Analysis of Single-Unit Responses to Emotional Scenes in Human Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Hiroto Kawasaki; Ralph Adolphs; Hiroyuki Oya; Christopher Kovach; Hanna Damasio; Olaf Kaufman; Matthew Howard

doi:10.1162/089892905774597182

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Analysis of Single-Unit Responses to Emotional Scenes in Human Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Analysis of Single-Unit Responses to Emotional Scenes in Human Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Hiroto Kawasaki, Ralph Adolphs, Hiroyuki Oya, Christopher Kovach, Hanna Damasio, Olaf Kaufman and Matthew Howard

Journal of cognitive neuroscience, Vol.17(10), pp.1509-1518

10/2005

DOI: 10.1162/089892905774597182

PMID: 16269093

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Abstract

Lesion and functional imaging studies in humans have shown that the ventral and medial prefrontal cortex is critically involved in the processing of emotional stimuli, but both of these methods have limited spatiotemporal resolution. Conversely, neurophysiological studies of emotion in nonhuman primates typically rely on stimuli that do not require elaborate cognitive processing. To begin bridging this gap, we recorded from a total of 267 neurons in the left and right orbital and anterior cingulate cortices of four patients who had chronically implanted depth electrodes for monitoring epilepsy. Peristimulus activity was recorded to standardized, complex visual scenes depicting neutral, pleasant, or aversive content. Recording locations were verified with postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. Using a conservative, multistep statistical evaluation, we found significant responses in 56 neurons; 16 of these were selective for only one emotion class, most often aversive. The findings suggest sparse and widely distributed processing of emotional value in the prefrontal cortex, with a predominance of responses to aversive stimuli.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Analysis of Single-Unit Responses to Emotional Scenes in Human Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
Creators: Hiroto Kawasaki - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Ralph Adolphs - University of Iowa College of Medicine, California Institute of Technology
Hiroyuki Oya - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Christopher Kovach - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Hanna Damasio - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Olaf Kaufman - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Matthew Howard - University of Iowa College of Medicine
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of cognitive neuroscience, Vol.17(10), pp.1509-1518
DOI: 10.1162/089892905774597182
PMID: 16269093
NLM abbreviation: J Cogn Neurosci
ISSN: 0898-929X
eISSN: 1530-8898
Language: English
Date published: 10/2005
Academic Unit: Neurology; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurosurgery; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984020748002771

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