title: Development of ACC-amygdala activations in processing unattended fear.
abstract: The ability to assess facial expressions of others involves specialised brain systems important for emotional and social learning, a skill that emerges over childhood. We investigated the development of neural responses associated with implicit processing of facial emotions using magnetoencephalography in children (7-10 yrs), adolescents (12-15 yrs) and adults. The results demonstrated spatial-temporal activations in the ACC and amygdala emotion-processing systems that changed with age. The processing of emotions first engaged the earlier-developing amygdala responses and then involved the later-maturing ACC system. With increasing age there was a shift in lateralization of amygdala responses sensitive to the fearful faces. The findings contribute to a critical understanding of the development related to functional specialization of fear perception in the frontal-limbic emotion systems. The present study offers critical insights into the developmentally time-sensitive impact on the normal functioning of these brain regions.
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G1X8.
authors.forename: Yuwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Mary Lou
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Margot J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult