Visual processing of pictures

Word responses have been used to dedde whether pictures of expressive faces or postures portray truthful expressions. Previous investigators have assumed words are used only as symbols of “meaning”. They did not appreciate the use of words as symbols of “sorting”. If one viewer calls two photographs “angry” and another viewer calls the same two photographs “happy,” the viewers may disagree in their “meanings” but they agree in their ‘sortings” both agree each photograph portrays the same expression. Sorting groups reveal how the visual system processes photographic images.     

Inbred strains of mice with variable sensitivity to ethanol exhibit differences in the content and processing of beta-endorphin

The content of beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (beta-EPLIR) in the anterior and neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus and the serum of the c57BL/6, BALB/C and DBA/2 inbred strains of mice was estimated at the resting state as well as 45 min after i.p. injection of either ethanol solution (3.0 g/kg.b.wt.) or saline. At the resting state, the neurointermediate lobe and the serum of the c57BL/6 mice showed the highest content of beta-EPLIR, while no statistically significant difference was noticed in the total beta-EPLIR content in the anterior lobe and hypothalamus. At 45 min post-ethanol treatment the beta-EPLIR content was increased in the serum of all three strains of mice studied and was decreased in the hypothalamus of the c57BL/6 mice only. Further analysis of the beta-endorphin peptides using sephadex G-75 chromatography and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography indicated strain differences in the relative proportions of the various forms of beta-endorphin in the anterior lobe, neurointermediate lobe and the hypothalamus. These strain specific differences in the content and post-translational processing of beta-endorphin may be involved in some of the genetically determined differences in responses to ethanol by these inbred strains of mice.     

Individual differences in emotion processing

Recent functional brain imaging studies of the neurobiology of emotion have investigated how individual differences among subjects modulate neural responses during emotion processing. Differences in personality, dispositional affect, biological sex, and genotype can all substantially modulate the neural bases of emotion processing in prefrontal, limbic, and other brain regions, across a variety of domains including emotional reactions, emotional memory, and emotion perception. Analysis of individual differences provides a new window into the neurobiology of emotion processing that complements traditional approaches.     

Individual differences in odor imaging ability reflect differences in olfactory and emotional perception

We asked whether the large variability in odor imaging ability is underlain by interindividual differences in the processing of smells and emotion. Olfactory imaging ability, anhedonia level, and odor perception were measured in 40 subjects, using the Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire (VOIQ), the Physical Anhedonia Scale, and the European Test of Olfactory Capabilities. "Good" olfactory imagers, defined primarily on the basis of the VOIQ, rated pleasant smells as more familiar and had lower anhedonia scores than "bad" olfactory imagers. Based on self-reported measures, these results suggest that, like olfactory perception, the mental imagery of smells is related to emotion and that, beyond their differences in vividness, good and bad olfactory imagers differ in their experience of emotion and long-term memory of smells.     

Ultradian rhythms in processing speed of laterally exposed words and pictures

The study was designed to find out the cerebral hemispheres oscillations in stimuli processing during the 24-hour period of wakefulness in isolated subjects remaining in a monotonous environment. Stimuli processing speed from the 24-hour constant routine periods (06.00-06.00 h) of a larger experiment were analysed for the purpose of this paper. Parallel sets of words and pictures were exposed laterally using a purpose-designed computer program. The subjects reacted to pictures or words by pressing appropriate buttons. The significant dominant ultradian rhythms (around 4 h) in the processing speed of words addressed to the right hemisphere were found and of pictures addressed to the left hemisphere. Longer significant dominant periodicities (around 12 h) appeared in the processing speed of words addressed to the left hemisphere and of pictures (around 8 h) addressed to the right hemisphere. Ultradian rhythmicity of the central nervous system functioning is suggested.     

