Real-time fMRI of cortico-limbic brain activity during emotional processing

Phan, K. Luan; Fitzgerald, Daniel A.; Gao, Kunxiu; Moore, Gregory J.; Tancer, Manuel E.; Posse, Stefan

doi:10.1097/00001756-200403010-00029

Cited by 48 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Our findings build on a critical stream of advances in functional MRI instrumentation and data processing [58] that have enabled the development of real-time fMRI and neurofeedback [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], and multivoxel pattern analysis [64], [65], [66]. These developments enabled computer-intensive fMRI neurofeedback and classification of distributed patterns of brain activation to be simultaneously combined in real-time [12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback

et al. 2014

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In Ridley Scott’s film “Blade Runner”, empathy-detection devices are employed to measure affiliative emotions. Despite recent neurocomputational advances, it is unknown whether brain signatures of affiliative emotions, such as tenderness/affection, can be decoded and voluntarily modulated. Here, we employed multivariate voxel pattern analysis and real-time fMRI to address this question. We found that participants were able to use visual feedback based on decoded fMRI patterns as a neurofeedback signal to increase brain activation characteristic of tenderness/affection relative to pride, an equally complex control emotion. Such improvement was not observed in a control group performing the same fMRI task without neurofeedback. Furthermore, the neurofeedback-driven enhancement of tenderness/affection-related distributed patterns was associated with local fMRI responses in the septohypothalamic area and frontopolar cortex, regions previously implicated in affiliative emotion. This demonstrates that humans can voluntarily enhance brain signatures of tenderness/affection, unlocking new possibilities for promoting prosocial emotions and countering antisocial behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback

et al. 2014

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“…The dACC also activates in response to emotional photographs (Britton et al, 2006;Teasdale et al, 1999) and aversive tastes (Zald et al, 1998). Finally, the insular cortex is responsive to aversive stimuli (Phan et al, 2004a), internally generated sadness (Lane et al, 1997b;Reiman et al, 1997) and disgust-related stimuli (Britton et al, 2006).…”

Section: Fear States and Responses To Emotional Stimulimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders

Shin

Liberzon

2009

Neuropsychopharmacol

1,651

904

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Anxiety disorders are a significant problem in the community, and recent neuroimaging research has focused on determining the brain circuits that underlie them. Research on the neurocircuitry of anxiety disorders has its roots in the study of fear circuits in animal models and the study of brain responses to emotional stimuli in healthy humans. We review this research, as well as neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders. In general, these studies have reported relatively heightened amygdala activation in response to disorder-relevant stimuli in post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, and specific phobia. Activation in the insular cortex appears to be heightened in many of the anxiety disorders. Unlike other anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with diminished responsivity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and adjacent ventral medial prefrontal cortex. Additional research will be needed to (1) clarify the exact role of each component of the fear circuitry in the anxiety disorders, (2) determine whether functional abnormalities identified in the anxiety disorders represent acquired signs of the disorders or vulnerability factors that increase the risk of developing them, (3) link the findings of functional neuroimaging studies with those of neurochemistry studies, and (4) use functional neuroimaging to predict treatment response and assess treatment-related changes in brain function.

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“…In addition to AMY, a number of other brain regions have been identified as being part of an emotion processing network, including lateral and medial prefrontal cortical (PFC) regions, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as well as other brain regions susceptible to emotional modulation (e.g., perceptual areas, such as visual cortex) (Adolphs, 2002; Anders, Lotze, Erb, Grodd, & Birbaumer, 2004; Anderson et al, 2003; Dolcos, Iordan, & Dolcos, 2011; Dolcos, LaBar, & Cabeza, 2004; Dolcos & McCarthy, 2006; Fichtenholtz et al, 2004; Grimm et al, 2006; Kober et al, 2008; Phan, Fitzgerald et al, 2004; Phan, Taylor et al, 2004; Phan, Wager, Taylor, & Liberzon, 2004; Phillips, Drevets, Rauch, & Lane, 2003; Sabatini et al, 2009; Wang, McCarthy, Song, & Labar, 2005; Yamasaki, LaBar, & McCarthy, 2002). In conditions of competing emotion-cognition interactions, the neural system involved in ‘hot’ emotional ( HotEmo ) processing interplays with a neural system involved in ‘cold’ executive ( ColdEx ) processing, which includes brain regions that are part of the so-called fronto-parietal attentional network, underlies the ability to stay focused on task-relevant information and is important for cognitive control (Corbetta, Patel, & Shulman, 2008; Corbetta & Shulman, 2002; Duncan & Owen, 2000; Ochsner & Gross, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing of Emotional Distraction Is Both Automatic and Modulated by Attention: Evidence from an Event-related fMRI Investigation

Shafer

Matveychuk

Penney

et al. 2012

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Traditionally, emotional stimuli have been thought to be automatically processed via a bottom-up automatic “capture of attention” mechanism. Recently, this view has been challenged by evidence that emotion processing depends on the availability of attentional resources. Although these two views are not mutually exclusive, direct evidence reconciling them is lacking. One limitation of previous investigations supporting the traditional or competing views is that they have not systematically investigated the impact of emotional charge of task-irrelevant distraction in conjunction with manipulations of attentional demands. Using event-related fMRI, we investigated the nature of emotion-cognition interactions in a perceptual discrimination task with emotional distraction, by manipulating both the emotional charge of the distracting information and the demands of the main task. Findings suggest that emotion processing is both automatic and modulated by attention, but emotion and attention were only found to interact when finer assessments of emotional charge (comparison of most vs. least emotional conditions) were considered along with an effective manipulation of processing load (high vs. low). The study also identified brain regions reflecting the detrimental impact of emotional distraction on performance as well as regions involved in helping with such distraction. Activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and ventrolateral PFC was linked to a detrimental impact of emotional distraction, whereas the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and lateral occiptal cortex were involved in helping with emotional distraction. These findings demonstrate that task-irrelevant emotion processing is subjective to both the emotional content of distraction and the level of attentional demand.

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Real-time fMRI of cortico-limbic brain activity during emotional processing

Cited by 48 publications

References 23 publications

Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback

Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback

The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders

Processing of Emotional Distraction Is Both Automatic and Modulated by Attention: Evidence from an Event-related fMRI Investigation

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