The monkey pulvinar neurons differentially respond to emotional expressions of human faces
Abstract
Recent psychological studies suggest that the amygdala is not essential for early stages of emotional facial processing, and that the colliculo-pulvinar pathway might play this role. Nevertheless, the actual role of pulvinar nucleus on the recognition of emotional faces remains obscure. In the present study, we recorded single-unit activity of pulvinar neurons in 2 monkeys during recognition of emotional faces in a delayed non-match-to-sample (DNMS) task, using human face stimuli with differing emotional expressions (sad, angry, happy, surprised and neutral) and simple geometric pattern control figures. A total of 184 single neurons from lateral and medial pulvinar have been sampled. From this total, 41 (22.2%) were found to be "visually responsive", that is, responded to one or more of the visual stimuli. Among the visually responsive neurons, 23 responded non-differentially to all stimuli (facial stimuli and control). Another 18 responded differentially to facial identity and/or emotional expression. Response latencies of the pulvinar neurons to these facial stimuli ranged very widely; firing onsets for 16 (39.0%, 16/41) neurons were shorter than 100ms, while for 13 (31.7%, 13/41) it was greater than 300ms. The results thus i...Continue Reading
References
A multiscale dynamic routing circuit for forming size- and position-invariant object representations
Citations
Disentangling the influences of multiple thalamic nuclei on prefrontal cortex and cognitive control.
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Amygdala and Midbrain Dopamine
The midbrain dopamine system is widely studied for its involvement in emotional and motivational behavior. Some of these neurons receive information from the amygdala and project throughout the cortex. When the circuit and transmission of dopamine is disrupted symptoms may present. Here is the latest research on the amygdala and midbrain dopamine.
Amygdala: Sensory Processes
Amygdalae, nuclei clusters located in the temporal lobe of the brain, play a role in memory, emotional responses, and decision-making. Here is the latest research on sensory processes in the amygdala.