Impact Of Familiarity And Attachment On Visual Processin

参与处理人脸视觉刺激的神经回路已经得到了相当多的研究关注，有证据表明，大脑的某些区域可能会优先对这种刺激做出反应。然而，我们对受试者对被描绘人的熟悉程度或情感依恋程度如何影响神经加工知之甚少。这一领域的研究可以通过指示连接边缘和感觉回路的通路(S)，在认知神经科学和新兴情感神经科学领域之间建立一座桥梁。此外，使用情绪上有意义的面孔作为激活刺激，可能有助于阐明人际依恋和对损失的心理反应背后的神经回路。因此，这种功能性磁共振成像协议使用面部识别激活任务来检查神经处理如何根据所描绘的面部对观看者是否具有情感意义而变化。在一系列研究中，受试者观看陌生和熟悉(包括个人熟悉和熟悉的)面孔；母亲观看自己孩子和熟悉和陌生孩子的照片；丧偶和未丧亲的配偶观看配偶、其他家庭成员和陌生人士的照片。到目前为止，10名受试者已经完成了以个人熟悉的、著名的熟悉的和陌生的面孔作为刺激的研究，10名母亲完成了第二项研究。名人的初步结果是什么？还有呢？母亲呢？研究表明，有几个领域的活动受到熟悉个体的情绪/社会价格感的调节。熟悉感调节了梭状回的活动，在那里，陌生的面孔比熟悉的面孔引起更高的反应。然而，在熟悉的面孔池中，个人情感依恋较强的人的面孔在这一区域引发了更强的反应。例如，亲戚和朋友比熟悉的面孔引起的反应更强烈，看到S自己的孩子比看到熟悉但没有亲缘关系的孩子的脸引起的反应更强烈。杏仁核也检测到对不同类别刺激的不同反应，与熟悉的著名面孔和陌生人的面孔相比，个人熟悉面孔的活动减少。相比之下，当母亲看着自己孩子的照片时，与看着熟悉的、没有血缘关系的孩子相比，母亲们在左侧杏仁核检测到了更高的活动。

The neural circuitry involved in processing the visual stimulus of a human face has received considerable research attention, with evidence indicating that some brain regions may respond preferentially to such stimuli. However, we know little about how neural processing is affected by the subject's familiarity with, or emotional attachment to, the person whose face is depicted. Research in this area could form a bridge between cognitive neuroscience and the newly emerging field of affective neuroscience by indicating pathway(s) linking limbic and sensory circuits. In addition, the use of emotionally significant faces as activation stimuli may help to elucidate the neural circuitry underlying interpersonal attachment and psychological responses to loss. Thus, this functional magnetic resonance imaging protocol uses a face recognition activation task to examine how neural processing varies depending on whether the face depicted is emotionally significant to the viewer. In a series of studies, subjects view unfamiliar and familiar (including personally familiar and famous) faces; mothers view pictures of their own child and those of familiar and unfamiliar children; and bereaved and non-bereaved spouses view pictures of their spouse, other family members, and unfamiliar people. To date, ten subjects have completed the study that uses personally familiar, famous familiar, and unfamiliar faces as stimuli, and ten mothers have completed the second study. Preliminary results from the ?celebrities? and ?mothers? studies indicate that the activity in several areas is modulated by the emotional/social valence of familiar individuals. Familiarity modulated activity in the fusiform gyrus, where unfamiliar faces evoked a higher response than did familiar faces. Within the pool of familiar faces, however, faces of individuals with stronger personal emotional attachment evoked stronger responses in this area. For example, relatives and friends evoked a stronger response than did famous familiar faces, and seeing one?s own child evoked a stronger response than did seeing the face of a familiar but unrelated child. A differential response to different categories of stimuli also was detected in the amygdala, with a decrease in the activity for personally familiar faces compared to familiar famous faces and the faces of strangers. By contrast, higher activity was detected in the left amygdala when mothers looked at the pictures of their own child as compared to looking at a familiar, unrelated child.