title: Beyond the amygdala: Linguistic threat modulates peri-sylvian semantic access cortices.
abstract: In this study, healthy volunteers were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural systems involved in processing the threatening content conveyed via visually presented "threat words." The neural responses elicited by these words were compared to those elicited by matched neutral control words. The results demonstrate that linguistic threat, when presented in written form, can selectively engage areas of lateral temporal and inferior frontal cortex, distinct from the core language areas implicated in aphasia. Additionally, linguistic threat modulates neural activity in visceral/emotional systems (amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus and periaqueductal gray), and at earlier stages of the visual-linguistic processing stream involved in visual word form representations (ventral occipitotemporal cortex). We propose a model whereby limbic activation modulates activity at multiple nodes along the visual-linguistic-semantic processing stream, including a perisylvian "semantic access network" involved in decoding word meaning, suggesting a dynamic interplay between feedforward and feedback processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Electronic address: dweisholtz@partners.org.
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Weisholtz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065, United States.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Root
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, 223 East 34th Street, New York, NY 10016, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065, United States.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeck Street 1, D-55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tüscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, VA Boston Healthcare System/Harvard Medical School, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, United States.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: 50 East 78th Street, Suite 9D, New York, NY 10075, United States.
authors.forename: Xenia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Protopopescu
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, 5 East 98th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10029, United States.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1100 Ninth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101, United States.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Isenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065, United States.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brendel
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Room 809, New York, NY 10003, United States.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: LeDoux
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Silbersweig
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stern
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D001037:Aphasia / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019579:Neocortex / Q000502:physiology*; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000502:physiology; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotion; Functional neuroimaging; Neuroanatomy; Reading; Threat; fMRI