Individual differences in novelty-seeking and emotional reactivity correlate with variation in maternal behavior

Numerous studies have demonstrated that Sprague-Dawley rats exhibit a wide range of locomotor reactivity when placed in a novel environment. High Responder (HR) rats show exaggerated locomotor response to novelty, enhanced neuroendocrine stress reactivity, decreased anxiety-like behavior, and propensity to self-administer psychostimulants, compared to the less active Low Responder (LR) animals. Few studies have explored the early environmental factors which may underlie the HR-LR differences in emotional reactivity. Considering the enormous impact of maternal care on rodent neurodevelopment, we sought to examine maternal behavior in HR-LR dams to determine whether they exhibit differences which could contribute to their offspring's differential temperaments. Females, like males, can be classified as HR versus LR, showing marked differences in novelty-induced locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior. HR-LR mothers behaved differently with their pups during the first two postpartum weeks. LR dams spent greater time licking and nursing their pups compared to HR dams, with the most prominent differences occurring during the second postpartum week. By contrast, when non-lactating HR-LR females were presented with orphaned pups, the pattern of maternal response was reversed. HR females were more responsive and showed greater maternal care of the novel pups compared to LR females, which were probably inhibited due to fear of the unfamiliar pups. This underscores the critical interplay between the female's emotional phenotype, her hormonal status and her familiarity with the pup as key factors in determining maternal behavior. Future work should explore neural and hormonal mechanisms which drive these HR-LR differences in maternal behavior and their impact on the development of the offspring.     

Analysis of sexual differences in emotional reactions in rats

The effect of sex differences on the emotional reactivity in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) has been analyzed by means of the open field test and the acquisition of a conditioned emotional response (C.E.R.), according to Estes and Skinner technique. The combined use of C.E.R. and defecation rate techniques shows that males present a higher emotional reactivity than females. Furthermore estrous cycle affected female ambulation rates in open field.     

Time window for cognitive activity involved in emotional processing

Background

From previous studies it is becoming evident that the processing of unpleasant stimuli occurs early (0 to 300 ms); however, it is not clear how cognitive processing related to pleasant/unpleasant emotions occurs at later time windows (≥300 ms). On the other hand, as evident from the previous reports, BIS and BAS personality traits are strongly associated with unpleasant and pleasant responses, respectively. Therefore, in the present study, we aim to identify the time window involved in human pleasant/unpleasant emotional processing by investigating ERP components correlated with BIS/BAS personality traits.

Methods

Twenty-nine men took part in the study and recording ERP during presented sounds. BIS/BAS score was calculated using the Japanese edition of the BIS/BAS questionnaire.

Results

Significant correlation was not observed between BIS and BAS scores. A significant and positive correlation was observed between N100 amplitude and BIS score. A positive correlation was found between BAS fun seeking subscale score and LPP amplitude. Our findings did not contradict previous study results.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the processing of unpleasant emotions takes place early on, since N100 response was larger in high BIS subjects who are known to be sensitive to unpleasant emotions. LPP was larger in high BAS subjects who are known to be sensitive to pleasant emotions. The LPP was considered to be augmented because the ACC activity level during pleasant emotions reflected on LPP.     

杏仁核参与疼痛情绪过程的研究进展

本文综述了近年来关于杏仁核参与疼痛过程的研究进展。疼痛伴随有强烈的情绪反应,而杏仁核是情绪调控中的一个关键核团。最近,越来越多的证据支持杏仁核参与痛觉的编码和调制过程。杏仁核对来自脊髓和三叉神经核的伤害性信息及皮层和丘脑的多种感觉信息进行整合,产生负性情绪,并对疼痛刺激作出相应的行为反应。同时,杏仁核也通过与导水管周围灰质、延髓头端腹内侧区及其它脑干核团的纤维联系参与镇痛过程。     

Task and content modulate amygdala-hippocampal connectivity in emotional retrieval

The ability to remember emotional events is crucial for adapting to biologically and socially significant situations. Little is known, however, about the nature of the neural interactions supporting the integration of mnemonic and emotional information. Using fMRI and dynamic models of effective connectivity, we examined regional neural activity and specific interactions between brain regions during a contextual memory retrieval task. We independently manipulated emotional context and relevance of retrieved emotional information to task demands. We show that retrieval of emotionally valenced contextual information is associated with enhanced connectivity from hippocampus to amygdala, structures crucially involved with encoding of emotional events. When retrieval of emotional information is relevant to current behavior, amygdala-hippocampal connectivity increases bidirectionally, under modulatory influences from orbitofrontal cortex, a region implicated in representation of affective value and behavioral guidance. Our findings demonstrate that both memory content and behavioral context impact upon large scale neuronal dynamics underlying emotional retrieval.     

Low-investment copulation: Sex differences in motivations and emotional reactions

Samples of male (n = 113) and female (n = 175) college students were surveyed. Majorities of both sexes agreed with statements indicating that males' sexual attractiveness varied more than females' sexual attractiveness as a function of their status. Subjects who reported more sex partners and a greater aversion to sexual monogamy were slightly more likely to agree that they tested their partners to see how far they could push them. Interviews with highly sexually active females (n = 32) and males (n = 24) indicated that low-investment copulation and lack of control over the sexual access-investment ratio caused even women with very permissive attitudes and multiple sex partners to develop an aversion to low-investment copulation. Three levels were identified in this process. The techniques that women with multiple partners used to deal with their feelings are described. Females tested their partners for ability and willingness to invest. Males tested for opportunities to reduce investment and pursue other women. High status, for example athletic stardom, transformed males' sexual attractiveness to women and numbers of sex partners. Results were consistent with the view that the emotional-motivational mechanisms that moderate sexual arousal and attraction are sexually dimorphic.     

Gender differences in regulating emotions in response to text with violent content

Gender difference in intensity of emotional response depending on the cognitive disclosure of the emotions were analyzed in detail. Texts with emotionally negative content were presented to the subjects, and the parameters of their cardiovascular activity were recorded either before or after filling a special checklist to assess the impression caused by the texts and to reveal changes in the physiological activation of the subjects in response to these texts. Unlike women, men intensified their affective involvement into processing the content of the texts after filling the checklist. The results are interpreted in the context of current research on physiological emotional processes during their cognitive disclosure; the role of gender differences in the regulation of these processes was also studied.     

Affective pictures processing is reflected by an increased long-distance EEG connectivity

Analysis of affective picture processing by means of EEG has invaded the literature. The methodology of event-related EEG coherence is one of the essential methods used to analyze functional connectivity. The aims of the present study are to find out the long range EEG connectivity changes in perception of different affective pictures and analyze gender differences in these long range connected networks. EEGs of 28 healthy subjects (14 female) were recorded at 32 locations. The participants passively viewed emotional pictures (IAPS, unpleasant, pleasant, neutral). The long-distance intra-hemispheric event-related coherence was analyzed for delta (1–3.5 Hz), theta (4–7.5 Hz), and alpha (8–13 Hz) frequency ranges for F₃–T₇, F₄–T₈, F₃–TP₇, F₄–TP₈, F₃–P₃, F₄–P₄, F₃–O₁, F₄–O₂, C₃–O₁, C₄–O₂ electrode pairs. Unpleasant pictures elicited significantly higher delta coherence values than neutral pictures (p < 0.05), over fronto-parietal, fronto-occipital, and centro-occipital electrode pairs. Furthermore, unpleasant pictures elicited higher theta coherence values than pleasant (p < 0.05) and neutral pictures (p < 0.05). The present study showed that female subjects had higher delta (p < 0.05) and theta (p < 0.05) coherence values than male subjects. This difference was observed more for emotional pictures than for neutral pictures. This study showed that the brain connectivity was higher during emotional pictures than neutral pictures. Females had higher connectivity between different parts of the brain than males during emotional processes. According to these results, we may comment that increased valence and arousal caused increased brain activity. It seems that not just single sources but functional networks were also activated during perception of emotional pictures.     

