Task instructions modulate neural responses to fearful facial expressions.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
The amygdala, hippocampus, ventral, and dorsal prefrontal cortices have been demonstrated to be involved in the response to fearful facial expressions. Little is known, however, about the effect of task instructions upon the intensity of responses within these regions to fear-inducing stimuli.

METHODS:
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined neural responses to alternating, 30-sec blocks of fearful and neutral expressions in nine right-handed male volunteers during three different 5-min conditions:
1) passive viewing; 2) performance of a gender-decision task, with no explicit judgment of facial emotion; 3) performance of an emotionality judgment task - an explicitly emotional task.

RESULTS:
There was a significant effect of task upon activation within the left hippocampus and the left inferior occipital gyrus, and upon the magnitude of response within the left hippocampus, with maximal activation in these regions occurring during passive viewing, and minimal during performance of the explicit task. Performance of the gender-decision and explicit tasks, but not passive viewing, was also associated with activation within ventral frontal cortex.

CONCLUSIONS:
Neural responses to fearful facial expressions are modulated by task instructions.

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Author information

Author/s: Lange, Kezia (K); Williams, Leanne M (LM); Young, Andrew W (AW); Bullmore, Edward T (ET); Brammer, Michael J (MJ); Williams, Steven C R (SC); Gray, Jeffrey A (JA); Phillips, Mary L (ML);

Affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Biological psychiatry (Biol Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 53 (issue 3) : pp 226-32

Dates: Created 2003/01/31; Completed 2003/07/03; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12559655, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Amygdala - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Echo-Planar Imaging
Facial Expression
Fear - physiology
Gyrus Cinguli - physiology

Hippocampus - physiology
Humans
Image Enhancement
Oxygen Consumption - physiology
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Problem Solving - physiology
Set (Psychology)
Temporal Lobe - physiology

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