THE ROLE OF THE PRIMATE AMYGDALA IN GAZE FOLLOWING AND FACIAL MIMICRY

灵长类杏仁核在目光跟随和面部模仿中的作用

• 批准号: 8283584
• 负责人: Katalin M Gothard
• 金额: $ 22.73万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-01 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8283584
• 关键词: Affect; Amygdaloid structure; Area; Behavior; Behavioral; Bilateral; Cell Nucleus; Clinical; Cognitive; Complement; Complex; Development; Elements; Emotions; Empathy; Event; Eye; Eye Movements; Face; Facial Expression; Failure; Human; Individual; Injection of therapeutic agent; Laboratories; Link; Maintenance; Mediating; Mental Depression; Mental Health; Mental disorders; Methods; Mind; Monkeys; Motor; Muscimol; Muscle; Neurodevelopmental Disorder; Nuclear; One-Step dentin bonding system; Outcome; Parietal Lobe; Persons; Planning Techniques; Play; Positioning Attribute; Primates; Process; Production; Psyche structure; Research; Risk; Role; Saccades; Schizophrenia; Social Behavior; Social Perception; Social Phobia; Source; Stimulus; Structure; Testing; Therapeutic Intervention; Time; Widow; base; cognitive function; extrastriate visual cortex; frontal lobe; gaze; joint attention; meetings; mental state; mimicry; neural circuit; nonhuman primate; relating to nervous system; research study; sample fixation; severe mental illness; shared attention; social; social communication; social skills; theories

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Gaze following and facial mimicry are fundamental elements of social behavior in both humans and non-human primates. Gaze following is critical for the development of shared attention and for a mental phenomenon called theory of mind. Facial mimicry is a form of shared emotion and constitutes the basis of empathy. These behaviors are profoundly affected in neurodevelopmental disorders and in severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, depression, and social phobia. When the amygdala is damaged or is functioning abnormally gaze following and facial mimicry are also impaired, suggesting that the amygdala may play an important role in these behaviors. To determine the role of the amygdala in these basic social behaviors, we propose to inactivate the amygdala of monkeys while they "interact" with naturalistic videos that elicit gaze following and facial mimicry. The amygala, however, comprises several nuclei, each with a different connectivity and different functions. We propose to inactivate selectively each main nucleus of the amygdala to test the following hypotheses: (1) the basolateral nuclei of the primate amygdala are necessary for gaze following, and (2) the central nuclei are necessary for facial mimicry. These hypotheses are based on the known anatomical connectivity of each nuclear group with cortical and subcortical structures involved in social behavior. The basolateral nuclei are connected to cortical areas involved the control of eye movements and in higher cognitive functions that might be necessary to determine where individuals are looking. The central nuclei are connected to subcortical circuits that serve low- level perceptual and motor functions that might be necessary to make eye contact and to imitate involuntarily facial expression. The proposed research will determine the role (s) of different amygdala nuclei in the elaboration of basic social behaviors. This will complement our current understanding of the role of the amygdala in social perception. A more detailed understanding of the role that individual nuclei of the amygdala play in the production of gaze following and facial mimicry will take us one step closer toward identifying the causes of shared social deficits in neurodevelopmental and other psychiatric disorders. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The current proposal is relevant to mental health because it explores the possible source of shared deficits of social behavior in neurodevelopmental disorders and in several mental illnesses. Gaze following and facial mimicry are basic behaviors on which more complex social behaviors are built and they are impaired in multiple mental disorders. The proposed research will determine any causal relationship between the functional integrity of amygdala and production of these basic social behaviors in non-human primates.

描述(申请人提供)：注视跟随和面部模仿是人类和非人类灵长类动物社会行为的基本要素。目光跟随对于共同注意力的发展和一种被称为心理理论的心理现象是至关重要的。面部模仿是共同情感的一种形式，构成了移情的基础。这些行为在神经发育障碍和严重的精神疾病中受到严重影响，包括精神分裂症、抑郁症和社交恐惧症。当杏仁核受损或功能异常时，注视跟随和面部模仿也会受损，这表明杏仁核可能在这些行为中发挥重要作用。为了确定杏仁核在这些基本社会行为中的作用，我们建议灭活猴子的杏仁核，同时它们与引发凝视跟随和面部模仿的自然主义视频进行互动。然而，杏仁核由几个核组成，每个核具有不同的连接和不同的功能。我们建议选择性地灭活杏仁核的每个主要核，以检验以下假设：(1)灵长类杏仁核的基底外侧核是注视注视所必需的，(2)中央核是面部模仿所必需的。这些假设是基于每个核群与参与社会行为的皮质和皮质下结构的已知解剖连接。基底外侧核连接到控制眼球运动的皮质区域，并参与可能是确定个体注视方向所必需的高级认知功能。中央核团连接到皮质下回路，提供低水平的知觉和运动功能，这可能是进行眼神接触和模仿不由自主的面部表情所必需的。这项拟议的研究将确定不同杏仁核在基本社会行为形成中的作用(S)。这将补充我们目前对杏仁核在社会知觉中的作用的理解。更详细地了解杏仁核单个核团在产生 目光跟随和面部模仿将使我们更接近于确定神经发育和其他精神障碍中共同社交缺陷的原因。 公共卫生相关性：目前的提案与心理健康相关，因为它探索了神经发育障碍和几种精神疾病中共同的社会行为缺陷的可能来源。注视跟随和面部模仿是建立在更复杂的社会行为基础上的基本行为，它们在多发性精神障碍中受到损害。这项拟议的研究将确定杏仁核的功能完整性与非人类灵长类动物产生这些基本社会行为之间的任何因果关系。