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Human amygdala activations during nasal chemoreception.

Alexandra Patin1, Bettina M Pause1

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, FRG, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.

Neuropsychologia
|October 14, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This review explores how smell (chemosensory stimulation) affects the amygdala in humans. Unpleasant odors activate the right amygdala for preservation, while pleasant odors activate the left or both sides.

Keywords:
AmygdalaChemoreceptionChemosensory stimuliOlfactionPETfMRI

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • The amygdala plays a key role in processing emotions and sensory information.
  • Chemosensory stimuli, particularly odors, are known to evoke strong emotional and memory responses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To comprehensively review functional neuroimaging studies on chemosensory stimulation of the amygdala in healthy humans.
  • To investigate the lateralization patterns of amygdala activation based on odor valence and other stimulus characteristics.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic categorization of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) studies.
  • Analysis of studies based on stimulus valence, concentration, and experimental paradigms.

Main Results:

  • Amygdala activation shows lateralization based on odor valence: pleasant odors activate bilateral or left amygdala, while unpleasant odors activate the right amygdala.
  • Right amygdala activation by unpleasant odors suggests a role in evolutionary preservation.
  • Potentially threatening social stimuli may activate the left amygdala, potentially independent of the olfactory system.
  • Amygdala activation correlated with activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, piriform cortex, and insula.

Conclusions:

  • The amygdala's response to chemosensory stimuli is lateralized by valence, with the right amygdala potentially crucial for threat detection and preservation.
  • A network involving the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, piriform cortex, and insula is critical for processing chemosensory information.