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Amygdala activation to fearful faces under attentional load
Martin Mothes-Lasch1, Hans-Joachim Mentzel, Wolfgang H R Miltner
1Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Am Steiger 3//1, D-07743 Jena, Germany. martin.mothes-lasch@uni-jena.de
Behavioural Brain Research
|September 29, 2012
Summary
Amygdala activation to fearful faces is not automatic. It depends on cognitive resources and the saliency of facial features, particularly the eyes, in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Functional Neuroimaging
Background:
- Previous functional imaging studies suggested automatic amygdala activation to fearful faces.
- Recent research indicates this activation is absent under high attentional load.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if manipulating the saliency of eyes in fearful faces affects amygdala activation under high attentional load.
- To explore the concept of relative automaticity in amygdala responses.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
- Participants performed a high perceptual load task.
- Stimuli included normal faces and faces with salient eyes (pupil/iris removed).
Main Results:
- No differential amygdala activation to fearful vs. neutral faces in Experiment 1 (normal faces).
- Differential amygdala activation to normal fearful faces but not manipulated ones in Experiment 2.
- Amygdala response was modulated by attentional load and eye saliency.
Conclusions:
- Amygdala activation to fearful stimuli is not fully automatic.
- Cognitive resource availability and feature saliency influence amygdala responses.
- Findings support a model of relative automaticity for amygdala activation.
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