual cortex differentiate emotional from nonemotional scenes approximately 1 s before extrastriate occipital cortex, whereas primary occipital cortex shows consistent activity across all scenes. This pattern of discrimination is consistent with a reentrant organization of emotional perception in visual processing, in which transaction between rostral ventral visual cortex and amygdala originates the identification of emotional relevance.
Sabatinelli
Dean
D
Department of Psychology and BioImaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA. sabat@uga.edu
Lang
Peter J
PJ
Bradley
Margaret M
MM
Costa
Vincent D
VD
Keil
Andreas
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult