The Emotional Gatekeeper: A Computational Model of Attentional Selection and Suppression through the Pathway from the Amygdala to the Inhibitory Thalamic Reticular Nucleus.
The Emotional Gatekeeper: A Computational Model of Attentional Selection and Suppression through the Pathway from the Amygdala to the Inhibitory Thalamic Reticular Nucleus.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004722
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发表时间：
2016-02
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
Barbas H
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
John YJ;Zikopoulos B;Bullock D;Barbas H
在一个包含机会和威胁的复杂环境中，有机体根据当前事件和先前计划灵活地引导注意力是很重要的。杏仁核是大脑情感系统的中枢，它参与刺激与其后果之间情感联系的形成和信号传递。抑制性丘脑网状核（TRN）是控制丘脑-皮层信号的注意系统的中枢。在灵长类动物的大脑中，最近发现的杏仁核通路向TRN发送了强大的投射。在这里，我们使用计算建模来演示嵌入更广泛的神经回路中的杏仁核-TRN通路如何介导由情绪引导的选择性注意力。我们的情绪守门人模型展示了这个回路如何实现自上而下的集中和自下而上的灵活注意力分配。该模型表明，杏仁核-TRN投射可以作为一种独特的机制，用于情绪引导选择发送到皮层进行进一步处理的信号。这种抑制性选择机制可以介导一种强大的情感“框架”效应，这种效应可能导致在高度情绪化的情况下做出有偏见的决策。该模型还支持杏仁核可以作为一个相关性检测系统的想法。此外，该模型表明，异常的自上而下的驱动器和调节异常的杏仁核和皮质中的局部抑制可以有助于伴随几种神经精神疾病的注意力症状。情感体验吸引我们的注意力。关于事件的情感意义的信息有助于个人衡量机会和危险，以指导目标导向的行为，但当风险被认为很高时，也可能导致非理性的决定。哪些神经回路是这些截然不同的结果的基础？最近发现的一条通路将杏仁核（情绪系统的关键中心）与在丘脑和皮层之间过滤信息的抑制性丘脑网状核（TRN）联系起来。我们开发了一个神经网络模型-情绪守门人-演示了新发现的从杏仁核到TRN的通路如何突出相关信息，以帮助评估威胁和机会。该模型还显示了杏仁核-TRN通路如何导致正常人在高度情绪化的情况下忽视中性但有用的信息，并预测该回路中特定节点的破坏是不同精神疾病的基础。
In a complex environment that contains both opportunities and threats, it is important for an organism to flexibly direct attention based on current events and prior plans. The amygdala, the hub of the brain's emotional system, is involved in forming and signaling affective associations between stimuli and their consequences. The inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is a hub of the attentional system that gates thalamo-cortical signaling. In the primate brain, a recently discovered pathway from the amygdala sends robust projections to TRN. Here we used computational modeling to demonstrate how the amygdala-TRN pathway, embedded in a wider neural circuit, can mediate selective attention guided by emotions. Our Emotional Gatekeeper model demonstrates how this circuit enables focused top-down, and flexible bottom-up, allocation of attention. The model suggests that the amygdala-TRN projection can serve as a unique mechanism for emotion-guided selection of signals sent to cortex for further processing. This inhibitory selection mechanism can mediate a powerful affective ‘framing’ effect that may lead to biased decision-making in highly charged emotional situations. The model also supports the idea that the amygdala can serve as a relevance detection system. Further, the model demonstrates how abnormal top-down drive and dysregulated local inhibition in the amygdala and in the cortex can contribute to the attentional symptoms that accompany several neuropsychiatric disorders. Emotional experiences grab our attention. Information about the emotional significance of events helps individuals weigh opportunities and dangers to guide goal-directed behavior, but may also lead to irrational decisions when the stakes are perceived to be high. Which neural circuits underlie these contrasting outcomes? A recently discovered pathway links the amygdala—a key center of the emotional system—with the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) that filters information between the thalamus and cortex. We developed a neural network model—the Emotional Gatekeeper—that demonstrates how the newly discovered pathway from the amygdala to TRN highlights relevant information to help assess threats and opportunities. The model also shows how the amygdala-TRN pathway can lead normal individuals to discount neutral but useful information in highly charged emotional situations, and predicts that disruption of specific nodes in this circuit underlies distinct psychiatric disorders.