An Amygdala to Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Projection Implicated in Emotional Recognition

提案摘要-摘要 情感表达是一种进化上保守的交流形式，能够识别一个 来自面部或声音的情感是基本的社会功能。情绪识别障碍是一种 在许多精神疾病中常见的发现，但很少有人了解电路过程，促进 这种行为。与中性面孔相比，观察表情面孔（例如悲伤、愤怒或快乐的面孔） 杏仁核和腹外侧前额叶皮质（VLPFC）。尽管杏仁核中含有神经元， 选择性地对特定的表达做出反应，这些神经元的整体活动不会将表达分类为 离散类别。这表明杏仁核发出了特定特征的显著性信号， 对这些表达式进行分类的站点。在人类中，VLPFC特别活跃， 比较面部表情或将表情与描述性词语匹配。在非人类灵长类动物中， 对面孔和声音有高度的反应。因此，VLFPC可能是人口 活动对表达进行分类，但这一点尚未得到系统的检验。 我的初步数据确定了VLPFC神经元的表达和直接投射的选择性反应 从杏仁核到外侧前额叶皮层。在这些研究结果的基础上，本提案力求将联合收割机 解剖追踪，同时双部位多电极神经生理学，以及自然主义，视听 表达来检验杏仁核传递关于突出感觉的信息的假设。 直接到VLPFC的情感表达的特征，在那里人口活动分离 将表情归类为相关的情感类别。用猕猴的组织和逆行追踪器 放置在VLPFC网站，高度反应的面孔和发声，我将本地化的起源， 投射在杏仁核和表征它的终止补充注射（目的1）。同时，我 将多通道电极植入杏仁核和VLFPC中，以同时记录神经元集合 活动，而猕猴观看电影的自然，社会情感的表达，即面部表情， 相关发声（目标2）。通过分析驱动表情相关反应的感觉方式， 分析这些神经元的群体活动，并比较它们在不同的神经元之间的反应时间。 杏仁核和VLPFC，我将深入了解这两个区域之间发生的神经元处理， 促进情感识别。 此外，学习进行解剖学和电生理学调查到电路的社会 行为将作为我打算作为精神病学翻译研究员的职业生涯的基础。

PROPOSAL SUMMARY – ABSTRACT Emotional expressions are an evolutionarily conserved form of communication and being able to recognize an emotion from a face or voice is a fundamental social function. Disturbances in emotional recognition are a common finding in many psychiatric diseases, but little is understood about the circuit processes that facilitate this behavior. Compared to neutral faces, viewing expressive faces (e.g. sad, angry, or happy faces) engages the amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Although the amygdala contains neurons that selectively respond to specific expressions, the overall activity of these neurons does not sort expressions into discrete categories. This suggests that the amygdala signals the salience of specific features but that it is not the site where categorization of these expressions occurs. In humans, the VLPFC is especially active when comparing facial expressions or matching expressions with descriptive words. In non-human primates, neurons in the VLPFC are highly responsive to faces and voices. Thus, the VLFPC may be a point where population activity categorizes expressions, but this has yet to be systematically tested. My preliminary data identifies VLPFC neurons with selective responses for expressions and a direct projection from the amygdala to the VLPFC, in the macaque. Building on these findings, this proposal seeks to combine anatomical tract-tracing, simultaneous dual-site multielectrode neurophysiology, and naturalistic, audiovisual expressions to test the hypothesis that the amygdala transmits information about the salient sensory features of emotional expressions directly to the VLPFC, where population activity segregates expressions into associated emotional categories. Using tissue from macaques with retrograde tracers placed at VLPFC sites that were highly responsive to faces and vocalizations, I will localize the origin of this projection in the amygdala and characterize it’s termination in complementary injections (Aim 1). Concurrently, I will implant multichannel electrodes into the amygdala and VLFPC to simultaneously record neuronal ensemble activity while macaques view movies of naturalistic, socio-emotional expressions i.e. facial gestures and associated vocalizations (Aim 2). By analyzing the sensory modalities that drive expression related responses, analyzing the population activity of these neurons, and comparing their response latencies between the amygdala and VLPFC, I will gain insight into the neuronal processing that occurs between these two regions to facilitate emotional recognition. In addition, learning to conduct anatomical and electrophysiological investigations into circuits for social behavior will serve as foundation for my intended a career as a translational researcher in psychiatry.