Psychiatry research
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Psychiatry research · Jan 2007
Amygdala reactivity predicts automatic negative evaluations for facial emotions.
The amygdala is a key structure in a limbic circuit involved in the rapid and unconscious processing of facial emotions. In the present study, the role of the amygdala in automatic, involuntary appraisal processes, which are believed to be a crucial component of emotion processing, was investigated in 23 healthy subjects. Amygdala activity was recorded in response to masked displays of angry, sad, and happy facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). ⋯ Significant correlations were found between amygdala responses to masked negative facial expressions and negative evaluation shifts elicited by the corresponding emotion quality in the affective priming task. Spontaneous amygdala reactivity to facial emotions appears to be a determinant of automatic negative evaluative response tendencies. This finding might shed some light on how amygdala hyperresponsivity contributes to negative cognitive biases commonly observed in affective disorders.
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Psychiatry research · Jan 2007
Dissociation of cognitive from affective components of theory of mind in schizophrenia.
Patients suffering from schizophrenia show impaired emotional and social behavior, such as misinterpretation of social situations and lack of theory of mind. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding their ability to perform on theory of mind tasks. Based on previous findings with patients suffering from prefrontal damage, the present study suggests that the behavioral deficit of schizophrenic patients may be due to impaired 'affective theory of mind' abilities, rather than to a general impairment in theory of mind. ⋯ Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated that impaired affective theory of mind in these patients correlated with their level of negative symptoms. These results indicate that individuals with high level of negative symptoms of schizophrenia may demonstrate selective impairment in their ability to attribute affective mental states. These findings offer new insight into the affective facets of social behavior that may underlie the profound behavioral disturbances observed in schizophrenia.