Response Characteristics of Basolateral and Centromedial Neurons in the Primate Amygdala

Mosher, Clayton P.; Zimmerman, Prisca E.; Gothard, Katalin M.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3225-10.2010

Cited by 82 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Our analysis revealed that there are fewer VLPFC neurons responsive to the vocalization component of the audiovisual stimulus, or its change, compared with the number of neurons responsive to the face or the change of the face. These results parallel findings of greater numbers of visual unimodal responses compared with auditory unimodal responses in VLPFC (Sugihara et al, 2006;Diehl and Romanski, 2014), and in the monkey amygdala, another face-vocalization integration area, where many neurons are robustly responsive to faces (Gothard et al, 2007;Kuraoka and Nakamura, 2007;Mosher et al, 2010), but fewer neurons respond to corresponding vocalizations (Kuraoka and Nakamura, 2007). Moreover, even human subjects fare better at face recognition than voice recognition in many situations (Colavita, 1974;Hanley et al, 1998;Joassin et al, 2004;Calder and Young, 2005;Sinnett et al, 2007).…”

Section: Auditory Discrimination In Nonhuman Primatessupporting

confidence: 71%

Prefrontal Neuronal Responses during Audiovisual Mnemonic Processing

Hwang

Romanski

2015

J. Neurosci.

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During communication we combine auditory and visual information. Neurophysiological research in nonhuman primates has shown that single neurons in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) exhibit multisensory responses to faces and vocalizations presented simultaneously. However, whether VLPFC is also involved in maintaining those communication stimuli in working memory or combining stored information across different modalities is unknown, although its human homolog, the inferior frontal gyrus, is known to be important in integrating verbal information from auditory and visual working memory. To address this question, we recorded from VLPFC while rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) performed an audiovisual working memory task. Unlike traditional match-to-sample/ nonmatch-to-sample paradigms, which use unimodal memoranda, our nonmatch-to-sample task used dynamic movies consisting of both facial gestures and the accompanying vocalizations. For the nonmatch conditions, a change in the auditory component (vocalization), the visual component (face), or both components was detected. Our results show that VLPFC neurons are activated by stimulus and task factors: while some neurons simply responded to a particular face or a vocalization regardless of the task period, others exhibited activity patterns typically related to working memory such as sustained delay activity and match enhancement/suppression. In addition, we found neurons that detected the component change during the nonmatch period. Interestingly, some of these neurons were sensitive to the change of both components and therefore combined information from auditory and visual working memory. These results suggest that VLPFC is not only involved in the perceptual processing of faces and vocalizations but also in their mnemonic processing.

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Section: Auditory Discrimination In Nonhuman Primatessupporting

confidence: 71%

Prefrontal Neuronal Responses during Audiovisual Mnemonic Processing

Hwang

Romanski

2015

J. Neurosci.

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“…This interpretation would be similar to forward models of the motor system where information about the produced movement is analyzed to produce predictions about the outcome (44,45). In the current case, the outcome might be social responses of a peer, and this information, which was shown to reside in the same circuits (6,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), can be integrated to form a more complete interpretation of the social scene. Our finding that facial movement and social stimuli converge on single neurons in the amygdala and the dACC is in line with this suggestion and suggests a possible mechanism for how social context may shape decoding and the reciprocal response to social scenes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Self-monitoring of social facial expressions in the primate amygdala and cingulate cortex

