title: A neural signature of affiliative emotion in the human septohypothalamic area.
abstract: Comparative studies have established that a number of structures within the rostromedial basal forebrain are critical for affiliative behaviors and social attachment. Lesion and neuroimaging studies concur with the importance of these regions for attachment and the experience of affiliation in humans as well. Yet it remains obscure whether the neural bases of affiliative experiences can be differentiated from the emotional valence with which they are inextricably associated at the experiential level. Here we show, using functional MRI, that kinship-related social scenarios evocative of affiliative emotion induce septal-preoptic-anterior hypothalamic activity that cannot be explained by positive or negative emotional valence alone. Our findings suggest that a phylogenetically conserved ensemble of basal forebrain structures, especially the septohypothalamic area, may play a key role in enabling human affiliative emotion. Our finding of a neural signature of human affiliative experience bears direct implications for the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning impaired affiliative experiences and behaviors in neuropsychiatric conditions.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education, 22281-100, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. jorge.moll@idor.org
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bado
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Oliveira-Souza
authors.forename: Ivanei E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Bramati
authors.forename: Debora O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Fernando F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: João R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tovar-Moll
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zahn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007032:Hypothalamus, Anterior / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020665:Septum of Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult