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ABSTRACT: Emotions are complex events recruiting distributed cortical and subcortical cerebral structures, where the functional integration dynamics within the involved neural circuits in relation to the nature of the different emotions are still unknown. Using fMRI, we measured the neural responses elicited by films representing basic emotions (fear, disgust, sadness, happiness). The amygdala and the associative cortex were conjointly activated by all basic emotions. Furthermore, distinct arrays of cortical and subcortical brain regions were additionally activated by each emotion, with the exception of sadness. Such findings informed the definition of three effective connectivity models, testing for the functional integration of visual cortex and amygdala, as regions processing all emotions, with domain-specific regions, namely: i) for fear, the frontoparietal system involved in preparing adaptive motor responses; ii) for disgust, the somatosensory system, reflecting protective responses against contaminating stimuli; iii) for happiness: medial prefrontal and temporoparietal cortices involved in understanding joyful interactions. Consistently with these domain-specific models, the results of the effective connectivity analysis indicate that the amygdala is involved in distinct functional integration effects with cortical networks processing sensorimotor, somatosensory, or cognitive aspects of basic emotions. The resulting effective connectivity networks may serve to regulate motor and cognitive behavior based on the quality of the induced emotional experience.
NeuroImage 08/2011; 59(2):1804-17. · 5.89 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We examined the Hurst exponent of heart rate time series and its relation with the subjective measures of valence and arousal in two groups of subjects. The electrocardiogram (ECG) and the subjective valence and arousal were measured during the administration of emotional film stimuli (happiness, sadness, anger and fear). The results showed that there is a difference in the Hurst exponent for the happiness and sadness conditions but not between the negative emotion conditions (sadness, anger and fear). This seems to indicate that the Hurst exponent is an indicator of subjective valence.
Autonomic neuroscience: basic & clinical 09/2009; 151(2):183-5. · 1.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The authors investigated how people remember real-life traumatic events. Adult residents (N = 145) of an Italian community that was flooded in fall of 2000 completed a questionnaire 3 years after the flood. Respondents briefly recounted their personal experiences with the flood and answered questions about emotional reactions to the flood, appraisal processes, and disaster exposure. Results showed that participants tended to recall experiences that occurred during the most critical phases of the disaster. The emotions most strongly experienced by respondents-sadness, fear, and surprise-were associated with specific appraisals. Content and amount of memories about flood experiences did not significantly vary as a function of flood exposure. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between memory quantity and emotional intensity. The authors discuss findings in the context of literature on traumatic memory and emotion.
The Journal of Psychology Interdisciplinary and Applied 02/2007; 141(1):91-108. · 0.86 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In the present study the patterns of interdependency between different brain regions were investigated as volunteers looked at emotional and non-emotional film stimuli. The main goal was to evaluate the emotion-related differences and to check their consistency during the elaboration of the same type of stimuli in repeated presentations. A measure called synchronization index (SI) was used to detect interdependencies in EEG signals. The hypotheses were that emotional-information processing could involve variation in synchronized activity and that two valence-specific emotions - happiness and sadness - differ from each other. The SI obtained was compared among the various experimental conditions and significant changes were found. The results demonstrated an overall increase of SI during emotional stimulation and, in particular, during sadness, which yielded a pattern involving a large exchange of information among frontal channels. On the other hand, happiness was associated with a wider synchronization among frontal and occipital sites, although happiness itself was less synchronized. We conclude that the SI can be successfully applied for studying the dynamic cooperation between cortical areas during emotion responses.
Neuroscience Letters 11/2006; 406(3):159-64. · 2.11 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study investigated whether adult attachment styles influence subjective and neurophysiological aspects of emotion. Self-reported emotional arousal and pleasantness and EEG frontal asymmetry were analysed while subjects watched emotional video-clips inducing happiness, fear and sadness with attachment-related content. Results showed a clear difference between attachment patterns on emotional arousal, resting frontal asymmetry and fluctuating asymmetry changes. Avoidant individuals responded to positive stimuli with less arousing subjective experience and right frontal asymmetry. In turn, preoccupied individuals showed higher arousal feelings and wider frontal left activation. Opposite patterns were observed in response to fear. These findings support the involvement of attachment in modelling individual emotional response and underlying brain functional processes, accounting partly for individual variability in human emotion.
Personality and Individual Differences.