Livneh

Resnik

Shohat

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Keeping track of self-executed facial expressions is essential for the ability to correctly interpret and reciprocate social expressions. However, little is known about neural mechanisms that participate in self-monitoring of facial expression. We designed a natural paradigm for social interactions where a monkey is seated in front of a peer monkey that is concealed by an opaque liquid crystal display shutter positioned between them. Opening the shutter for short durations allowed the monkeys to see each other and encouraged facial communication. To explore neural mechanisms that participate in self-monitoring of facial expression, we simultaneously recorded the elicited natural facial interactions and the neural activity of single neurons in the amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), two regions that are implicated with decoding of others' gestures. Neural activity in both regions was temporally locked to distinctive facial gestures and close inspection of time lags revealed activity that either preceded (production) or lagged (monitor) initiation of facial expressions. This result indicates that single neurons in the dACC and the amygdala hold information about self-executed facial expressions and demonstrates an intimate overlap between the neural networks that participate in decoding and production of socially informative facial information.face-to-face interaction | spike triggered average | facial-expression production | amygdala-cingulate interaction A ccurate decoding of social interaction requires information about all participants, including one's own behavior. We would interpret differently a smile if we knew that we smiled first (or not) and, similarly, a threatening face has different meaning if we threatened first. Computationally, this ambiguity implies that information about the observed facial expression and one's own expression should converge in the network to incorporate these complementary sources of information. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that enable such integration.Successful decoding of a facial expression should allow a rapid adequate response to the outcome that is implied by this meaningful expression. Accordingly, the amygdala, a structure associated with representing the learned valence of sensory inputs (1, 2), has been implicated with decoding and processing of various facial expressions (3). Notably, bilateral amygdala lesion selectively impairs recognition of fear expressions (4), which possibly signal the existence of an immediate threat. In addition, amygdala responses to fear and other facial expressions are modulated by social context (5, 6) (e.g., gaze direction), suggesting that the amygdala also participates in the decoding processes of a wider range of emotionally salient facial signals.The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is hypothesized to synthesize information about reinforcers with the current behavioral goal (7) and contributes to the resolution of emotional conflicts (8). Like the amygdala, dACC response to facia...

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“…More research is therefore needed in animal models where direct neuronal recordings can be combined with functional imaging, particularly in primates and for brain regions critically implicated in emotion attention (e.g. amygdala, OFC, pulvinar, and superior colliculus, as well as the various sensory cortices) (Armony, Quirk, & LeDoux, 1998;Gothard, Battaglia, Erickson, Spitler, & Amaral, 2007;Mosher, Zimmerman, & Gothard, 2010). Overall, as in other neuroscience domains, a complete picture of emotion processing and its impact on attention will require a convergence of different methodologies.…”

Section: Box Contentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain mechanisms for emotional influences on perception and attention: What is magic and what is not

Pourtois

Schettino

Vuilleumier

2013

Biological Psychology

616

475

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The rapid and efficient selection of emotionally-salient or goal-relevant stimuli in the environment is crucial for flexible and adaptive behaviors. Converging data from neuroscience and psychology have accrued during the last decade to identify brain systems involved in emotion processing, selective attention, and their interaction, which together act to extract the emotional or motivational value of sensory events and respond appropriately. An important hub in these systems is the amygdala, which may not only monitor the emotional value of stimuli, but also readily project to several other areas and send feedback to sensory pathways (including striate and extrastriate visual cortex). This system generates saliency signals that modulate perceptual, motor, as well as memory processes, and thus in turn regulate behavior appropriately.Here, we review our current views on the function and properties of these brain systems, with an emphasis on their involvement in the rapid and/or preferential processing of threat-relevant stimuli. We suggest that emotion signals may enhance processing efficiency and competitive strength of emotionally significant events through gain control mechanisms similar to those of other (e.g. endogenous) attentional systems, but mediated by distinct neural mechanisms in amygdala and interconnected prefrontal areas. Alterations in these brain mechanisms might be associated with psychopathological conditions, such as anxiety or phobia. We conclude that attention selection and awareness are determined by multiple attention gain control systems that may operate in parallel and use different sensory cues but act on a common perceptual pathway.

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Response Characteristics of Basolateral and Centromedial Neurons in the Primate Amygdala

Cited by 82 publications

References 52 publications

Prefrontal Neuronal Responses during Audiovisual Mnemonic Processing

Prefrontal Neuronal Responses during Audiovisual Mnemonic Processing

Self-monitoring of social facial expressions in the primate amygdala and cingulate cortex

Brain mechanisms for emotional influences on perception and attention: What is magic and what is not

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