The neural substrate of positive bias in spontaneous emotional processing

Even in the presence of negative information, healthy human beings display an optimistic tendency when thinking of past success and future chances, giving a positive bias to everyday''s cognition. The tendency to actively select positive thoughts suggests the existence of a mechanism to exclude negative content, raising the issue of its dependence on mechanisms like those of effortful control. Using perfusion imaging, we examined how brain activations differed according to whether participants were left to prefer positive thoughts spontaneously, or followed an explicit instruction to the same effect, finding a widespread dissociation of brain perfusion patterns. Under spontaneous processing of emotional material, recruitment of areas associated with effortful attention, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was reduced relative to instructed avoidance of negative material (F _1,58 = 26.24, p = 0.047, corrected). Under spontaneous avoidance perfusion increments were observed in several areas that were deactivated by the task, including the perigenual medial prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, individual differences in executive capacity were not associated with positive bias. These findings suggest that spontaneous positive cognitive emotion regulation in health may result from processes that, while actively suppressing emotionally salient information, differ from those associated with effortful and directed control.     

Investigating Gaze of Children with ASD in Naturalistic Settings

Background

Visual behavior is known to be atypical in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Monitor-based eye-tracking studies have measured several of these atypicalities in individuals with Autism. While atypical behaviors are known to be accentuated during natural interactions, few studies have been made on gaze behavior in natural interactions. In this study we focused on i) whether the findings done in laboratory settings are also visible in a naturalistic interaction; ii) whether new atypical elements appear when studying visual behavior across the whole field of view.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Ten children with ASD and ten typically developing children participated in a dyadic interaction with an experimenter administering items from the Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS). The children wore a novel head-mounted eye-tracker, measuring gaze direction and presence of faces across the child''s field of view. The analysis of gaze episodes to faces revealed that children with ASD looked significantly less and for shorter lapses of time at the experimenter. The analysis of gaze patterns across the child''s field of view revealed that children with ASD looked downwards and made more extensive use of their lateral field of view when exploring the environment.

Conclusions/Significance

The data gathered in naturalistic settings confirm findings previously obtained only in monitor-based studies. Moreover, the study allowed to observe a generalized strategy of lateral gaze in children with ASD when they were looking at the objects in their environment.     

Effect of chronotype on emotional processing and risk taking

There is increasing evidence to suggest that late chronotypes are at increased risk for depression. The putative psychological mechanisms underpinning this risk, however, have not been fully explored. The aim of the present study was to examine whether, similar to acutely depressed patients and other “at risk” groups, late chronotype individuals display biases in tasks assaying emotional face recognition, emotional categorisation, recognition and recall and attention. Late chronotype was associated with increased recognition of sad facial expressions, greater recall and reduced latency to correctly recognise previously presented negative personality trait words and reduced allocation of attentional resources to happy faces. The current results indicate that certain negative biases in emotional processing are present in late chronotypes and may, in part, mediate the vulnerability of these individuals to depression. Prospective studies are needed to establish whether the cognitive vulnerabilities reported here predict subsequent depression.     

Hemispheric differences in evoked potentials to pictures of faces in the left and right visual fields

Fifteen right-handed women evaluated the similarity of two faces presented to them either in the left or in the right visual field. The subjects' task was to decide whether the faces were the same or different and accordingly to press a button or abstain from doing so. Errors made by the subjects and the visual evoked potentials (VEPs) from points O₁ and O₂ referred to point C_z were recorded. Behavioural and electrophysiological results demonstrated the superiority of the right hemisphere in the perception of faces. The subjects made fewer errors when faces were presented in the left visual field. The number of errors also decreased when the presented faces were different from each other. Analysis of the VEPs indicates the existence of hemispheric asymmetry as early as 100 msec after the first stimulus disappeared. The asymmetry is larger in response to the second stimulus. On the basis of these results we conclude that differentiation in hemispheric functions takes place in the phase of short-term memory. The smaller number of errors made when the presented faces were different we explain by the strategy applied by the subjects.