Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2007-9-20
pubmed:abstractText
It has been argued that the amygdala represents an integral component of a vigilance system that is primarily involved in the perception of ambiguous stimuli of biological relevance. The present investigation was conducted to examine the relationship between automatic amygdala responsivity to fearful faces which may be interpreted as an index of trait-like threat sensitivity and spatial processing characteristics of facial emotions. During 3T fMRI scanning, pictures of human faces bearing fearful, angry, and happy expressions were presented to 20 healthy volunteers using a backward masking procedure based on neutral facial expressions. Subsequently, a computer-based face-in-the-crowd task using schematic face stimuli was administered. The neural response of the (right) amygdala to masked fearful faces correlated consistently with response speed to negative and neutral faces. Neither amygdala activation during the masked presentation of angry faces nor amygdala activation during the presentation of happy faces was correlated with any of the response latencies in the face-in-the-crowd task. Our results suggest that amygdala responsivity to masked facial expression is differentially related to the general visual search speed for facial expression. Neurobiologically defined threat sensitivity seems to represent an important determinant of visual scanning behaviour.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0014-4819
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
183
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
51-9
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2007
pubmed:articleTitle
Threat sensitivity as assessed by automatic amygdala response to fearful faces predicts speed of visual search for facial expression.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Street 11, 48149, Muenster, Germany. ohrmann@uni-muenster.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article