title: Distinct populations of neurons respond to emotional valence and arousal in the human subthalamic nucleus.
abstract: Both animal studies and studies using deep brain stimulation in humans have demonstrated the involvement of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in motivational and emotional processes; however, participation of this nucleus in processing human emotion has not been investigated directly at the single-neuron level. We analyzed the relationship between the neuronal firing from intraoperative microrecordings from the STN during affective picture presentation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and the affective ratings of emotional valence and arousal performed subsequently. We observed that 17% of neurons responded to emotional valence and arousal of visual stimuli according to individual ratings. The activity of some neurons was related to emotional valence, whereas different neurons responded to arousal. In addition, 14% of neurons responded to visual stimuli. Our results suggest the existence of neurons involved in processing or transmission of visual and emotional information in the human STN, and provide evidence of separate processing of the affective dimensions of valence and arousal at the level of single neurons as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 166 27, Prague, Czech Republic; and.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sieger
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic;
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Serranová
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic;
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Růžička
authors.affiliation: Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 166 27, Prague, Czech Republic; and.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vostatek
authors.affiliation: Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 166 27, Prague, Czech Republic; and.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.affiliation: Department of Stereotactic and Radiation Neurosurgery, Na Homolce Hospital, 150 30, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Štastná
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic;
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonnet
authors.affiliation: Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 166 27, Prague, Czech Republic; and.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Novák
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic;
authors.forename: Evžen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Růžička
authors.affiliation: Department of Stereotactic and Radiation Neurosurgery, Na Homolce Hospital, 150 30, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dušan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Urgošík
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, 128 21, Prague, Czech Republic; jech@cesnet.cz.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jech
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: arousal; basal ganglia; emotion; single neuron; subthalamic nucleus