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Neural substrates of emotional habituation: A PET study using film stimuli
Author(s) -
HATTA NAOKI,
NISHIKAWA TAKASHI,
IKEJIRI YOSHITAKA,
TOKUNAGA HIROMASA,
MASAKI YOSHIHIRO,
UEMA TAKESHI,
KAZUI HIROAKI,
DORONBEKOV TALANT K.,
OGINO ATSUSHI,
MIYOSHI NORIKO,
TANII HISASHI,
TANAKA TOSHIHISA,
OKU NAOHIKO,
TAKEDA MASATOSHI
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2006.01523.x
Subject(s) - habituation , psychology , reuptake inhibitor , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , anxiety , psychotherapist , antidepressant
Abstract While external stimuli are given repeatedly, the level of emotional response gradually decreases. This study aims to reveal the neural substrates of such emotional habituation. Fifteen healthy male volunteers were examined using [ 15 O]‐H 2 O‐PET scanning. Subjects were required to watch two film clips, a horror scene (emotional task) and a calm scene (non‐emotional task). Each film clip was repeatedly presented six times during 12 PET scans. The regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the first two scans of each task was compared with that in the last two scans. On the emotional task, the right retrosplenial cortex (Brodmann's areas 30 and 23) was activated during the former scans, and the bilateral occipital cortices (BA19 and 37) were activated during the latter scans. As for the non‐emotional task, the bilateral occipital cortices (BA19 and 37) were activated during the first two scans, and the bilateral prefrontal cortices (BA10) were activated during the last two scans. The activated cerebral region by emotional experience reciprocally transferred from the paralimbic region (the retrosplenial cortex) to the neocortical region (the bilateral occipital cortices) as the experience was repeated. This finding is consistent with the theory that the process of emotional habituation is promoted by the process of conceptualization.