Open AccessSelective processing of social stimuli in the superficial amygdala
Author(s) -
Goossens Liesbet,
Kukolja Juraj,
Onur Oezguer A.,
Fink Gereon R.,
Maier Wolfgang,
Griez Eric,
Schruers Koen,
Hurlemann Rene
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20755
Subject(s) - amygdala , functional magnetic resonance imaging , psychology , facial expression , neuroscience , sensory system , perception , human brain , homogeneous , cognitive psychology , brain mapping , communication , physics , thermodynamics
The human amygdala plays a pivotal role in the processing of socially significant information. Anatomical studies show that the human amygdala is not a single homogeneous structure but is composed of segregable subregions. These have recently been functionally delineated by using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and cytoarchitectonically defined probabilistic maps. However, the response characteristics and individual contribution of these subregions to the processing of social‐emotional stimuli are little understood. Here, we used this novel technique to segregate intra‐amygdalar responses to facial expressions and nonsocial control stimuli. We localized facial expression‐evoked signal changes bilaterally in the superficial amygdala, which suggests that this subregion selectively extracts the social value of incoming sensory information. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.